Receipts is where you record fee money as it comes in, whether a parent pays cash at the office, by Mobile Money or into the bank. Each receipt reduces the student’s invoice, goes into the school’s books automatically, and can be printed as a PDF for the parent.
- Where Finance & Billing → Receipts
- Who can use it Anyone whose role includes Receipts.
- Set up first Students invoiced in Class Billing or Student Billing; your accounts in Bank Accounts
Record a receipt
- Click Record Receipt.
- Under Student, type part of the name or admission number in the search box, for example Kofi, then pick the student.
- Optionally choose a Fee Type, for example Tuition, if the parent is paying for something specific.
- Enter the Amount, check the Payment Date (today is filled in) and pick the Method: Cash, Mobile Money, Bank Transfer, Cheque or Other.
- Under Received Into, choose where the money actually went: the cash box, a bank account or the Mobile Money wallet.
- Leave Receipt Number blank to get the next number automatically (like RCT-000045), or type the number from your paper receipt book. Add a Description if you like, for example Term 1 tuition instalment.
- Click Save Receipt. You go back to the list with the new receipt at the top.
Student, amount, payment date and Received Into must all be filled in. A receipt number can only be used once.
Where the money is applied
The receipt is put against the student’s oldest invoice that still has a balance. If you chose a fee type, that fee’s lines on the invoice are paid first. The new balance shows at once in Student Billing, Class Billing and the parent portal.
In the books, the amount is added to the account you chose under Received Into and counted as fee income. You don’t need to make a journal entry yourself.
Tip: Choosing the right Received Into account is what makes your cash box and bank balances in Bank Accounts come out right. Money paid into the bank should not be recorded as cash.
Print a receipt
In the list, click the document icon (Download Receipt PDF) on the receipt’s row. The PDF opens so you can print it or send it to the parent.
Void a receipt
If a receipt was entered by mistake, click the bin icon (Void receipt) and confirm. The amount comes off the student’s invoice again and is reversed in the books. This cannot be undone; record a new receipt if you need it back.
Locked periods: a receipt dated inside a locked accounting period cannot be recorded or voided. Ask whoever runs Finance to reopen the period first.
Online payments by parents
If your school has an active Paystack Payment Gateway set up in Integrations, parents see a Pay Online button on unpaid invoices in the parent portal. When Paystack confirms the payment, a receipt is created on its own and appears in this list with the method Mobile Money and a description starting Online payment via Paystack. It goes into the Mobile Money Wallet account in the books.
A payment is only recorded once Paystack confirms the full amount, so a failed or part payment never shows as paid.
Good to know
- The list shows the 200 most recent receipts. The boxes at the top (Total Receipts, Total Collected, Collected This Month) are worked out from those 200 only. For full totals use the Billing Dashboard or Finance.
- If a student has no unpaid invoice, the receipt is still saved and counted as income, but it is not tied to any invoice.
- Paying more than an invoice’s balance leaves the extra on that invoice as a credit.
- Receipts can’t be edited. Void the wrong one and record it again.