Not every charge follows a recurring weekly or monthly schedule. Playground makes it easy to bill families for one-time fees, semester-based tuition, and state assistance co-pays - all using the same Create Debits workflow you use for your recurring tuition plans.
This article walks through the setup for single-site programs. If you operate multiple locations, see the multi-site version of this article for guidance on managing these charges at the enterprise level.
When to Use a One-Time Charge
Use the one-time billing method for any of the following at your center:
Registration fees - a flat charge collected at the start of enrollment
Supply fees - materials, activity, or consumable fees billed once per term
Semester-based tuition - programs that bill tuition in one or two lump sums per year rather than weekly or monthly
State assistance co-pays - the portion of tuition owed by a family receiving subsidy funding
How to Create a One-Time Fee, Semester Charge, or Co-Pay
All non-recurring charges at your center follow the same core steps.
Step 1: Navigate to Billing → Overview → Create Debits
From your Admin Dashboard, click the Billing tab in the sidebar, select Overview, and click the Create Debits button. This is the same starting point you use for recurring tuition plans at your center.
💡 If you're creating a charge for a single student, you can also access Create Debits directly from their profile. Navigate to the student's profile, click the Billing tab, then click Actions → Create Debits.
Step 2: Select the Student(s)
Identify and select the student(s) at your center who should receive the charge. For semester billing, you can select all active students at once, or use filters to target specific classrooms, programs, or enrollment statuses.
🚨 Only select multiple students at once if they'll receive the exact same charge amount.
Step 3: Name the Charge Descriptively
Assign a clear and professional name to the debit. Names should be meaningful on a family's statement. Recommended naming conventions:
Semester billing: "Fall 2025 Tuition" or "Spring Supply Fee"
Registration fees: "2025–2026 Registration Fee"
State-funded families: "State Assistance Co-Pay"
Descriptive naming ensures both you and your families can easily identify charges on financial statements.
Step 4: Set the Amount
Enter the specific dollar amount to be billed.
💡 Co-pay note: If a family at your center receives state assistance, enter only the co-pay amount the family owes — not the full tuition rate. See the Co-Pays section below for more detail.
Step 5: Set Frequency to One-Time (Paid All at Once)
Under the billing schedule, select Paid all at once rather than weekly or monthly. This ensures the charge posts once on the specified date and does not repeat.
You can also select Recurring with a start and end date or Split into even installments if the semester charge should be broken into a set number of payments (e.g., two semester payments due at the start of each term at your center).
Step 6: Set the Post Date and Due Date
Post date: the day the charge is sent to the family's account and visible on their statement. Setting this in advance allows families to review charges before payment is due.
Due date: the day payment is expected. For semester billing at your center, this is typically the first day of the term or a predetermined enrollment deadline.
Step 7: Review and Create
Review the item overview for accuracy, including all post dates and due dates. Select how you'd like to notify guardians - via app notification, email, or no notification - and click Create Debits.
The charge will appear on the family's account and be reflected on their billing statement on the scheduled date.
Co-Pays (State Assistance)
There are two ways to manage co-pays for families at your center, depending on whether you want subsidy details visible to guardians.
Option A: Co-Pay as a Charge (Recommended for Most Programs)
If you expect to receive subsidy payments for a student at your center but don't need families to see the subsidy amount, create a billing plan that reflects only the co-pay the parent owes.
Navigate to Billing → Overview and click Create Debits.
Select the student(s) at your center receiving the subsidy.
Create a billing item named "State Assistance Co-Pay" (or similar).
Enter only the co-pay amount - the portion the family is responsible for paying.
Set the billing frequency to One-Time or a recurring schedule, as appropriate for your program.
Click Create Debits.
💡 Split families: If the co-pay is split between two sides of a family, add a separate co-pay item for each side and assign each item to the correct payer.
Option B: Co-Pay as a Discount
If you want the original tuition amount and the subsidized discount both visible on the family's statement, apply a discount to the full charge to reduce it to the family's co-pay amount.
Example: Tuition is $650, the family's co-pay is $100. Create the charge for $650 and add a $550 discount with the description "State Subsidy."
Navigate to Billing → Overview and click Create Debits.
Enter the full tuition amount as the charge.
Click + Add discount and enter the subsidy amount (flat amount or percentage).
Add the agency name in the Discount description field for clarity.
Click Create Debits.
For full instructions on recording agency payments and tracking subsidy deposits at your center, see Track Subsidies.
Tips for Semester Billing
Name charges by term: "Fall 2025 Tuition" is far more useful on a statement than a generic name.
Use "Split into even installments" if families pay semester tuition in two lump sums. This creates two equal installments within a single plan rather than two separate billing plans.
Select multiple students at once: for registration or supply fees that are the same across every student at your center, select all students simultaneously in Step 2.
Recurring billing plans can be created for up to one year at a time. You can extend the plan from the student's profile if needed.
Using Saved Items for Recurring One-Time Fees
If you charge the same registration fee or supply fee year after year at your center, save time by creating a Saved Item so you don't have to re-enter the name, amount, and description each enrollment season.
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to Billing → Overview.
Click the Saved items tab and click Create new item.
Enter a Name, Price, and optional Description.
Click Save.
The next time you create the charge, select the saved item from the list instead of building it from scratch.
Fee Approvals
Fee Approvals are a flexible way to bill families for charges that fall outside a standard recurring tuition plan at your center. While not used for semester billing or registration fees, they're closely related to attendance-based co-pay and daily charge scenarios.
Fee Approvals live at Billing → Fee Approvals. Playground generates these charges automatically at your center but does not apply them to a family's balance until you manually approve each one. This protects your families against accidental charges.
The main fee types are:
Overages: charges for late pick-ups or early drop-offs beyond scheduled hours
Late payment fees: automatically generated when a debit becomes overdue (must be enabled by the Playground Support team)
Program check-in fees: flat-rate charges triggered when a student is checked into a specific program (e.g., hot lunch)
Program time fees: time-based charges for a student's duration in a program (e.g., tutoring)
Program enrollment fees: one-time fees for enrollment into an optional program (e.g., an extracurricular activity)
Daily attendance fees: charges based on a student's daily, hourly, or per-minute attendance when using attendance-based billing
For each pending fee approval, you can take one of three actions:
Charge: immediately adds the amount to the student's ledger
Forgive: dismisses the charge without adding it (the record is retained internally)
Edit: adjusts the amount before charging
💡 You can select multiple charges at once using the checkboxes on the left of the table to bulk Charge or Forgive.
Daily Attendance Fees and Attendance-Based Billing
If your program bills based on actual attendance rather than a fixed schedule, you can set a custom daily billing rate per student at your center.
Navigate to My School → Students and select the student's profile.
Click the Settings tab and toggle on Custom Daily Billing Rate.
Enter the specific billing rate and unit of time (day, hour, or minute).
Click Save.
After each day a student checks in, a charge will automatically appear under Billing → Fee Approvals → Daily Attendance Fees. Review and approve charges before they post to the family's account.