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Getting Ready for Your First Autopay

How Autopay works, what to expect on your first run, and how to avoid common issues.

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Written by Nadiuska
Updated today

If you’re about to run Autopay for the first time, this guide will walk you through what happens and what to check beforehand. A few quick confirmations now can help ensure your first run goes smoothly.


How Autopay Works and What to Confirm Before Your First Run

Autopay automatically charges a family’s saved payment method for posted charges that are due on their account. Once enabled, the system attempts payment on your scheduled billing date.

Before your first Autopay runs, take a moment to confirm the following:

Autopay is enabled in Settings under the Billing tab. Weekly and monthly billing cycles are configured separately, so make sure you are reviewing the correct billing cycle.

Autopay begins processing at 9 a.m. local time on the date that you have set it to run. It does not run again later in the day. If you add a debit after 9 a.m. on your scheduled Autopay date, it will not be included until the next run. Debits must already be posted to student accounts and have a due date assigned. Autopay only attempts payment for charges that exist at the time it runs.

For the smoothest experience, set your Autopay run date to match the due date of your charges. If a debit is due after your Autopay date, it will not be included in that run. Keeping these dates aligned helps ensure predictable billing and avoids confusion for families.


How to Confirm Autopay Is Enabled

You can verify Autopay in two places:

In the Statements tab, you can view which families currently have Autopay turned on.


In an individual student’s profile, open the Billing tab. At the bottom of the page, you will see an Autopay indicator on the listed payment method if is enabled for that account.


How to Confirm Autopay Ran

After your scheduled Autopay date, you can confirm what happened by checking the student’s Credits tab.

If Autopay ran, you will see a credit listed with the description “Autopay Payment.” That entry will appear whether the payment was successful or failed.

If the payment failed, the status will show as failed and the balance will still be outstanding. This means the system attempted the charge, but it did not go through.


If you do not see an “Autopay Payment” listed at all, then Autopay did not run for that account.

It is also helpful to pay attention to the credit description. “Autopay Payment” means the system generated the charge automatically during the scheduled run.


If the description says “Balance Payment,” that means the payment was made manually by an admin or a guardian.




Common Questions About Autopay



Why Was a Family Not Charged?

If a family was not charged during your Autopay run, it is usually for one of these reasons:

The charge was added after Autopay ran:

Autopay begins processing at 9 a.m. local time. If a debit was added after that time on your scheduled Autopay day, it will not be included until the next run.

The debit due date is after your Autopay date:

If the due date is set after the day Autopay runs, Autopay will not pick up that charge for that cycle.

The student is inactive or did not have a balance due:

Autopay does not run for inactive students. It also will not attempt payment if the account balance is zero at the time of the run, including cases where a credit covers the balance.

The student’s billing cycle does not match the billing debit:

Autopay runs based on the student’s assigned billing cycle. If a student is set to a monthly billing cycle but was given a weekly debit, those charges will not align with the Autopay schedule.

If none of these apply to your student and Autopay still did not run, reach out to our Support team and we’ll take a closer look with you.

Why Was the Amount Different Than Expected?

If Autopay ran but the amount was lower than you expected, it may be due to the amount setting selected by the guardian.

Even when Autopay is required, guardians can choose how much Autopay is allowed to charge. Some families set Autopay to charge the full balance, while others may set a specific dollar amount.

For example, if you expected Autopay to run for $150 but it only processed $120, the guardian may have set Autopay to charge a maximum of $120.

You can verify this in the Statements tab. Click the three dots next to the student and select Autopay Settings. The click Show autopay update pay history.



Under the Amount section, you will see one of the following:

If it says “Full balance,” Autopay is set to charge the entire amount due.

If it shows a specific dollar amount, that is the maximum amount Autopay will charge during each run.


What Happens If Autopay Fails? Can It Be Stopped or Edited?

If Autopay processes and fails, the system will still record the attempt in the Credits tab as an “Autopay Payment” with a failed status.

If the failure was due to the family’s payment method, you can either manually charge the account or ask the family to update their payment method and submit a payment.

If the failure was caused by a setup issue, such as billing or due date misalignment, correct the setup first. Once everything is aligned properly, you can manually charge the account to collect the balance. Autopay will then run as expected during the next scheduled cycle.

If you need to stop Autopay for a specific student or family, you can enable Autopay Exemption within the student’s profile. This prevents Autopay from running for that student and any students in their family. This is especially helpful if your location requires Autopay for most families but needs an exception for one.


Autopay dates cannot be customized for individual students. The Autopay schedule follows the billing cycle assigned to the student. If you need different Autopay timing, that would require assigning the student to a different billing cycle.

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