Credit or discount, which one do I want?
Does it repeat? A rate a family always gets is a discount. A one-time amount you owe them, like a referral bonus, is a credit.
Ask one question: does it repeat?
- It repeats. An employee rate, a military rate, a sibling rate, financial aid: that is a discount. Set it up once under Billing & Payments → Billing → Discounts, and it applies to every invoice generated while the rule is active. For one household rather than a whole category, use a discount with Specific families.
- It happens once. A referral bonus, a goodwill gesture after a rough week, a closure make-good, a deposit you are applying to tuition: that is a credit. Issue it from the gift icon on the family's card, and it comes off their next invoice automatically, rolling over if it is bigger than one invoice.
A third thing that looks similar but is not: money an outside agency pays toward one child's tuition is a subsidy, which tracks the agency's share as a claim you can chase.
All three are applied when an invoice is generated, so adding one today affects the next invoice, never invoices that already exist.
Related: Credits and referral bonuses, Subsidies and discounts.
Related articles
Why didn't the sibling discount apply?
The rule picks the younger children by date of birth at billing time. A missing DOB, separate families, or a date window are the usual causes.
Why is an invoice lower than I expected?
A credit, discount, or subsidy line usually explains it, and partially covered families generate small invoices that look healthy but underbill.
An employer is paying a family's tuition. How do I bill them?
Add the employer as an agency with automatic statements, then give the child a full-tuition award. The employer gets emailed invoices only, and nothing else about the child.
Do late fees apply automatically?
Only if you turn on Apply automatically. By default a late-fee policy just builds an eligible list you apply by hand, and each invoice gets one fee ever.
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