Stop Chasing Payments: Your Complete Guide to Monthly Billing for Music Teachers
Estimated read time: 11 minutes
Managing the financial side of your music teaching can feel overwhelming, especially when you're trying to balance admin tasks with teaching.
If you're spending precious time chasing payments, calculating term fees, or worrying about cash flow during the holidays, you're not alone.
After 18 years of teaching piano and countless discussions with other teachers, I've seen how the right billing approach can transform both your business efficiency and your peace of mind. Many teachers stick with termly billing because it's 'how it's always been done', but there's a simpler way that can save you hours each month whilst providing more predictable income.
In this post, I'll walk you through everything you need to know about switching to monthly billing, from the practical steps to handling parent concerns. Whether you're a new teacher looking to set up efficient systems from the start, or an experienced teacher ready to modernise your approach, this guide will help you make the transition smoothly and confidently.
Why Monthly Billing Makes Sense for Music Teachers
The Current Challenge
When I first started teaching, my piano teacher gave me lots of great advice based on her decades of teaching experience. She recommended billing termly in advance, so that’s what I did. Considering I was only going to be teaching during term time, it made sense, but as time went on, I started to realise the drawbacks of this approach.
Termly billing creates an increased administrative burden by way of needing to manually create each invoice due to differing term lengths year on year.
Billing for 12-14 lessons in one go means parents and students are having to pay significant sums of money at irregular intervals, leading to irregular income for us as teachers and an increased likelihood of needing to chase for late/ forgotten payments.
Once you’ve received the summer term payments in April, you’re then faced with 4 months of no income and a whole summer holiday during which paying for personal/ family events is a struggle.
Not knowing there was another more efficient way, I didn’t consider switching until I started hearing about other teachers doing monthly billing and all the benefits that come with it.
Monthly Billing Benefits for Teachers
Predictable cash flow
Receiving consistent income every month, including throughout the summer
Reduced admin time
No time is wasted calculating bespoke invoices per student as everyone pays the same amount, on the same date, every month
Enables introduction of automated recurring invoicing (further time saving!)
Easier financial planning
Regular income allows for more accurate budgeting for business expenses and personal finances
Professional appearance
Monthly billing actually aligns with how most other services operate and reduces the perception of an informal/ hobby based set up
Simpler record keeping
One calculation that applies to all and much simpler to track payments
Moves students and piano families away from the ‘pay-per-lesson’ mindset
Encourages perception of monthly tuition fees rather than cost per lesson, reducing the frequency of reschedule and refund requests
Monthly Billing Benefits for Families
Smaller, more manageable payments
£75/month feels easier than £284/term
Better for families on tighter budgets
Easier household budgeting
Music lessons become a regular monthly expense like other bills
Consistent payment dates
Alignment with pay day makes it easier to set up standing orders
Addressing the "But We've Always Done It This Way" Mindset
Termly billing originated from the still common practice of only teaching during term time. Many teachers now continue teaching during the holidays, either to boost overall income or because they prefer to continue teaching without long breaks.
BUT it doesn’t mean monthly billing is only reserved for those teachers, it is a valid and acceptable approach to billing regardless of your teaching schedule.
Parents are accustomed to monthly payments for most services, e.g. gym membership, sports classes, TV subscriptions, so there’s no reason why music lessons shouldn’t fall into the same category.
In addition, aligning music lessons alongside these other services is beneficial for moving away from the outdated mindset that music teachers just teach as a hobby to make a little extra income. Monthly billing actually shows more respect for your professional status as a music teacher.
Common Concerns (and Why They're Not Issues)
From experience and chatting to many music teachers, we all seem to initially fear similar consequences, which invariably never come to pass.
"Parents will complain about more frequent payments"
Actually, aligning lesson fees with payment of other regular bills is more convenient, and results in smaller more manageable payments anyway
"It's too complicated to set up"
It takes a little consideration up front but automated systems quickly make it simpler than termly billing and save you a lot of time
"What about school holidays?"
Whether you choose to continue teaching through the holidays or not, the monthly billing can remain in place, based on calculations made at the start of the academic year
Clear communication regarding payments during non-teaching months avoids any awkward conversations later in the year
How To Switch To Monthly Billing
When to Make the Change
The best time, for many, to transition to monthly billing is at the start of a new academic year or at the start of a new term. This avoids needing to deal with termly payments already made and makes the process simpler for everyone.
Communicating the Change
When making any significant change to the running of your studio, it’s best to use multiple routes of communication and with enough notice to ensure the message reaches everyone intended.
When I decided to switch from termly to monthly billing, I first introduced the idea to my students and parents in the second half of the summer term (around June).
I sent out a studio-wide email communicating the upcoming changes to billing and specifying from when these changes would take place.
Aiming for a transition period of up to 2 months gives sufficient time for effective communication and finalising paperwork and systems changes.
I created email templates to make this part very simple, which are included in the Monthly Billing Transition Toolkit. You need only update them with your studio details and specifics and hit send!
Following the email announcement, I printed out copies of the new studio policy agreement, which was to come into effect from September later that year, and distributed them to each student/ family in person at their next lesson, inviting parents to complete the forms during the lesson if possible. If you don’t already have one, you’re welcome to use my free studio policy template.
I set the deadline for signed policy agreements to be no later than the last week of the summer term, to avoid needing to chase during the holidays.
All students were required to sign the new policy agreement by the deadline in order to retain their lesson slot with my studio, which was an effective way to encourage prompt responses.
By using email, paper and verbal communication it’s very hard for students and families to miss the memo. Following up any missing contracts with a text or WhatsApp often tidies up the loose ends.
