Check out some of the most frequently asked questions on how to use Student Manager’s Financial component.

Where do I start?

You first need to set up your Billable Items. Go to Student Finances > Billable Items. This is where you set up the items, and by clicking on the heading of each row you will be given a description of what that column requires.

What can I charge students for?

You can charge students for pretty much anything as long as it is related to the school or school activities.

How do I invoice the students?

There are two ways to invoice students.

Globally by going to Student Finances > Invoicing > Select the item to be billed > Select the students to be billed > Proceed.

On the students Transaction page > Click on Counter Transaction > Select the item to be billed > Select if it is Paid or Unpaid > Proceed.

What do I do if I bill them the wrong item?

You need to go to the students Transaction page, highlight the item and click on the D (kiwi) button. This will give you the option to reduce or exempt the item. Ensure it has 100% in the right hand column, type in the Explanation as to why you are doing the exemption (the more information the better) and then click on the Exemption button.

How do I record advance payments?

You have two options for this.

If they are just paying a one-off payment, click on the P (kiwi) button – enter the amount of the payment, Click Proceed.

If they are doing a Direct Debt, click on Auto Payments on the students Transaction page – Set Automatic Payments – Follow the process of setting this up.

I’ve put a payment on twice how do I take one off?

On the words Payment Received, right click, you will then be asked if you wish to Reverse this payment > click on Yes > type in the reason for the reversal > Proceed.

I have a credit on one of my leavers, but they have a sibling at the school can I transfer it to their account?

Yes. Again there are two ways.

Select the billable item on the sibling and click on the J (kiwi) button – enter the amount being paid > click Proceed. Type in an explanation as to where the money has come from etc.

On the leaving siblings transaction page – click on View > Show all family members – you will see all siblings names appear on the left hand side. Click on the leavers name in the credit amount row and you will see a drop down arrow – click on
the arrow and you will see the other siblings – click on the sibling the money will be transferred to.

One of my students didn’t go on a school trip they paid for, how do I refund it?

You need to highlight the billable item and then click on the R (kiwi) button. You need to decide whether you are going to pay out the money of not. If you do not pay the money out you will be left with a credit that can then be allocated to other debts.

What do I do if parents who have lost their receipt for ‘school donations’ now ask me for details? I.e. In order to claim on their income tax return in the following school financial year….

Firstly – we assume that you have followed our ‘best practice’ recommendation and consolidated the Student Manager finances at year end.

When this is done a file is created which you can view later, find out what amounts were recorded for various students and then write a manual receipt, or copy the information into MSExcel or MSWord and create a ‘copy’ of the detail of receipted monies.  This should clearly indicate that it is a copy – rather than the original.

To get more Help on this topic – click on the Help button on the front screen of SM Type the word ‘consolidation’ into the search field and then page down until you find Chapter 22.8  Financial consolidation and refer to the last two paragraphs of the chapter.

In summary… from the main Student Manager menu select Student Finances, then Consolidation and finally Reports. Select the consolidation report that contained the transaction you wish to reciept and print of a copy of it.

Alternatively, find the the file created during the consolidation process by looking in the CM folder for a file called ‘Finconsolidation <date created>.txt’, open it and then copy the details into MS Word or MS Excel.