From the Admin dashboard, you can manage all aspects of guardian billing. You can add and remove cards and charge payment methods on file. You can also enable or disable autopay per family and view in-depth information regarding any guardian payments.
Guardian Payment Methods
Guardians can make payments via the Playground app or website using a credit card, debit card, or ACH. Please note that all payment methods include a processing fee. You can choose who covers the processing fee in your payment settings.
Add a Credit Card as a Payment Method
Playground enables billing administrators to add a credit card as a payment method on a payer's behalf.
🚨 Administrators cannot add a bank account for payers. Please share the instructions linked here with guardians, explaining how they can connect a bank account.
To add a credit card to a student's profile, follow the instructions below:
From your admin dashboard, click on the Students tab under My School.
Click on the profile of the student to whom you wish to add a payment method.
Click on the Payments tab at the top of the page and scroll down to the Payment Methods section.
Click on Add Payment Method towards the right of your screen.
Select the guardian you wish to assign this payment method to.
You'll see a list of the current guardians on the account, click on their profile to select them.
Enter the Card Number, Expiration Date, CVC, and Zip Code.
When you're ready, click Add Payment Method.
View Payment Methods on File
To view all credit cards and bank accounts a family has on file, follow the instructions below:
From your admin dashboard, click on the Students tab under My School.
Click on the profile of the student to whom you wish to add a payment method.
Click on the Payments tab at the top of the page and then scroll down to the Payment Methods section.
All payment methods added to the account will be listed. Each listed payment method will have the following information:
A card or bank icon identifying the payment method type.
Expiration date
Date added
Assigned guardian
If autopay is enabled, there will be an
Autopaybadge next to the payment method that will automatically be charged for autopay.
Charge a Guardian's Payment Method
Billing administrators can manually charge guardian payment methods. This is often if an expected autopay doesn't run (if there's a failed payment, insufficient funds, etc.) or if there are additional payments to be collected outside of a typical recurring tuition plan.
Manually Charge a Student
It's best practice to create a billing plan for payments that you need to collect. However, if you need to manually charge a guardian's payment method, follow the instructions below:
Click the Students tab under My School.
Click the profile of the student to whom you wish to add a payment method.
Click the Payments tab at the top of the page.
Click the blue Actions button at the top-right of the screen and then click Charge Payment Method.
The Create a New Payment window will open. Select the payment method from the Payment Source dropdown.
You can add a new payment method from this dropdown by clicking on Add Payment Method +.
Enter the amount you want to charge.
The current balance on the account will be displayed under the student's name.
Enter a description for the charge in the Description field.
[Optional]Elect to save this as a new item on the student's statement or hold as a deposit. See below for an explanation of each option.
Save this as a new item on the student's statement: If checked, it will create a new item on the student's Payments tab for the same amount as the charge.
Hold as deposit: If checked, the charge will not apply to any invoice until manually applied by an admin.
Click on Charge in blue to confirm and charge the payment method.
Manually Charge Siblings Together
In many cases, administrators may want to charge a family's card one time for multiple siblings.
Click the Students tab under My School.
Click the profile of one of the siblings who you want to charge.
Click the Payments tab at the top of the page.
Click the blue Actions button at the top-right of the screen and then click Charge Payment Method.
The Create a New Payment window will open. Select the payment method from the Payment Source dropdown. If the student has siblings, each sibling will appear in the window. Specify that amount should be paid to each student's profile.
Click the blue Charge button. The charges will apply to each student's account.
Manually Charge Multiple Students
Navigate to Statements on the Billing tab and click Overdue.
Select the checkbox to the left of any student's name to charge (or select the top left checkbox to select all students).
Once all students are selected, click Charge in the top gray header row.
Enter the amount to bill each student, or click Set Amounts to Balance to bulk add charges for all students. The current balance for each student is displayed under their name for easy reference.
Select a Payment Method for each child, or click Set Autopay Payment Methods to set everyone's payment method.
When ready, click Charge to charge the selected payment methods for the specified amount manually.
View Charge Update History
After a billing administrator creates a billing plan, there may be times when specific installments or charges need editing. Playground automatically tracks and records all changes made, providing details about what was changed, by whom, and when.
💡 A charge's update history can be viewed from the student's profile in the Payments tab or the Debit Transactions dashboard under the Transactions tab in Billing.
Click on the Students tab under My School
Click on the profile of the student to whom you wish to add a payment method.
Click on the Payments tab at the top of the page.
Use the search bar under the debits tab to locate the charge.
Click on the three dots next to the charge you want to view.
For multiple installment plans, click on the charge name to open the plan and view the installments.
Click View.
In the Transaction Details window, click on Show Payment Update History.
View Payment Update History
After a guardian makes a payment, there may be times when the transaction needs to be edited (e.g., for offline payments, changing the amount, date, or description). Playground automatically tracks and records all changes made to the payment transaction, providing billing administrators with details about what was changed, by whom, and when.
💡 Payment update history can be viewed in two places: the student's profile under the Payments tab and the Credit Transactions dashboard under the Transactions tab in Billing.
Click on the Students tab under My School.
Click on the profile of the student to whom you wish to add a payment method.
Click on the Payments tab at the top of the page and then click the Credits tab.
Locate the payment and click on the three dots next to the payment.
Click View.
On the Transaction details window, click on Show Payment Update History.
If a physical copy of this window is needed, click the Print icon in the bottom left corner.
Manage Autopay
Autopay automatically charges a family's balance using their listed payment method. Families can enable this setting themselves (instructions linked here), or it can be mandated by billing administrators.
