Payment Systems - level All

Posted on May 28, 2008 by Kayson Brown in - Studio Organization/Management Policies

My payment system has been one of the more unique and pleasant parts of my teaching. I have created tokens which are basically business cards I've embossed with a hand tool. Parents buy one token for each lesson that they would like to pay for at that time and at each lesson the student hands me a token. That way none of us need to worry about how many lessons were taught or rescheduled in a given month, there aren't bunches of checks for small amounts to cash, and I know that I'm being paid. If a student misses a lesson or doesn't have a token at the lesson I just write on my markerboard for that student to give me two tokens next week and make sure to have a check if need be. If the student keeps the cards in his/her cello case then they never get lost. I'm a busy freelancer and have cause to cancel lessons periodically, in this way I know that everyone is fairly treated and we don't waste valuable lesson time talking about payment, which can sometimes be awkward. Hope this helps!

Kayson Brown

see: www.themusicschool.us

1 Response to "Payment Systems"

Eva Thomas Says:
May 28, 2008
That sounds like a really good idea for a teacher who is going to need to miss lessons occasionally and doesn't want to bother with complicated billing procedures. I wonder if you'd have even more financial security if you encouraged parents to buy tokens in large quantities by offering a small discount for tokens bought in bulk. For example, individual tokens would cost $50/token, 10 tokens would cost $45/token, and 25 tokens would cost $40/token. That way the students would be reluctant to quit abruptly, because they would already have invested in 25 weeks of lessons.
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