'I thought I had three hours left'
A pupil bought a block of ten hours in March, then paid for two single lessons in cash when her block seemed to be running low, then had a two-hour lesson and a ninety-minute lesson. She also cancelled one lesson late. Her instructor thinks she has one hour left. She thinks she has three. The office has a record of the block payment but not of the cash or the late cancellation.
Nobody is lying. Each person is working from a different set of notes, and the pupil's mum, who paid for the block, would like a statement.
Why block balances drift
Block bookings are simple to sell and surprisingly hard to track once lessons start.
- Lessons are different lengths: one hour, ninety minutes, two hours.
- Blocks are topped up with single lessons paid in different ways.
- Late cancellations may use hours under your terms, and are applied inconsistently.
- Test day time, with the warm-up and the car for the test, is charged differently by different schools.
- The instructor records lessons in their diary, the office records payments, and neither sees the other.
- Pupils change instructors and their balance has to follow them.
The cost of arguing about hours
A disputed balance usually ends with the school giving the pupil the benefit of the doubt, which is lost income. Worse, the pupil leaves unhappy and tells their friends, who are exactly your next pupils. If the school collects block payments and passes money to franchised instructors, a wrong balance also means an instructor paid wrongly. And when a pupil passes and asks for a refund of unused hours, working out the figure takes an evening.
The pupil balance we build
- Every payment, whether a block, a single lesson, cash in the car or a gift voucher, is recorded against the pupil, with who took it.
- Blocks are recorded as hours or lessons, at the price and terms they were sold on, including any discount.
- Each lesson in the shared diary reduces the balance by its length when the instructor marks it as taught.
- Late cancellations and no-shows are handled by your terms, with the rule shown against the entry.
- Test day charges follow whatever you charge: a set number of hours or a fixed fee.
- The pupil, or whoever pays, gets a simple statement link showing payments, lessons and balance, and a nudge when the balance is low.
- When a pupil passes or leaves, the unused balance is calculated from your refund terms, ready for someone to approve.
| Entry | Effect on balance |
|---|---|
| Block of hours paid | Hours added at the block price |
| Single lesson paid in the car | Hours added, cash recorded against instructor |
| Lesson taught | Hours used by its length |
| Late cancellation | Hours used or not, per your terms |
| Pupil passes with hours left | Refund calculated for approval |
Your terms on cancellations and refunds are yours. We apply them as written and show which one applied.
One balance everyone can see
The pupil opens her statement link and sees two hours left, with every lesson and payment listed. Her mum stops asking for a statement because she has one. The instructor sees the same balance in the diary and asks for a top-up at the right time instead of at the end of a lesson where nobody knows. The office sees which pupils are running low and can offer the next block before they drift away.
At the end of the month, the owner can see how much has been paid in advance for lessons not yet taught, which is useful to know about the business.
Is this your block booking system?
- Pupils and instructors disagree about hours left.
- Block balances are in a notebook or spreadsheet.
- Cash paid in the car is not always recorded centrally.
- Late cancellations are charged inconsistently.
- Refunds of unused hours take an evening to work out.