View Family Autopay Status
Playground makes it easy to quickly see if families are enrolled in autopay or not. Under the Billing tab, click on Statements to see a list of all student balances along with their autopay status.
There's an aggregated number showing the autopay participation across the entire program. This number shows the % and total number of students that have autopay turned on.
Hover or the Disabled or Enabled badge for more information about a student's autopay status.
View Autopay Update History
A student's autopay status may change over time. Playground automatically tracks and records all changes made to the autopay status in case a billing administrator needs details about what changes were made, by whom, and when.
From your admin dashboard, navigate to the Statements tab under Billing.
Click the three dots next to a student who has autopay enabled.
Then click Autopay Settings. The Autopay Settings window will open.
Click Show Autopay Update History.
💡 You can also view a student's autopay update history from the Payments tab in their profile by scrolling down to the payment method section. Hover over the Autopay badge to view the autopay history.
Manage Mandatory Autopay
When families add a payment method in the parent app (credit/debit/ACH), Administrators can use the mandatory autopay setting to ensure payment is automatically made each month.
💡 When autopay is enabled, the first transaction will be for the upcoming billing period. If there is a current balance when autopay is enabled, families must pay that balance manually.
Exempt Families from Mandatory Autopay
If mandatory autopay is enabled for an entire program, billing administrators can mark specific families as exempt from autopay. When the Autopay Exemption setting is enabled on a child's profile, the child's family will be exempt from mandatory autopay, and autopay will not run for the family.
This setting can be turned on by following the instructions below:
Click on a student's profile from the Students tab under My School.
Click on Settings.
Under the Billing section, toggle on Autopay exemption
Request Autopay from Guardians
If mandatory autopay is not turned on, families can enable autopay for themselves. Billing administrators can also send autopay requests to guardians. This will send an email requesting the family turn on autopay. The email will include instructions for the family.
Click on Statements under Billing from the Admin dashboard.
Use the checkbox next to one or more student names.
Click Request Autopay on the gray header bar.
Disable Autopay for Families
Billing administrators can turn off autopay for families at any point.
Click on Statements under Billing from the Admin dashboard.
Use the checkbox next to one or more student names.
Click Turn off autopay in red on the gray header bar where the column titles were listed.
When Autopay Runs
If enabled, autopay will run at 9 AM (local time) on your set Weekly or Monthly Billing due date. You can locate these days by navigating to Settings > Payments.
From the Statements tab under Billing, you can click the three dots next to a student's name to access their Autopay Settings. This will display their autopay schedule and the date of their next autopay payment.
Reasons Autopay May Not Run
There may be times when autopay does not run for a family. The reasons below outline why autopay may not run for a family:
Inactive Students | No payments will be processed for inactive students. When a student is marked Inactive, all upcoming autopay payments will stop. However, the balance will continue to accrue if the payment plan or charge is not deleted. |
No balance | Autopay cannot process payments for students without an active payment plan or charge, even if a payment method is saved on the student's profile. A billing plan must be created for autopay to function. |
Creating charges after autopay runs or autopay added after autopay runs | If a charge is created after the set due date found in your Billing Settings, autopay will not run retroactively. Autopay runs at 9 am local time. Any charges created after 9 am local time on the autopay date will not be included in autopay that day. These new charges will be included in the balance on the next payment cycle. |
Autopay is not enabled | To confirm if a student has autopay enabled on their saved payment method, click on the Statements tab nestled under Billing. Search for the student and look to the right of the page. There is a specific column for Autopay status. |
No payment method | To confirm if a student has a payment method saved, click on the Students tab nestled under My School. Search for the student and click into their profile. Click on the Payments tab and scroll to the bottom of the page to the Payment Methods section to view any saved payments and if those payments are set up for autopay. |
Payment method failure | Autopay cannot capture funds if the student's payment method fails or declines. For more information on failed payments, go to the Billing tab, then click on Transactions and select Credits. The Credit Transactions dashboard provides details on payment type, status, and more. Hover over a declined payment to see the reason for failure. |
Incorrect Billing Frequency | Autopay runs depending on a student's billing frequency. If a student is on a weekly payment plan but set to a monthly billing frequency, autopay will only run once a month on your scheduled monthly billing due date. You can find these due dates by navigating Settings > Payments. For more information on student billing frequencies, click here. |
Manage Overdue Balances
If families have past-due balances, Playground makes it incredibly easy to see exactly who is overdue, how much they owe, and what items they owe. It's also simple to send bulk reminders to families and even manually charge their payment methods on file.
View Overdue Balances
To see all families with overdue balances, follow the instructions below:
Navigate to Statements on the Billing tab and click Overdue.
This view shows all students with overdue balances. Learn more about how and when to use the Statements tab here.
Click on the student row to navigate to their profile and view more specific details, including an itemized breakdown of what they owe.
Any debits with an Overdue status badge are included in the overdue balance amount.
Hover over the status badge to see more information about the charge.
Send Overdue Payment Reminders
Billing administrators can set the frequency of automatic overdue payment reminders for families in the billing settings. However, billing administrators can also choose to send overdue payment reminders manually at any time.
To do so:
Navigate to Statements on the Billing tab and click Overdue.
Select the checkbox to the left of any student's name (or select the top left checkbox to select all students).
Once students are selected, click Send Reminder in the top gray header row.
Emails are sent to primary guardians with billing permissions.
Manually Charge Families
Billing administrators can manually charge families for overdue balances by following the instructions shared above.