Understanding Your Billing Cycle
If you use automatic collection, you configure a billing cycle using two settings: how often invoices are generated (the invoice interval) and which day of the month the cycle starts from (the anchor day). A billing cycl
What Is a Billing Cycle?
A billing cycle defines the recurring pattern for when invoices are generated. It applies when you are using automatic collection mode. Together, the invoice interval and anchor day define the exact date range each invoice will cover.
For example, if you set a monthly interval with an anchor day of the 1st, the platform will generate a draft invoice at the start of each month covering all lessons in that month. If you set the anchor day to the 15th, each billing period runs from the 15th to the 14th of the following month.
Invoice Interval
The invoice interval is how many months each billing period covers. Common values are:
- 1 month — bill monthly (most common for ongoing weekly lessons).
- 2 months — bill every two months.
- 3 months — bill quarterly (common for studios that bill per school term).
The interval you set determines how many lessons are counted per invoice. A longer interval means more lessons and a higher invoice amount per billing cycle.
Anchor Day
The anchor day is the day of the month that your billing cycle is anchored to. It determines when each billing period starts and, in automatic mode, when draft invoices are created.
For example:
- Anchor day = 1 → each billing period starts on the 1st of the month.
- Anchor day = 15 → each billing period starts on the 15th of the month.
Billing In Advance vs Billing After the Fact
Because calendar billing counts from the schedule, you can generate invoices at any point relative to the lessons — before or after they happen. The timing is up to you:
| Approach | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Billing in advance | Generate invoices at the start of the billing period, before lessons have happened. Families pay for upcoming lessons based on what is already scheduled. |
| Billing after the fact | Generate invoices at the end of the period, once all lessons have taken place. The schedule reflects the lessons that occurred, so the invoice is accurate. If you removed any lessons from the schedule during the month, the invoice will reflect those changes. |
A Worked Example
Billing Cycles and Individual Student Contracts
Each student enrolment can have its own billing cycle. This means you can have one student on a monthly cycle starting the 1st, another on a monthly cycle starting the 15th, and a third on a quarterly cycle — all at the same time.
This is useful when you take on new students at different points in the year and want their billing to start cleanly from when they joined, rather than forcing everyone onto the same fixed calendar.
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