Invoicing by the term, by the pack or after

6 min read · Updated 2026-10-18

General information, not legal advice. Laws and the regulators' rules change: check the sources below, and talk to your own adviser about your centre.

Ask a centre's office manager what takes their Monday morning and the answer is often the same: matching last week's bank deposits to invoices, chasing the three families who have not paid since Week 2, and explaining to a parent why the cancelled lesson is still on the bill. Much of that work comes from one decision made years ago and never revisited: when you bill. It decides when you get paid, how much money you hold that is not yet earned, and how awkward it is when a family leaves. There is no single right answer, but each method has a predictable shape. Pick the one that suits your families, then write terms that make it fair.

The three common approaches

• By the term: one invoice before the term starts for all its lessons. Cash arrives early and attendance tends to be steadier, but you hold money for lessons not yet taught and need a clear rule for cancelled ones.
• By the pack: families buy a block of lessons and spend them as they go. Flexible for irregular schedules, but unused credits build up and the question of expiry follows.
• After the lesson: teach, then invoice weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Easiest for families to say yes to, but the centre funds the tutor's pay until the invoice is paid, and a family that leaves can leave a debt behind.

Many centres mix them: term invoices for regular weekly students, packs for exam-season catch-ups. A fourth model, a wallet that families top up and lessons draw down, is compared with the others in our article on family billing models.

Cash flow

Upfront billing means the money for a term's lessons arrives before you pay the tutors who teach them. That is useful, but it is not yet your money: if a family leaves mid-term, some of it may have to go back. Keep a clear view of what has been earned (lessons taught) against what is held in advance, and do not spend the second as if it were the first.

Refunds of money paid in advance

The ACCC says a business cannot take away a consumer's right to a refund for a service that fails the basic rights under the Australian Consumer Law, and that a "no refunds" policy denying those rights is illegal. If a service has a major problem, the consumer can cancel and get a refund, less a reasonable amount for work already done properly. Where they paid upfront, they are entitled to get some money back.

Changes on your side count too. The ACCC's examples of a change to a service include in-person lessons replaced with online lessons. Where such a change is material, it says a business should ask customers whether they consent to continue, and cancel and refund the pre-payments of those who do not. Moving a class from your centre to a video call is the kind of change this covers.

Pack expiry and fairness

An expiry date stops a pack hanging over your books for years, but it can also take away lessons a family paid for. Enrolment terms that families cannot negotiate are standard form contracts, and since 9 November 2023 using an unfair term in one can attract penalties. Terms that penalise only one party, or let one side change the deal, are among the law's examples of terms that may be unfair, and a court also looks at whether a term was clear and not hidden. If you use expiry at all, keep it generous, show it at the point of sale, and remind families before credits lapse. See our article on writing a fair late cancellation policy for the same test applied to fees.

Direct debit

Direct debit from a parent's bank account suits recurring tutoring well: families authorise it once, invoices are collected on the due date, and nobody has to remember to pay. Tell families in advance what will be debited and when, make it easy to update account details, and have a plan for a payment that bounces. Our guide to taking payments explains how it works in practice.

Chasing overdue invoices politely

Many overdue invoices are simply forgotten rather than disputed. A short, friendly reminder soon after the due date resolves most of them. The ACCC and ASIC publish a joint guideline for creditors collecting their own debts in line with consumer protection laws, and it is worth reading before you write your reminders.

• ✓Your terms say when invoices are due and what happens if they are not paid.
• ✓The first reminder goes out soon after the due date, in a friendly tone.
• ✓Reminders come in your centre's name, at sensible times, and stop when the invoice is paid.
• ✓A parent who says money is tight is offered a payment plan, not more reminders.
• ✓A disputed invoice is answered by a person before any further reminder.
• ✓Advance payments are tracked separately from money earned.
• ✓Your refund promise for unused lessons is in writing and honoured.
• ✓Your adviser has read your billing terms since 9 November 2023.

How XTutio does it

XTutio offers four ways to charge: taught then invoiced, a period billed in advance, lesson packs and a wallet. Your centre picks one and sets every number in it. In advance billing, a lesson cancelled under your policy is credited back automatically, so reception is not hand-adjusting invoices. Unused money and unused pack credits are refundable on request, and the family's statement is a ledger nobody can edit: a correction is a new line naming what it undoes, so the explanation for every figure is there when a parent asks.

Families pay your centre by direct debit, and a payment that bounces can be tried again. An invoice is overdue only when it still asks for money after credit notes and its due date has passed on your centre's own calendar; the parent then gets one reminder a week in your centre's name, four at most, after which it is a conversation for a person. Moving from another system? A centre can choose a date to start charging families through XTutio, and lessons before that date are never charged there. See family money and payroll and services, prices and billing.

Questions centres ask

Should a tutoring centre invoice upfront or after lessons?

Upfront by the term or pack is better for cash flow and attendance, while invoicing after lessons is easier for families to accept. Many centres use term invoices for regular students and packs for occasional ones.

Do I have to refund a family who leaves mid-term?

It depends on your terms and the reason. Families keep their refund rights under the Australian Consumer Law if the service has a major problem or you make a material change, and if your terms promise refunds of unused lessons you must honour them.

Can lesson packs expire?

An expiry term is part of your contract, so it has to be fair and clear. Keep it generous, show it before purchase and remind families before credits lapse, and have your adviser check it.

Sources

• Repair, replace, refund, cancel, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Read 2026-10-17.
• Contracts, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Read 2026-10-18.
• Guideline on debt collection for collectors and creditors, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Read 2026-10-17.