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SMS for accountants & bursars

Make every school payment easier to account for.

Bring collection, balances and financial records into the same routine. Give the school a clearer account of what came in, what went out and what still needs attention.

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For the people responsible for school finances.

Academium SMSIllustration
Finance · Family account

From payment to a clear record

₦120,000Invoice total
₦80,000Payment recorded
01

Family invoice

Two children · First term

Issued
02

Payment receipt

Linked to the fee record

Recorded
03

Outstanding balance

₦40,000 remaining

Follow up
  1. 1Raise the invoice
  2. 2Record the payment
  3. 3Review the balance

Example records · Available features depend on plan, setup and staff permissions.

Built around your responsibilities

A clearer trail from collection to review.

School finances involve more than recording a payment. Connect families, fees, receipts and accounts so the next person does not have to reconstruct the story.

01

Prepare a fee bill that fits the right students.

Set up the school’s fee types and class templates, then allocate the correct bill to students for the relevant class, section and term. Keep the charge clear before collection begins.

  • Distinguish new and returning students.

    A class can have fee arrangements for new intake and returning students. Choose the fee types and amounts that apply instead of assuming one bill fits every student in the class.

  • Set the billing period and due date.

    Allocate the template to the right students and academic period. If the school uses fines, configure the supported fixed or percentage arrangement and how it repeats.

  • Preserve the charges already in use.

    Amounts already paid against are locked. Fee types can be archived while past bills remain intact, helping prevent a later setup change from rewriting an earlier collection.

Collection starts from an organised bill with the correct students, period and charges.

Related feature guides
02

Build a useful picture of students still owing.

The outstanding fee report helps you identify the students and families that need follow-up. It is designed to answer a more specific question than how much the school collected today.

  • Filter by payment progress.

    Choose all records with an outstanding balance, students with no payment yet, or those who have paid in part. Use the allocated fee breakdown when you also need to distinguish fully paid records.

  • Group the conversation sensibly.

    Group outstanding fees by family or class. A family view brings siblings into the same conversation; a class view helps organise a collection review around the school’s class structure.

  • Return to the invoice and the period.

    Check the underlying charges, discounts, payments and remaining amounts. Earlier unpaid fees stay visible with their original session and term. Supported fee reports can be exported to Excel or CSV for further review.

You leave with a specific list of who owes and what is outstanding, ready for the school’s own follow-up process.

Related feature guides
03

Record a payment with a clear before-and-after balance.

Work from the student’s invoice, which separates unpaid, partly paid and fully paid fees. Choose what the payment is settling and keep the transaction understandable for the next enquiry.

  • Collect the full amount or a part payment.

    Pay all fees or select particular outstanding fees, including older terms. Choose the supported allocation approach: spread the amount, settle in sequence, or clear earlier balances first.

  • Check before saving.

    A transaction preview can show the totals, how the money will be shared and the balance afterwards. Record the payment method, school account and a remark, then produce the receipt.

  • Keep corrections accountable.

    Payment history is grouped by transaction, so one payment covering several fees stays understandable. Reversals require a reason, notify the school owner and retain who made the correction and why.

A payment has an invoice context, a remaining balance and a receipt that can be explained later.

Related feature guides
04

Work with the family as well as the individual child.

Families may have more than one child in the school and may make one payment covering several bills. Connected family records help you deal with that situation without losing each child’s share.

  • Take one family payment.

    Family collection brings the children’s invoices together. Payment history shows the transaction and each child’s share, while you can focus on one child when the enquiry concerns a particular bill.

  • Use available family funds.

    Where the family wallet is enabled and holds a balance, authorised staff can use it as a payment method. Wallet and fee records keep the family’s available funds distinct from what students still owe.

  • Review the arrangements your school enables.

    Virtual accounts, scholarships and other finance features support different school arrangements. Their availability follows the plan, school setup and staff permissions, rather than being assumed for every collector.

A family can have one coherent payment conversation while the children’s individual fee records remain clear.

Related feature guides
05

Treat adjustments as decisions, not disappearing balances.

Discounts, scholarships, removals, reversals and write-offs do different jobs. Keep the reason for a balance change understandable and use the school’s approval arrangements where they apply.

  • Keep the type of adjustment clear.

    Remove an inapplicable fee from one student’s bill, apply supported discounts or scholarship arrangements, and review the adjustment reports. A removed fee remains available to restore through its own workflow.

  • Request a controlled write-off.

    When a fee write-off approval rule is enabled, a permitted member of staff submits a request that waits for the required levels. Follow My requests to see its progress rather than treating submission as completion.

  • Read the final result.

    The chain and decision remain visible. If a payment arrives while the request is waiting, the completed write-off is adjusted to the amount still owed at that point.

The school can explain why an amount changed and who agreed to a controlled write-off.

Related feature guides
06

Check the financial records before they become a reporting problem.

Connect fee collection with school accounts and financial reports, then use the available checks to investigate exceptions rather than relying only on totals.

  • Review income, expenses and account activity.

    Use the school’s financial records and reports to follow the transactions that make up its balances. Account statements and income-versus-expense views help explain a figure in context.

  • Investigate discrepancies.

    Bank reconciliation supports the school’s bank review. Fee discrepancy reports highlight concerns such as duplicate payments or late discounts, with access to the affected student or invoice for investigation.

  • Keep the right report for the question.

    Outstanding, allocated, payment and adjustment reports answer different questions. Choose the relevant academic period and available filters before exporting a report for leadership.

Your reports can be traced back to the records that produced them, with exceptions reviewed rather than overlooked.

Related feature guides
07

Move staff pay through preparation, review and recording.

Payroll has its own working process and approval levels. With the relevant permissions, finance staff can prepare pay, submit it for review and record the approved payment.

  • Prepare the pay details.

    Work with pay grades, allowances and deductions, and identify staff who have not been assigned a grade. Supported one-month adjustments let an authorised user handle an exceptional payment or deduction in the relevant run.

  • Follow the payroll decision.

    A run moves through generated, submitted, approved and paid stages. Named payroll approvers review submissions through the separate payroll approval process, including the breakdown and decision record.

  • Finish with a payment record.

    Record the chosen account, method and date; payment history stays grouped by run. Payslips, bank payment files for supported banks, salary advances and pension records support the wider pay routine. A bank file still needs the school’s own bank payment process.

Staff pay has a visible preparation and approval path, followed by a recorded payment rather than an assumed disbursement.

Related feature guides

Thoughtful safeguards

Financial responsibility, with appropriate access.

The Accountant role focuses on money and keeps teaching assessments outside its remit. Schools can also define custom staff roles for responsibilities such as bursar work, choosing the permissions each needs.

Read the SMS FAQs
FAQs

Questions from accountants & bursars

A few useful details before you bring your team into SMS.

Ask us about your school Browse all SMS FAQs

Yes. SMS links children to family records, with family invoices and wallet features available for supported financial workflows. Staff still need the relevant permissions to view or manage financial information.

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