Playground billing gets you paid on time every time. Billing items are the core of Playground billing. Billing plans are built around items that can be set up to bill on a regular weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly basis, or they can be billed as one-off charges.
This guide will cover how to bill families.
🚨 Before jumping into creating saved items, discounts, split payments, and more, make sure you’ve completed your initial billing setup below:
Create Billing Plans
From the web dashboard, you can create a billing plan for one or multiple students simultaneously.
Navigate to the Billing tab and then Overview. Select Create Invoice from the Overview page (or from the Statements or Transactions pages).
If you’re creating a plan for one student, you can also access the Create Invoice button directly on the student’s payments profile.
Add students
Select the student(s) you want to create a billing plan for and then click Continue.
💡 All students selected here will get the same billing plan you create in the next step. Only select multiple students at one time if they have the exact same charge amount and frequency.
If students have different frequencies (i.e., weekly vs. monthly), you'll create charges for one frequency first and then go through the Create charge flow for the other frequency afterward.
Use the filter or search option to show only students in specific classrooms, programs, or statuses.
Add items
Select an existing item or create a new one.
Amount. Enter the amount for the charge.
Add an optional description. This will appear on the family invoice and can be used to provide additional information about the charge.
Discount. You can add a discount to the charge that will apply to all the selected students. You can add discounts for individual students later after creating the plan. Any discounts applied to a charge will appear under the Credit column on the statement sent to families.
To add a discount, click + Add discount to open the discount menu.
Enter the Discount name. The discount will be saved as a template for easy use in the future.
Enter the Discount amount. Discounts can either be a percentage or flat amount.
The discount will be applied to each installment (if there are more than one).
Optionally add a Discount tag.
Optionally add a Discount description.
Optionally add an Accounting code to classify the discount type on your General Ledger.
[Advanced & optional] Add accounting code. You can assign specific accounting or GL codes to this charge for exporting transactions to a general ledger.
💡 Please note this is generally only used if you have an accounting department
Billing schedule. Select how often (if ever) installments recur. You can create a one-time, weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly bill. Semi-monthly billing follows a unique process, click here to learn how to bill semi-monthly.
Items can have the following schedules:
Paid all at once - Charge the total balance at one time on the selected due date.
Enter the invoice date and due date.
Recurring with a start and end date - Charge the item multiple times into the future until the selected end date.
Choose the charge frequency (weekly, every other week, or monthly). Then select the first day the invoice will post and the last due date.
Recurring for a set number of cycles - Charge the item multiple times into the future for a set number of installments.
Choose the charge frequency (weekly, every other week, or monthly). Then select the Duration (the number of times the charge should recur). Enter the date the first invoice will post and the day of the week or month the payment will be due.
Split into even installments - Divide the total item amount based on the number of recurring installments.
Choose the installment frequency (weekly, every other week, or monthly). Then select the Duration (the number of times the charge should recur). Enter the date the first invoice will post and the day of the week or month the payment will be due.
Item overview. Here you can see the details for the item, including the specific dates the charges will be posted to families, when the charges will be due, the service dates for each installment (if applicable), and when the charge will be included in autopay.
Post date - Choose when invoices are sent to families before payment is due. This allows families to review their charges before paying.
Due date - When payment will be due. Autopay will run weekly or monthly based on the child’s billing frequency.
Optional service dates - This shows the families the dates of service for the charges. Service date settings are configured under the Payment Settings tab where you can default the service dates to be for the upcoming or prior billing period.
Prorate charges
If a child is enrolling or leaving in the middle of a billing period and you only want to charge them for the time they will be enrolled, you can prorate their installment charges.
Playground prorates from the first to the last day of service, divided by the total days in the month (or week).
When creating a charge, you will notice the service dates in blue under the line items for your created charge. You can click on the blue service dates to adjust the service dates to define the proration.
Edit the installment service dates to reflect the days the student will be in attendance
Check the Prorate? box to automatically calculate the amount. You can hover over the ? icon to see the calculation details.
Click Save item
Click Save item to add the item to the plan.
Add as many additional items as you’d like. You can add multiple items with different schedules and amounts.
Click Continue
Review the sample invoice and toggle the setting on the right side if you want families to be notified when these charges are created.
