"I'm sure I have two lessons left"
Your school sells blocks of lessons at a better price than paying lesson by lesson. Regulars love them. Keeping track is another matter. There is a card index in the office, and a spreadsheet that someone updates when they remember. A parent says her son has two lessons left. The card says none. The spreadsheet says one. He missed one lesson in the snow and another when the pony went lame, and nobody is sure whether those were credited back.
You give him the benefit of the doubt, as you have many times before.
Then there is the family with two children on different blocks, one on group lessons and one on privates, who paid with a single bank transfer and a reference that just says "lessons". Working out which child the money belongs to, and when each block started, is a job for a quiet evening that never comes.
Why block tracking goes wrong
Prepaid blocks sound simple: pay for a number of lessons, use them up. In practice, blocks interact with cancellations, weather days, changes of lesson type and expiry dates.
- Deductions are made by hand after each lesson, or not.
- Cancellations by the school and by the rider are treated differently, often inconsistently.
- Blocks bought for one lesson type are used for another.
- Expiry dates are not enforced, or enforced unevenly.
- Riders cannot see their balance, so they rely on memory.
Giving lessons away and losing trust
When balances are uncertain, the school usually gives the benefit of the doubt, which quietly means giving lessons away. When it does not, it risks an argument with a regular customer. Neither is good.
The school also cannot see its own liability: how many prepaid lessons are owed across all riders. That matters when planning cash and staff for the months ahead.
Staff time is the quieter cost. Every balance query at the office window, every recount of a card and every cross-check with the bank statement is time taken from the yard, usually at the start or end of a lesson when the office is busiest.
Credits that deduct themselves
We build a prepaid credit system into your lesson booking.
- You set up block products: number of lessons, lesson type, price and any expiry period.
- Riders buy a block online through Stripe or at the office, and credits are added to their account.
- When a lesson is booked, it is paid from credits automatically.
- Cancellations follow your rules: a lesson cancelled by the school returns the credit, a late cancellation by the rider may not, and the reason is recorded.
- Riders see their balance, their history and any expiry date when they log in, and get a reminder when credits are running low or close to expiry.
- You see total prepaid lessons outstanding across the school at any time, which your accountant may ask for.
| Card index and spreadsheet | Prepaid credits | |
|---|---|---|
| Balance | Uncertain | Visible to rider and staff |
| Deduction | By hand, after the lesson | Automatic at booking |
| Cancellation | Credited back, maybe | Handled by your rules, with a reason |
| Expiry | Not enforced consistently | Applied as set, with reminders |
| Outstanding lessons | Unknown | Total shown |
How blocks work, including cancellation and expiry rules, is your policy. The system applies it the same way for everyone and shows its working.
No more guessing at the office window
When a parent asks how many lessons are left, you both look at the same screen. The snow cancellation shows as credited back, with a note. The late cancellation last month shows as used, with your policy linked. There is nothing to argue about.
Riders top up when reminded, so blocks roll over into new blocks rather than lapsing into pay-as-you-go. And your accountant can see prepaid income properly at year end.
Is block tracking costing you lessons?
- Balances are kept on cards or in a spreadsheet.
- Riders and staff disagree about how many lessons are left.
- Cancellations are credited back inconsistently.
- Expiry dates are not enforced.
- You do not know how many prepaid lessons you owe in total.