Part 3. Modules

3.12 Billing

Version 1.0 ·Updated 2026-10-07

Next reviewed by 2027-04-07.

Written for a school's staff learning how Kestrel works, the trainers who teach them, and the families using the portal.

The fee schedule for each year: what each line costs, who pays it, the billing periods it falls in, and the discount rules applied to it. Then the fees charged to each student, and each payer's share.

Written forBusiness managerRegistrar

What it is for

Billing is where the business manager writes down what the school charges. For each year there is one fee schedule: a list of fee lines, the billing periods the school bills in, and the rules that take a discount or add a holding fee. When the schedule is published, it is the version the school bills from.

Kestrel owns the charge model: what a fee is, who it is charged to and how much it is for a part year. Kestrel does not keep the ledger. The posted invoice, the receipt, the payment and the chasing of a debt belong to the school's finance system. In Kestrel you keep the fee schedule, the payers for each student and the fees charged to each student.

A fee is charged to a student from a line of the schedule in force on the day. Kestrel prices it for the days the student is enrolled, takes off what the rules give, and splits what is left between the student's payers. The amount first charged is kept, and each change to it is listed beside it.

Who uses it

Role	What they can do
Business manager	Read the schedule, start a year or a correction, write its lines, periods and rules, and publish it. Charge a fee to a student and read what each student was charged.
Registrar	Read each version of the schedule, and what each student was charged.

In plain words, the capabilities are: reading the fee schedule (billing.schedule.read), writing it (billing.schedule.write), publishing it (billing.schedule.publish), reading fee charges (billing.charge.read), charging a fee (billing.charge.write), reading invoices (billing.invoice.read), correcting them (billing.invoice.write), sending them (billing.invoice.send), setting up invoicing (billing.finance.setup) and exporting the finance file (billing.finance.export). The Fees entry appears in the console only for a person who can read the schedule, and the Charges entry only for a person who can read fee charges.

Key ideas

Fee schedule: The year's fees: its lines, its billing periods and its adjustment rules. A year has one schedule, in versions.
Version and status: A version is a Draft, In force or Superseded. Nothing is billed from a draft. Publishing a draft makes it In force and the version it replaces Superseded.
Line: One fee: a code, a name, an amount, a category and a year level. It is charged for Each student, Each family or Each unit, and it falls Once a year, Each billing period or Once only.
Pro rata: A line priced pro rata is charged by the part of the year a student is enrolled.
Billing period: A name, a first and last day it covers, and the day payment is due. A billing period is not a term: it has its own dates, so a due date can move without moving a term.
Adjustment rule: A discount or holding fee taken off the lines, in the order set by its number. A share is taken from what is left once the rules before it have applied. A rule can apply instead of the later rules of other kinds.
Charge: A fee charged to one student from one line, for the days it covers. It shows what was charged, each change to it, and what it comes to now. A charge is never changed: a discount, an appeal or a correction is a change listed beside it.
Payer's share: The part of a charge one adult pays, as a percentage and an amount. The share is the one recorded for the student on the day the fee was charged.
Correction: A copy of the version in force, started as a new draft. Once published it replaces that version from then on. Bills already made under the old version stand.

Screens

Fees
/app/billing
The fee schedule for a year, chosen with Year. The tab "Lines and periods" lists the lines and the billing periods. The tab "Rules" lists the adjustment rules in the order they apply. Earlier versions are listed below.
Needs billing.schedule.read
Charges
/app/billing/charges
The fees charged for a year, chosen with Year. Each line names the student, the fee, the days it covers, what was charged and what it comes to now. Charge a fee from here.
Needs billing.charge.read
A charge
/app/billing/charges/[id]
One charge: what changed it, oldest first, who owes it with each payer's share, and what it comes to now.
Needs billing.charge.read
Fees settings
/app/settings/fees
Start a year, start a correction to a published version, and set the billing periods of a draft.
Needs billing.schedule.write

Write and publish a year's schedule

Open Settings, then Fees, and under "Start a year" give the Year, the Name and the Currency. The year starts as a draft.
Under the billing periods, choose "Add a period". Give its Number, Name, First day, Last day and Due day.
Open Fees from the console and choose the year.
Choose "Add a line". Give the Code, the Name, the Amount, what it is Charged for, when it Falls, its Category and its Year level, and choose "Save it".
On the Rules tab, choose "Add a rule" for each discount or holding fee. Give it a Kind, the Order it applies in, what it Takes off, what it Applies to and when.
Choose "Publish". The page says that once published the version is never changed. Choose "Publish" again to confirm.

Each line has a code, which is the name other parts of Kestrel use for it. An amount is written in dollars and cents, such as 9480.00, and is in the currency of its schedule. A sibling rule is counted by the child's place in the family, eldest first among the students living in one family home, and a staff rule applies when an adult with parental responsibility is on the staff.

Correct a published schedule

Open Settings, then Fees, and choose the year.
Choose "Start a correction". Kestrel copies the version in force into a new draft.
Change the lines, periods and rules on the draft.
Choose "Publish". The correction replaces the earlier version from then on, and the earlier version is listed under "Earlier versions".

Charge a fee to a student

Open Charges from the console and choose "Charge a fee".
Give the day the fee is "Charged as at", then choose the Student. Only students enrolled on that day are offered.
Choose the Fee from the schedule in force on that day. For a fee charged each billing period, choose the Billing period too.
Choose "Charge it". The charge opens, showing what was charged, each rule that reduced it, and each payer's share.

A student's record has a Fee charges section, after Fees, for a person who can read fee charges. It shows each charge, each rule that reduced it, what it comes to, and each payer's share.

Tasks

Split a student's fees between payers. Split fees between payers
Start a year's fee schedule and set its billing periods.
Add the lines and rules to a draft and publish it.
Correct a published schedule.
Read which version is in force for a year.
Charge a fee to a student.
Read what a student was charged, and why.

Journeys

The schedule is the first step in billing a term. A student's fees and the way they are shared between the families who pay them are kept on the student's own record.

Settings

The Fees settings page starts a year, starts a correction and sets the billing periods. The lines and the rules are written on the Fees screen. A published version cannot have its periods changed, so start a correction to change them.

5.5 Module settings

Training notes

Who needs it: the business manager. The registrar needs only to read the schedule and the charges.
Suggested length: thirty minutes.
Practise on the test school: start a draft year, add a line and a period, publish it, then charge the line to an enrolled student.