6 min read · Updated 2026-10-18
In short
For the overlap term, keep lessons and invoicing in Teachworks and switch the portal's lessons to read only, so the roll, moves and cancellations are made in one place and the sync keeps the portal's copy. Set the date the portal starts charging families, so a lesson before it is never billed twice, and plan the switch-over for the start of the new school year.
An owner who has chosen new software still has a term to finish. The timetable is full, the tutors know where to mark the roll, and the last thing anyone wants in week six is a new screen that lets a receptionist move a lesson the old system does not know about. So most centres run both for a while. The risk in that overlap is not the new software: it is two systems that each think they own the timetable and the money. This article is about running one term side by side safely. For the whole move, in order, see moving your centre off Teachworks.
One system owns lessons, one owns money
Decide, in writing, which system is the record for each job during the overlap. For lessons and invoices that should still be Teachworks: it is what tutors and families already trust. Everything you are learning in the new system sits beside it, and nothing in the new system is allowed to change a lesson or charge a family until you say so.
In Teachworks
- Booking and moving lessons
- Marking the roll
- Cancellations and makeups
- Invoices and payments
In XTutio
- Seeing the timetable from the sync
- Homework for students
- