---
title: "Credit or discount, which one do I want?"
description: "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."
type: overview
updated: 2026-10-09
canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/owners/faq/credit-or-discount-which-one
roles: ["super_admin", "center_admin"]
platforms: [web]
---
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 **Invoices & Finances → 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 **More actions (⋯) → Credits** on the family's card, or **Add credit** on the family's page under **Invoices & Finances → Accounts**. It comes off their next invoice automatically, rolling over if it is bigger than one invoice. For a closure day, the closure event on the Calendar can [credit every affected family at once](/owners/billing/family-credits#credit-every-family-for-a-closure-day).

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.

Discounts and subsidies apply when an invoice is generated, so adding one today affects the next invoice, not ones already out. A credit comes off the next invoice too, or you can put it on one that's already open with the **Apply $… credit** button on that invoice.

Related: [Credits and referral bonuses](/owners/billing/family-credits), [Subsidies and discounts](/owners/billing/subsidies-and-discounts).