Create a payment item
Set up a fee for families to pay — name it, price it, and choose who owes it.
A payment item is any fee the school collects — a P5 excursion, a term's tuition, a uniform charge. You create it once and choose who it applies to; eligible families then see it and pay. This guide walks you through creating one.
Before you start
You need Bursary access. If you don't see "Bursary" in the sidebar, ask a school admin to grant it. To actually collect money, your campus also needs a connected payment gateway (Bursary → Payment Gateways → Store) — but you can set up items first. Items belong to the academic year you're viewing, and can only be created or edited while that year is unlocked (see Lock an academic year).
Step 1: Open Payment Items
In the left sidebar, open the Bursary section and click Payment Items. You'll see the list of fees this campus already has. Click Create item (top right).
Step 2: Fill in the basics
Under Payment details, enter:
- Name — what families will see, e.g. P5 Excursion.
- Amount — the price, in your school's currency.
- Description — a sentence explaining what it covers (optional, but helpful).
- Reason — pick the closest category: Admission fees, Tuition fees, School uniform, or Other.
Step 3: Choose who pays it
This is the audience — the people the fee applies to. You can target:
- Everyone of a type — e.g. all guardians, or all guests.
- Students — narrowed to chosen classes or streams.
- Specific people — a hand-picked list.
Add one or more rules; a family matches if they fit any of them.
Step 4: Pick how it's collected
Set the Collection mode:
| Mode | What it means | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility only | The fee is offered to everyone in the audience; they pay whenever they choose. | Optional fees — "anyone in P5 may pay for the trip." |
| Assigned charges | A charge is created up front for every matched person, so you can see exactly who still owes. | Required fees — "everyone in P5 owes this." |
Step 5: Mark it compulsory (optional)
Turn on Compulsory if the fee is required and should block a related action until it's paid — for example, an admission fee that must be cleared before an application can go ahead.
One compulsory fee at a time
Only one compulsory item can be active per category (its scope and reason). Activating a new compulsory admission fee automatically retires the previous one — so you never have two competing "admission fee" charges.
Step 6: Activate and save
Set Status to Active (an Inactive item is hidden and can't be paid), then Save.
What happens next
- The item appears in your Payment Items list.
- If you chose Eligibility only, matching families now see the fee and can pay it.
- If you chose Assigned charges, a charge is created for each matched person — these are written in the background, so for a large class they may take a moment to all appear.
- Every payment flows through your campus's connected gateway and is recorded as a transaction.
Editing later
Open any item from the list to edit its details or audience. Re-saving an Assigned item refreshes its charges — handy after a new student joins the class.