Teachers, how do you charge for lessons???

[go12_3]

Now, that it's Summer  time(for teachers that are in the Northern Hemisphere), I feel it's a time to re-evaluate my students' lesson schedules for the Fall.

I was wondering how some of the teachers in the forum charge:  monthly, a semester?  I charge by the month, but it is getting to be a major headache because the holidays are on a Monday and then the 4 week lesson block gets off track.  Then I end up having all my students at various weeks throughout  the month to pay their fees. Plus, the fact I have to budget my money by the week and making many trips to the bank.      Bills just happen to be *due* at various times of the month.  argh.....
Then I have to keep checking my records and make receipts about each week to hand out at the last lesson of the 4 week block to remind parents that the fee is due at the first lesson of the *month*.   If a student is ill or misses a lesson, then that bumps their lesson schedule off track.

 I need some real ideas here, because I hardly talk to any of the teachers in my hometown anyhow.  In otherwords, they don't talk about anything on what they do.  In my hometown, there are folks who are stuggling fincancially due to loss of a job.  So the only feasible way is to have parents pay the 4 week(monthly) fee.  But, I have to come up with an easier solution somehow....or is there ever really one?   

best wishes,

go12_3

[allthumbs]

I retired almost two years ago and I decided to teach piano out of my home for some extra income. I did some research on the internet to get some 'best practices' ideas on how to run a studio.

One of the headaches that a lot of teachers experience centers around collecting money and missed lessons due to illness or whatever other reason.

I adopted the following method that has eliminated these problems.

I charge a tuition based on 4 lessons/month for the 12 months of the year. This works out to 48 lessons/year. The other 4 weeks are accounted for by closing the studio down for 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week during Spring Break and 1 week just before school starts. During these months the tuition is the same as it balances out the months where there are more than 4 lessons.

I collect post dated checks for 4 months at a time for the same amount and remind the parents/students in the last month to provide checks for the next semester well in advance.

As far as missed lessons, I don't do make-up lessons at all. The tuition I charge is for their time slot to use or not use. If a lesson time falls on stat holiday, you could shift it to another day if your schedule permits, but I have found that even this can cause problems, so I just teach whether it is a stat or not.

Have a look here for more on the subject of missed lessons.

https://kmclayton.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/music-lessons-from-an-economists-point-of-view/


I hope this helps.

allthumbs

[go12_3]

Today I wrote out letters to the parents of my students in regards to  the *Fall Semester Fee*
in which covers the 16 weeks of lessons.  Then I won't have to hassle with the monthly check and so forth.  I have no idea on how the parents will react, but I want them to think about it during the Summer.  Plant a seed and the idea will grow.....I hope.  Anyhow, I have to think of innovative ways to bring  fee payments in a more efficient manner.  And plus, those that do the Fall Semester Fee will not be apt to be committed.  Well, all I can do is wait and see how this goes....

best wishes,

go12_3

[allthumbs]

You are welcome.

[sarah_antoinette]

I also charge a semester fee, but give the parents an option to pay monthly. To clarify, however, the monthly fee is the same, regardless of the number of lessons in month, as the families are paying the semester tuition in monthly installments. I make up lessons if I can, but parents understand that I'm under no obligation to do so.

[allthumbs]

I also charge a semester fee, but give the parents an option to pay monthly. To clarify, however, the monthly fee is the same, regardless of the number of lessons in month, as the families are paying the semester tuition in monthly installments.

That is exactly what I said. I cash the posted dated checks as they come due, that way I don't have to chase the parents down every month.

[dr. j]

I also charge a monthly fee and parents are quite willing to pay in this manner.  Saves time at the lessons and if the details are in your lesson policy it is a good system for everyone.

Dr. J - The More You Play the Better Your Day

[amanfang]

Here's another vote for a semester fee payable by the month.  So you might say that the semester fee is XXX.XX and can be paid in one installment or be divided into equal monthly payments of XX.XX.  Say that the semester includes 14 lessons, and that only one make-up is allowed per semester if the student misses for an excused absence. 

Some may not be able to pay the entire semester at once if they have been doing monthly budgeting based on their own salaries. 

Think of piano lessons as tuition - you get paid for your expertise.  It's like college - students don't get a refund if they miss for a snow day. 

[bluessax576]

The only thing I have to say about missed lessons/make-ups, is that many parents get very upset if you don't give them something.  I have settled on 4 make-ups/year (two per semester), but they must give me notification 48 hrs in advance (this eliminates the obligation to make-up forgotten, sick, etc lessons that inevitably come up).  As far as tuition goes, I have my students pay monthly, with the check due on the first lesson of the month, for every week it is late, I charge a five dollar late fee, excluding holidays, but not applicable to missed lessons (in otherwords, if they go on vacation, I get a post-dated check before they leave). The minimal late fee keeps gets all but one or two checks to me the first week of everymonth (95% of the time).

[go12_3]

The only thing I have to say about missed lessons/make-ups, is that many parents get very upset if you don't give them something.  I have settled on 4 make-ups/year (two per semester), but they must give me notification 48 hrs in advance (this eliminates the obligation to make-up forgotten, sick, etc lessons that inevitably come up).  As far as tuition goes, I have my students pay monthly, with the check due on the first lesson of the month, for every week it is late, I charge a five dollar late fee, excluding holidays, but not applicable to missed lessons (in otherwords, if they go on vacation, I get a post-dated check before they leave). The minimal late fee keeps gets all but one or two checks to me the first week of everymonth (95% of the time).

I am sure my students' parents would love that idea of paying a late charge fee.  I haven't done that approach although I haven't had that much of a problem of fees being late.  I cannot afford to loose students with the economy the way it is and most of them have had me for over a year or so.  I think it depends upon the teacher/parent relationship on how fees should be paid.

best wishes,

go12_3

[turayza]

I'm not a teacher, but my teacher's system seems to be working fine...
We have a lesson a week normally, but the schedule is very flexible--if someone is gone, or has an event, she just shifts around the times or sticks an extra one in another week. (We only have to let her know a day in advance.) I give her a check at the beginning of every month and if there are weird things (less lessons than normal, more lessons that normal) we just add it (negative or positive, depending) to the next month's fee.
It's particularly nice because during competition season she tends to give the older students (like me) more lessons and the flexibility makes that easy to do.
It's totally trust based. But she keeps her students for a very long time and the studio people get to know each other very well, so the payment part isn't really an issue.