---
title: "Create a billing plan"
description: "Set up a reusable tuition template with a name, amount, and billing interval, then attach it to a child's enrollment."
type: setup
updated: 2026-09-14
canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/owners/billing/create-a-billing-plan
roles: ["center_admin", "super_admin"]
platforms: [web]
---
A **billing plan** is a reusable template for what you charge. "Toddler Full-Time, $1,200 per month" is one plan; "Before & After Care, $90 per week" is another. You create the plan once, then attach it to each child's enrollment.

<VideoEmbed
  src="create-a-billing-plan"
  title="Creating your first billing plan"
/>

## Create the plan

1. Go to **Billing & Payments → Billing**. You'll land on the **Billing Plans** tab.
2. Click **Create Plan**.
3. Fill in the **Create Billing Plan** form:
   - **Plan Name** (required), like `Full Day Pre-K`
   - **Description** (optional)
   - **Plan Type** (required): **Fixed amount** bills the same every period. **Hourly, by attendance** bills check-in to check-out time instead — either per hour or as a flat rate per attended day (drop-in) — see [Bill by the hour from attendance](/owners/billing/bill-by-the-hour).
   - **Amount (USD)** (required)
   - **Billing Interval** (required): Weekly, Bi-weekly, Monthly, or **One-time** (see below)
   - **Room** (optional): tie the plan to one room
   - **Program** (optional): tie the plan to one program
4. Click **Create Plan**.

The rest of this article covers **Fixed amount** plans, which is what most tuition is.

<ScreenshotWithPointers
  src="/screenshots/owners/billing/create-plan-modal.png"
  alt="The Create Billing Plan form with plan name, description, amount, billing interval, room, and program fields"
  caption="Create Billing Plan. Name, amount, and interval are required; room and program are optional."
/>

The plan appears as a card on the Billing Plans tab, showing its rate and how many children are enrolled on it.

## One-time plans: a year or semester paid up front

Some families pay once for the whole year or term rather than weekly or monthly. Others owe a single registration fee or deposit. Set the **Billing Interval** to **One-time** for those.

A one-time plan behaves differently from the other three on purpose:

- **It is never auto-generated.** [Automatic invoicing](/owners/billing/auto-invoice-generation) only runs the weekly, bi-weekly and monthly cycles, so a one-time plan is left out of it entirely. That is the point: attaching one records what the family owes *and* keeps them out of recurring billing, so they can't be accidentally invoiced every week on top of what they already paid.
- **You raise the invoice when you're ready.** Go to **Invoices → Create Invoice**, pick the family, and the amount is filled in from their plan. Set the period to whatever the payment covers (a school year, a term) and send it.
- **It won't appear in [Upcoming invoices](/owners/billing/upcoming-invoices)**, because nothing is scheduled to generate.

One-time plans are always **Fixed amount** — billing by the hour needs a period of attendance to measure, so the combination isn't offered.

<Callout kind="tip" title="Paying up front but billed as usual?">
If a family pays a lump sum and you want their normal weekly or monthly invoices to draw down against it, don't use a one-time plan. Leave their regular plan attached and record the payment as a **family credit** (the gift icon on their family card). Each generated invoice then deducts from the credit automatically until it runs out.
</Callout>

## Attach a plan to a child

A plan doesn't charge anyone until it's attached to a child's enrollment. You do that from the child's profile:

1. Open the child's profile from **Families & Children**, a family card, or their row on a room card.
2. On the **Details** tab, click the **Billing plan** row in the **Enrollment** section.
3. Pick the plan.

A child who isn't in a room yet needs an enrollment first: use **Enroll in a room** in the same section, or **Enroll child** on a room card, which also asks for the plan up front.

See [Move a child from one room to another](/owners/centers/move-a-child-between-rooms) for more on how enrollment works.

## Edit a plan

Open a plan from the Billing Plans tab to change its name, description, or amount. Changes apply to future invoices; invoices already generated keep their original amounts.

## Discounts and subsidies

Sibling discounts, scholarships, and subsidy accounts aren't part of a plan. They're set up on the **Discounts** and **Subsidies** tabs of the Billing page and are applied when invoices are generated. See [Subsidies and discounts](/owners/billing/subsidies-and-discounts).

## Troubleshooting

**The plan isn't offered when I enroll a child.** Plans tied to a specific room or program only suggest for children in that room or program. Leave Room and Program blank for a plan you want to use anywhere.

**I need to change how often a plan bills.** Open the plan from the Billing Plans tab and change its **Billing Interval**. It applies from the next generation; invoices already created keep their periods. To move just one family to a different cadence, give their child a different plan instead: see [Switch a family to bi-weekly billing](/owners/billing/switch-a-family-to-bi-weekly).

**I need to charge for the hours a child actually attended.** That's a different plan type — see [Bill by the hour from attendance](/owners/billing/bill-by-the-hour).