Comments on: Billing in MTH–my way http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/billing-in-mth-my-way/ Tips and Resources for Private Music Teachers and Performers everywhere! Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:51:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Amy McGlothlin http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/billing-in-mth-my-way/comment-page-1/#comment-28984 Amy McGlothlin Fri, 16 May 2008 15:13:25 +0000 http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/billing-in-mth-my-way/#comment-28984 About two years ago I started billing my students in advance for each month of lessons. I use automatic invoicing to send out the invoice for the next month on the 30th day. The invoice shows any credits and charges and amount due as well as the lessons scheduled for that month. This has been working very well for me. Most of the people pay via paypal and almost everyone pays me by the first lesson of the month. I rarely have to chase anyone down for payment anymore. I also require a 1 week notice to cancel a lesson and receive a credit. This keeps people from canceling for frivolous reasons and I still get paid. Also, when you get paid in advance, students are more likely to show up. Less cancelations means more money in your pocket. About two years ago I started billing my students in advance for each month of lessons. I use automatic invoicing to send out the invoice for the next month on the 30th day. The invoice shows any credits and charges and amount due as well as the lessons scheduled for that month.

This has been working very well for me. Most of the people pay via paypal and almost everyone pays me by the first lesson of the month. I rarely have to chase anyone down for payment anymore.

I also require a 1 week notice to cancel a lesson and receive a credit. This keeps people from canceling for frivolous reasons and I still get paid.

Also, when you get paid in advance, students are more likely to show up. Less cancelations means more money in your pocket.

]]> By: Justin Lee http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/billing-in-mth-my-way/comment-page-1/#comment-28882 Justin Lee Thu, 15 May 2008 14:05:41 +0000 http://www.musicteachershelper.com/blog/billing-in-mth-my-way/#comment-28882 Hi Ed, Great article. I have a very different billing system in MTH that many may be interested to know. Here goes... I have tried to solve many of the problems that all of us and music teachers have: making sure that we get paid for the important work we do (including practicing while waiting for a student who's late or doesn't show up at all!). The trick is to get as much money up front as I can, and have a very solid policy. If you visit my MTH website (www.BramptonGuitarLessons.com), which I recommend you do as there are lots of cool ideas you can do with your MTH pages, and I welcome you to 'steel' my ideas. When you click on the 'Fees' page and you'll see that I charge for blocks of lessons. A student can buy 5, 10, 25, or 50 lessons. I give a better price the more you buy, plus some freebies! I have a Paypal button on each price so they can click on it and pay right there. Paypal then sends a message back to MTH of this payment and it is logged automatically. Pretty cool! I make money in my sleep! I love checking my morning emails and getting the 'You've got Funds' email from paypal. To see who's comming due for a payment I simply go to the Transaction Log page and click on the 'Credit Amount' tab which list my students according to the amounts they have 'in the bank', smallest amount at the top. I highlight anyone that is less than $4o and print the highlighted section right from the MTH. Then I go to the 'email students' page and send them a reminder with a link to my 'Fees' page. I takes me about 10 minutes every Monday. Many of my students prefer to bring me cash (which I prefer so I avoid the Paypal fees). The 'payment reminder' email mentions the various payment options that I accept. The only thing I have to watch is when reconsiling lessons, that I charge the right fee, since it varies. I check it as I'm doing it and at the end of each month when I send the statement. If I have made an error that I miss my student usually picks it up and tells me about it. It happened just last week where I forgot to charge a fee for a guitar tune-up and the student reminded me of it. It's working very well for me. If you have another way of billing make sure you share it. I'm sure there are lots of good ideas out there. Justin Lee The Guitar Shoppe www.BramptonGuitarLessons.com Hi Ed,

Great article. I have a very different billing system in MTH that many may be interested to know.

Here goes…

I have tried to solve many of the problems that all of us and music teachers have: making sure that we get paid for the important work we do (including practicing while waiting for a student who’s late or doesn’t show up at all!). The trick is to get as much money up front as I can, and have a very solid policy.

If you visit my MTH website (www.BramptonGuitarLessons.com), which I recommend you do as there are lots of cool ideas you can do with your MTH pages, and I welcome you to ‘steel’ my ideas. When you click on the ‘Fees’ page and you’ll see that I charge for blocks of lessons. A student can buy 5, 10, 25, or 50 lessons. I give a better price the more you buy, plus some freebies! I have a Paypal button on each price so they can click on it and pay right there. Paypal then sends a message back to MTH of this payment and it is logged automatically. Pretty cool! I make money in my sleep! I love checking my morning emails and getting the ‘You’ve got Funds’ email from paypal.

To see who’s comming due for a payment I simply go to the Transaction Log page and click on the ‘Credit Amount’ tab which list my students according to the amounts they have ‘in the bank’, smallest amount at the top. I highlight anyone that is less than $4o and print the highlighted section right from the MTH. Then I go to the ‘email students’ page and send them a reminder with a link to my ‘Fees’ page. I takes me about 10 minutes every Monday. Many of my students prefer to bring me cash (which I prefer so I avoid the Paypal fees). The ‘payment reminder’ email mentions the various payment options that I accept.

The only thing I have to watch is when reconsiling lessons, that I charge the right fee, since it varies. I check it as I’m doing it and at the end of each month when I send the statement. If I have made an error that I miss my student usually picks it up and tells me about it. It happened just last week where I forgot to charge a fee for a guitar tune-up and the student reminded me of it.

It’s working very well for me. If you have another way of billing make sure you share it. I’m sure there are lots of good ideas out there.

Justin Lee
The Guitar Shoppe
http://www.BramptonGuitarLessons.com

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