When ready, click Create Charges.
Semi-monthly Billing
Follow the instructions below or watch this video guide.
Start by setting up the first payment and click Save item once completed. You will need to add the item, select paid all at once, and then select the invoice date, and due date.
For example, if charges are due on the 1st and 15th of every month, set up the first item and its recurring charges with a due date of the 1st.
Click Add item to begin the same process for the second billing due date of the month, for example, the 15th due date.
You should have two items listed with two separate due dates twice throughout the same month.
View Student Billing Plans
To view a list of all your students and their balances, navigate to Billing and select Statements. From here, you can select the student whose bill you want to see. You can also directly navigate to their profile and click on their Payments tab. Once on the student profile, click on the item name to view all installments in a plan.
Edit Billing Plans
Once student billing plans are created, you can edit them to adjust charges, add discounts, manage co-pays, or delete them entirely.
Edit an Active Billing Plan
Prefer to watch a video? Click here.
Navigate to Billing and select Statements to see a list of all your students and their balances.
Click on the child whose plan you’d like to edit. You can also directly navigate to their profile and click on their Payments tab.
For recurring items
Edit the entire payment plan by clicking on the three dots dropdown menu and selecting Edit
This will let you edit all installments of the payment plan, even ones that have been paid already. Saving will override any other customization you have made on individual installments.
You’ll be able to update the amount, description, discount(s), and optional accounting code.
When ready, click Save
To edit a specific installment, click on the payment plan row to drill down and see all installments.
Click Edit to edit the specific installment’s amount, invoice date, due date, description, discount(s), accounting code, and service dates. These changes will only apply to this specific installment. When ready, click Save.
You can add an additional installment to the plan by clicking + and confirming the amount, discount, post date, due date, and description.
You can delete any installment by clicking on the trash icon. You can delete installments in the middle of the billing plan without having to delete the entire plan.
For one-off items
Click the three dots dropdown menu and select Edit
Update the amount, invoice date, due date, description, discount(s), accounting code, and service dates.
When ready, click Save
Create Saved Items
Simplify creating student billing plans by using a saved item. Saved items contain some of the core reusable components of the charge (name, amount, description, and optional accounting code).
💡 The best practice is to create a few core templates (saved items) for your tuition rates so you can easily apply these to students when you create their billing plans.
From the admin dashboard, navigate to the Billing tab and select Overview.
Scroll down to the Saved items section and select Create New Item
Name. This is what the item will show up as when applying it in future billing plans.
Price. Set the default amount the saved item will be. This amount can be changed when applied to a billing plan.
Description. Family facing description that will be on invoices and can provide context about the charge.
Accounting code (optional). You can assign specific accounting or GL codes to this charge if you plan on export transactions in Playground to a general ledger
Click Save
Manage Saved Items
Saved items can be edited anytime to ensure billing plans are set up with the latest rates.
From the admin dashboard, navigate to the Billing tab and select Overview.
Scroll down to the Saved Items section.
Click on the three dots next to the Saved Item you want to edit.
Select Edit or Delete
If editing, change the Name, Price, Description, or Accounting Code. When ready, click Save.
If deleting, click Delete to confirm the action.
🚨 If you change the price and want to apply the new changes to any existing student billing plans created, select the Edit All Future Debits With This Name checkbox. This will apply the new rate to any future charges with the same saved item name.
Manage Discounts
Prefer to watch a video? Click here.
Find your saved discounts by navigating to the Billing tab and then selecting Overview. At the top of the overview screen, select Discounts.
Create Saved Discounts
To create a new saved discount, click the Create a New Discount button on the right side of your screen.
Add a Name. This will make it easy to find and reuse the saved discount when making billing plans.
Add a Discount Amount. Discounts can either be a percentage or a flat amount.
Add an optional Discount Tag and/or Discount Description.
Add an optional Accounting code to classify the discount type on your General Ledger.
When ready, click Save.
View, Edit, and Delete Saved Discounts
To view your currently saved discounts, navigate to the Billing tab, select Overview, and then select Discounts at the top of your screen.
Click the three dots (• • •) to open the actions menu.
To edit the saved discount, click Edit and make any changes you'd like before clicking Save.
To delete the saved discount, click Delete and confirm you'd like to delete the saved discount.
