Knowledge Base

The Same Flow for All Billing Types

Whether you're generating calendar-based invoices, monthly invoices, term invoices, or lesson pack invoices, the process follows the same structure. The parameters you configure in the middle steps vary by billing type, but the overall flow — navigate, configure, generate, review, send — is consistent.

Step by Step

1. Navigate to the Billing Area

Open the Billing section from the main navigation. This is where all invoice generation begins, regardless of billing type.

2. Select Billing Type

Choose the billing type for this generation run: calendar-based, monthly, term, or lesson pack. This tells the system which billing contracts to look at and how to calculate invoice amounts.

Only billing types with active manual contracts appear in the generator.

3. Configure Parameters

The parameters you set depend on the billing type:

4. Set Scope

Choose whether to generate invoices for individual enrolments, group enrolments, or both. The system surfaces only the students and groups whose billing contract matches the selected billing type.

5. Select Recipients

The system displays a list of eligible students or groups for this billing type. You can select all of them or choose specific recipients for this run. This is useful if you want to invoice in batches — for example, generating for a subset of students now and returning to generate for others later.

6. Generate

Click generate. The system creates draft invoices based on the selected billing type, parameters, and recipients. Generation is fast — drafts appear immediately in the review panel.

If key invoice settings such as billing help email, due days, or payment instructions are incomplete, Octavia warns you before you continue so you can fix them first.

What happens if you run generation again for the same students and period depends on the billing type:

• Calendar-based and PAYG — if a draft already exists for that student, enrolment, and date range, the system updates the existing draft rather than creating a new one. Any new line items are added to the existing draft. This means you can safely re-run generation after adding or changing lessons without ending up with duplicate invoices.
• Monthly and term billing — the system will not allow a second draft invoice for the same student and billing period (month or term). Attempting to generate again results in no change. If you need to amend an existing monthly or term draft, edit it directly from the review panel.
• Lesson packs — currently, running generation when a draft already exists for that student creates a new invoice rather than updating the existing one. This behaviour will be updated in a future release to match the calendar-based approach. In the meantime, if you need to issue a second pack to a student who already has a draft, be aware that two separate draft invoices will exist and you will need to manage them in the review panel.

7. Review

After generation, you enter review mode. This is where you check every draft before anything is sent to families.

In review mode you can:

• Check each draft — see the student name, billing period, line items, and total
• Edit individual drafts — adjust the amount or due date on any draft. This doesn't affect other drafts or the billing contract
• Edit due dates in bulk — select multiple invoices and set the same due date for all eligible drafts in one step
• Delete individual drafts — remove a draft if you don't want to send it this period. Deleting a draft doesn't cancel the enrolment or billing contract; it simply discards this particular invoice
• Send selected or all drafts — when you're satisfied, send the invoices. You can send all at once or choose individual drafts to send while leaving others in review

Drafts can remain in review as long as you need. There's no time limit — they sit as drafts until you send or delete them.

When you open a draft in review mode, you can move through the generated invoices one by one from the invoice detail panel.

8. Send

When you send a draft, its status changes from draft to sent. The invoice is delivered by email and is visible in the Family Hub.

Octavia chooses the email recipient using the student's billing access settings:

• If the student has billing access in the Family Hub and has their own email address, the invoice is sent to the student directly.
• Otherwise, the invoice is sent to the payment-responsible parent.
• If no payment-responsible parent has been set, Octavia falls back to the first linked parent.

This means adult or older students with billing access can receive their own invoices, while younger students' invoices usually go to a parent. See Sending Invoices and Receipts.

If you need to change which parent receives billing emails, update the payment-responsible parent on the student's record. See Setting Up Parent Accounts.

Before sending, Octavia pre-fills the recipient email for each invoice and lets you adjust it. If an invoice has no email address, it is skipped rather than sent.

After the Invoice Is Sent

Once sent, invoices follow the standard lifecycle:

• Families receive the invoice and can view it in the Family Hub
• You can still change the due date while an invoice is sent or overdue. Amounts, line items, and other invoice details remain locked
• Payment can be made online (if Stripe is connected) or recorded manually by you
• The invoice status updates as payments are received: sent → partially paid → paid
• Invoices that need to be cancelled can be voided. See Voiding an Invoice
• Receipts can be sent once payment is recorded. See Sending Invoices and Receipts

Billing-Type-Specific Guides

Each billing type has its own guide with details on how invoice amounts are calculated and any billing-type-specific considerations:

• Calendar-Based Billing
• Lesson Packs: Creating a Lesson Pack Invoice
• Monthly Billing: Generating Monthly Invoices
• Term Billing: Generating Term Invoices

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Related articles:

• Invoice Statuses Explained
• Recording a Payment
• Sending Invoices and Receipts
• Custom Invoices and Custom Line Items
• Voiding an Invoice
• Money Reports — see how your invoiced and received income is reported across a financial year