Fee Management

The Fee Management module handles everything related to school fees — from setting up fee structures to collecting payments, tracking defaulters, and generating financial reports.

Fee Structure Setup

Before collecting fees, you need to configure your fee structure. This is done in Settings.

1. Navigate to Settings > Fee Structure. (See Fee Structure for detailed setup.)
2. Create fee heads (e.g., Tuition Fee, Annual Charges, Lab Fee).
3. Set amounts per class and frequency (monthly, quarterly, term-wise, annual).
4. Fee installments are auto-generated for each student based on the structure.

Collecting a Fee

flowchart LR
    A[Search Student] --> B[Select Pending Fees]
    B --> C[Choose Payment Mode]
    C --> D[Enter Amount]
    D --> E[Save & Print Receipt]

This is the most common fee operation. To collect a fee payment from a student:

1. Navigate to Fees > Fee Collection from the sidebar.

2. Search for the student by typing their name or admission number in the search field.

3. Select the student from the search results.

4. The student’s fee summary appears:

   • Total fee for the year
   • Amount paid so far
   • Outstanding balance
   • List of pending fee installments

5. Select the fee installments to collect by checking the boxes next to them. You can select one or multiple installments.

6. The total amount updates automatically based on your selection.

7. Select the payment mode:

8. Optionally add remarks (e.g., “Paid by grandmother”).
9. Click Collect Fee.
10. A receipt is generated and displayed.
11. Click Print Receipt to print, or Download PDF to save.

Tip: The receipt includes the school name, logo, student details, fee breakdown, payment mode, and a unique receipt number. It is print-ready on A4 paper.

Example: Mrs. Sharma collects Rs. 4,500 tuition fee from Arjun Patel (Class 10A) via UPI. She searches “Arjun Patel”, selects the pending April tuition fee of Rs. 4,500, chooses “UPI” as payment mode, enters the UPI transaction reference “TXN789456”, and clicks Save. The receipt APS-REC-000142 is generated and can be printed immediately.

Payment Modes Summary

Bulk Fee Collection

For collecting fees from multiple students at once (e.g., during a fee counter rush):

1. Navigate to Fees > Bulk Collection.
2. Select the class and optionally the section.
3. Select the fee installment (e.g., “Tuition Fee - April 2025”).
4. A list of all students with the selected fee pending appears.
5. Check the students who are paying.
6. Select the payment mode (applies to all selected students in this batch).
7. Click Collect Fees.
8. Individual receipts are generated for each student.
9. A summary shows the total amount collected and the number of receipts generated.

Partial Payments

EduCore supports partial payment when a parent cannot pay the full amount at once:

1. During fee collection, after selecting the installment, look for the amount field.
2. By default, it shows the full installment amount.
3. Change the amount to the partial amount being paid (e.g., Rs. 3,000 out of Rs. 5,000).
4. The system records the payment and updates the balance.
5. The installment status changes to “Partially Paid” with the remaining balance shown.
6. When the parent pays the remaining amount later, repeat the collection process for the same installment.

Tip: Partial payments generate a receipt for the amount paid. The receipt clearly shows the amount paid and the remaining balance.

Fee Defaulter List

To view students with unpaid fees:

1. Navigate to Fees > Defaulter List.
2. The list shows all students with outstanding fees, sorted by the amount owed.
3. Use filters to narrow the list:

4. The aging buckets help prioritize follow-ups:

   • Current — fees due but not yet overdue
   • 30+ days — overdue by 1-2 months
   • 60+ days — overdue by 2-3 months
   • 90+ days — overdue by more than 3 months

5. Click Export CSV to download the defaulter list for offline follow-up.

Tip: The 90+ days defaulter list also appears in the dashboard’s “Needs Attention” section for school admins.

Cheque Bounce Handling

flowchart TD
    A[Fee Paid by Cheque] --> B[Payment Recorded]
    B --> C{Cheque Clears?}
    C -->|Yes| D[Payment Complete]
    C -->|No| E[Mark Bounced]
    E --> F[Payment Reversed]
    F --> G[Optional Penalty Fee]
    G --> H[Student Flagged as Defaulter]

When a cheque payment bounces:

1. Navigate to Fees > Fee Collection > Payment History (or find the specific receipt).
2. Locate the payment made by cheque.
3. Click the Mark Bounced button next to the payment.
4. The system will:
   • Reverse the payment — the fee installment returns to “Unpaid” status
   • Record the bounce in the student’s fee history
   • Optionally apply a bounce penalty (configurable in Settings)
5. Add remarks explaining the bounce (e.g., “Insufficient funds”).
6. Click Confirm Bounce.

The bounced cheque appears in the Needs Attention section of the dashboard until the fee is re-collected.

Fee Carry-Forward

When transitioning to a new academic year, unpaid fees from the previous year can be carried forward:

1. Navigate to Fees > Carry Forward (available during year transition).
2. Select the previous academic year.
3. A list of students with outstanding fees from the previous year appears.
4. Review the list — each row shows the student name, class, and outstanding amount.
5. Check the students whose fees should be carried forward.
6. Click Carry Forward Selected.
7. The outstanding amounts are added as a “Previous Year Balance” fee head in the new year.

Tip: Carry forward is typically done after promotions and before the new year’s fee collection begins.

Fee Refund on Withdrawal

When a student withdraws from the school mid-term:

1. During the student withdrawal process, select the option to refund fees.
2. The system calculates a pro-rated refund based on:
   • Fees paid for the year
   • The portion of the year completed (based on the withdrawal date)
   • Any non-refundable fee heads (e.g., admission fee, annual charges)
3. The refund amount is displayed for review.
4. Adjust the refund amount if needed (e.g., deducting library fines or other dues).
5. Select the refund mode (cash, cheque, bank transfer).
6. Click Process Refund.
7. A refund receipt is generated.

Discounts

EduCore supports various discount types. Discounts are configured in Settings and applied to individual students.

1. Navigate to Settings > Fee Discounts to set up discount types. (See Fee Discounts for setup.)
2. To apply a discount to a student:
   • Open the student’s profile > Fees tab.
   • Click Apply Discount.
   • Select the discount type from the dropdown.
   • The discount amount or percentage is shown.
   • Click Apply.
3. The discount is reflected in the student’s fee summary, reducing the amount due.

Discount Types

Fee Reports Overview

EduCore provides comprehensive fee reports. For detailed descriptions, see Fee Reports.

Tip: At the end of each day, the accountant should review the Daily Collection report and reconcile it with actual cash and cheque collections. This takes just 2-3 minutes and prevents discrepancies.

Receipt Management

Viewing Past Receipts

1. Navigate to Fees > Receipts.
2. Search by receipt number, student name, or date range.
3. Click on a receipt to view it.
4. Click Print or Download PDF to get a copy.

Receipt Numbering

Receipts are numbered sequentially within each branch. The format is {BranchCode}/{Year}/{Sequential} (e.g., DPS/2025/00142). Receipt numbers never repeat within a branch and academic year.

Duplicate Receipt

If a parent needs a copy of an old receipt:

1. Find the receipt using the search.
2. Click Print or Download PDF.
3. The duplicate receipt is identical to the original, with a “Duplicate” watermark.

Tip: Parents often need duplicate receipts for income tax filing under Section 80C. You can search by date range to find all receipts for a parent’s children across the financial year.