🚨 Once deleted, a discount cannot be restored. This action will not remove the discount from existing or past plans; it simply makes the discount template unavailable for future use.
Split Family Billing
Not all student balances are paid by a single-payer; families often need to split payments among multiple payers.
Playground's split family support allows you to assign items to each side of the family, simplifying and managing complex split billing needs.
🚨 Split family payers will only see and be notified of the amounts they are responsible for.
To assign an item to a split family, make sure you’ve properly set up the split family by following these instructions.
Follow the same instructions for creating an item as described above.
Make sure to choose the side of the family the charge should apply to.
That's it. You've assigned a charge to part of the family and can follow the rest of the instructions for creating a billing plan.
💡 All payers must be added as primary guardians on the student's account. They will also need to add their own payment method. End-of-year tax documents will show payments made with each payment method per family.
Add Copays to Billing Plans
There are two ways to manage copays in Playground. They can be added as charges or as discounts. See below for an explanation of each option.
Copay Charges
If you expect to receive subsidy payments for a student but do not need or want families to see that amount, you can create or update the student’s billing plan so that only the copay amount that the parent owes is reflected.
From you Admin Dashboard, navigate to the Billing Overview page.
Click Create Charge to create a new billing plan.
Create a new billing plan or edit an existing billing plan to add the copay name & charge amount
💡 Edit the item to change the amount to the amount of the student’s copay!
If you have split families, each paying part of the copay, you'll have to add copay items to the child's billing plan and assign one item to each side of the family.
💡 Make sure you only assign the copay amount that each side is responsible for.
Copay Discounts
If you want the original amount and the subsidized amount displayed to families, you can add a discount to the original amount to reduce it to the amount the family should pay, noting the agency in the description. For example, if you charge $650 and the payer has a $100 copay, you can edit the charge to add a $550 discount with the description ‘Subsidy.’
Sibling Billing
Many programs have families with siblings enrolled. When billing families, it's strongly recommended that siblings be billed separately on different billing plans instead of charging the entire family's bill to one child's balance.
This method is the easiest to manage and will result in clearer, more accurate reporting & accounting. This will also result in more accurate end-of-year tax reporting for families. It also minimizes the chances of confusion or frustration for your families.
Families will still see one invoice to pay but can drill in and see the charges per child. Playground provides both family and individual child ledger views. Families can pay their entire balance at once and avoid having to pay multiple transaction fees.
Attendance Based Billing
If your program bills based on attendance, you can set up custom billing rates for students based on their daily, hourly, or minute attendance.
This attendance-based method of billing is determined by the time students spend checked in to your school. With this method, families are billed in arrears.
💡 If your program bills in advance of care but you still want to bill for hourly or daily time slots, check out our guide on setting up drop-in care. The drop-in billing method allows you to set up a system for families to reserve and pay for time in advance of care.
Set a Custom Attendance-based Billing Rate Per Child
From your Admin Dashboard, navigate to the Students tab under My School.
Select the student and click on their Settings tab.
Under the Billing section, locate Custom Daily Billing Rate and toggle it on.
Enter the child's Billing Rate and Unit of Time.
Click Save.
That's it! Now, when that child is checked in, the system will automatically calculate the amount the family owes based on that custom rate.
Charging families billing rate per child
Navigate to Billing and click on the Fee Approvals tab.
Select Daily Attendance Fees to see a list of the accrued charges by week. This will show you a list of attendance-based charges by day and child. You can sort and filter this table to configure your view.
You can see one week at a time and switch between weeks by selecting the Week Of dropdown.
You can sort by clicking the column header. You can sort by date, by first or last name alphabetically, by billable time, by fee amount, or by latest check-out time.
Click the ⚙️ icon at the top right of the table to reorder the columns according to your preferences.
Select Charge, Edit, or Forgive on a charge-by-charge basis
Charge will immediately add the charge amount to the family's balance. The family will be able to see the amount and the attendance date.
Edit allows you to change the amount and bill the family a different amount.
Forgive will not add the charge to the family's account. The system will retain the record that this fee was incurred, but forgiven fees will not be displayed to families.
Bulk Charge or Forgive: You can select the check boxes on the left side of the table to select multiple charges and charge or forgive the fees at once.