Determining Fees, Due Dates & Invoice Schedule
Your monthly fee can be calculated using your current lesson fee, lesson length and the number of lessons you can commit to providing per student for the year.
I’ve created a very easy-to-use Monthly Fee Calculation Tool to help you calculate your monthly fee, which is included with the Monthly Billing Transition Toolkit.
You just need to input your figures and the calculation tool does the rest.
There is also a handy box to input your desired percentage increase, so when it comes time to raise your rates (which should be happening yearly) it will take you only a few seconds to calculate your new fees for the next year.
Learn more about the Monthly Fee Calculation Tool and the rest of the Toolkit here:
With your monthly fee confirmed, you can decide whether or not to include a late payment fee in your policy agreement. I introduced this to my policy the year following the switch, which was very effective at eliminating the few remaining late payments.
The payment deadline should fit with your financial needs; for simplicity I chose the 1st of the month, with late payment fees applied on the 4th of the month.
Bear in mind any bank holidays that may impact automated payments and consider sending additional reminders ahead of the weekend so students and parents who pay manually can ensure their payments are received in time.
Automate Recurring Invoices
Now, one of the best benefits of monthly invoicing is the ability to make use of automated invoicing. It has saved me so much time and head space!
Zoho Books is the cloud-based accounting system I use, and you can set up automated recurring invoices even with the free membership! Check out Zoho Books by clicking the button below.
I chose to set my recurring invoices to be sent out on 24th of each month, for payment by 1st of the following month. This gives students and parents around a week to make their payment or serves as a reminder that this amount will be sent automatically through their standing order.
I allocate one hour on 2nd or 3rd of the month to log payments received in Zoho Books and my accounting Excel sheet, which then easily highlights any late payments.
This is a huge improvement on the hours I used to spend every term creating bespoke invoices for each student and then logging payments which trickled in over weeks and weeks.
Zoho Books allows you to send reminder emails to those who haven’t paid, including being able to generate a link to send via WhatsApp or text message, which is a fantastic feature for those who may struggle keeping up with emails (and there are always a few!). I tend to send these reminders before the late payment deadline which prompts any remaining invoices to be paid.
Troubleshooting
It’s undeniable that very few people like change. If you give plenty of notice before the billing change, communicating via email, text and in person, you’ll ensure a smooth transition to monthly billing.
For those who are unfamiliar with setting up a standing order, the option to pay manually is of course still available, it just requires each student/ parent to remember to transfer payments by the due date each month.
If you offer discounts for families with more than one child enrolled for lessons, this can be incorporated into their recurring monthly invoice. When logging payments you’ll need to refer to your accounting details to check their payments are correct.
Another situation that alters the monthly fee is when I rent digital pianos to a few of my families, so their recurring invoices are slightly higher than the rest, but this is easy enough to remember when logging payments and referring to my accounting Excel sheet.
Similarly, students who have longer or shorter lessons compared to the majority will have a different monthly fee, but again you can refer to your records when logging payments.
When it comes to holidays, I find this needs careful explanation to avoid confusion. The first time this is encountered is December, when lessons normally stop by about the 15th and resume after the New Year. As payments for lessons are averaged across the year, some months students will have more lessons, and some months they will have fewer lessons, but still pay the same amount each month. Having a simple scripted response to share via email or to discuss in person makes this particular query very easy to manage. The FAQ Responses included with the Monthly Billing Transition Toolkit provide a bank of responses to these commonly asked questions, meaning you’ll never be without an answer when these questions crop up.
If students/ parents have irregular paydays or mid-month paydays, I recommend opting for early rather than late payments to avoid any impact on your own financial management.
If, for any reason, standing order payments fail, students will be notified with reminder emails (these can be sent directly from Zoho Books) and can sort out any transfer problems with you directly.
It’s a personal choice when it comes to late payment fees. As mentioned earlier, I didn’t initially include this in my studio policy, but it was very helpful in following years at prompting late payers to make their payments on time, thereby reducing additional time spent sending reminders.
If you find a student continuously makes late payments, it serves as an easy to spot red flag, prompting a discussion with the student in case they are experiencing financial difficulties and were embarrassed to raise the discussion with you.
If you find some students/ parents requesting reschedules or that lessons be rolled over to the next month, these conversations can be handled professionally and simply by referring back to your studio policies and standing by your rules. If students are unhappy with the policies, they are free to give notice to terminate lessons, which, if they are really pushing the boundaries, is a good thing overall. For support with maintaining your policies, read this blog post.
If a student starts or stops lessons partway through the academic year, their monthly fee or final invoice will need to be calculated separately. For ease, I choose to keep the regular monthly payments the same as everyone else’s but invoice for the excess amount upfront when lessons begin. I have included both situations (starting and stopping during the year) in the Monthly Fee Calculation Tool making these calculations quick and easy.
Reclaim Your Time and Create Predictable Income
Switching to monthly billing might feel daunting initially, but the benefits (reduced admin time, predictable cash flow, and easier budgeting for families) make it so worthwhile. Remember, you're not just changing a payment schedule; you're creating a more professional, sustainable business model that serves both you and your students better.
The key to success is clear communication, proper planning, and the right systems in place. Give yourself (and your families) plenty of notice, be transparent about the benefits, and don't be afraid to stand firm on your new policies (however hard it may seem at first!).
Your teaching time is valuable, and every hour you save on admin is an hour you can spend on another important element, like downtime! Monthly billing is one simple change that can make a significant difference to how your studio operates.
From experience, it has improved things enormously for the running of my studio.
Are you ready to make the switch?
Check out my Monthly Billing Transition Toolkit, complete with:
Monthly Billing Transition Timeline
Email templates
Monthly Fee Calculation Tool
FAQ Responses
Get it sorted in just one afternoon.
