This article helps you diagnose and fix autopay issues in Playground, including charges that didn't run, incorrect frequency settings, and autopay behavior for inactive students.
Understanding How Autopay Works
Autopay in Playground runs at 9:00 AM local time on the scheduled day. It only collects charges that are already posted, have a due date on or before that day, and belong to active students with a non-zero balance. If any of those conditions aren't met, the charge will be skipped that cycle — it won't fail, it just won't run.
Autopay Didn't Run for a Family
Before assuming something is broken, work through this checklist:
From your admin dashboard, navigate to the Billing tab, then click Statements.
Locate the student's statement and check the Autopay column. Confirm it shows Enabled.
Check whether the debit was created after 9:00 AM on the scheduled autopay day, if so, it won't run until the next cycle.
Confirm the debit's due date falls on or before the autopay date. If the due date is in the future, autopay won't pick it up yet.
Verify the student is Active and has a non-zero balance. Autopay doesn't run for inactive students or accounts where credits offset the full balance.
Confirm the billing frequency (weekly vs. monthly) matches the debit schedule.
💡 To collect the charge immediately without waiting for the next autopay cycle, go to Billing > Statements, select the student(s), click Billing actions, and choose Charge Payment Methods.
Changing a Family's Autopay Frequency
If a family needs to switch from monthly to weekly autopay (or vice versa), you can update this from the Statements view:
Navigate to Billing > Statements.
Click Billing actions > Create debit.
Select the student(s) whose frequency you want to change.
Click Edit billing frequency and select Weekly or Monthly.
Click Update to save the change.
Autopay & Inactive Students
Autopay does not run for inactive students, ever. If you need to charge a family whose student is currently inactive, you must trigger it manually:
Navigate to Billing > Statements.
Use the Status filter to show inactive students if they aren't appearing in the list.
Select the student, then click Billing actions > Charge Payment Methods.
🚨 You can add debits to inactive accounts, but autopay will never process them automatically. Always run a manual charge for inactive students.
FAQ
What time does autopay run?
What time does autopay run?
Autopay runs at 9:00 AM local time on the scheduled day. For weekly plans this is typically Friday; for monthly plans it's based on your school's configured billing dates. Only charges that are posted and due by 9:00 AM are included in that run.
Can a family turn off their own autopay?
Can a family turn off their own autopay?
Yes. Families can disable autopay from their account in the Playground family app. Admins can also disable it from the student's Billing tab by editing the billing plan settings.
Can I add a debit to a student who is already inactive?
Can I add a debit to a student who is already inactive?
Yes, you can create debits on inactive accounts from the student's Billing tab. However, autopay will never process those charges automatically. You must run a manual charge via Billing actions > Charge Payment Methods.
A debit was created but didn't get picked up by autopay. Why?
A debit was created but didn't get picked up by autopay. Why?
The most common reasons a debit gets skipped are: it was created after the 9:00 AM cutoff on the scheduled day, the due date is set in the future, the student is inactive, or the account balance is $0 (including cases where a credit offsets the debit). Check each of these in the student's statement view.
How do I collect a missed autopay charge without waiting for the next cycle?
How do I collect a missed autopay charge without waiting for the next cycle?
Navigate to Billing > Statements.
Select the student(s) with the outstanding charge.
Click Billing actions and choose Charge Payment Methods to run a manual charge immediately.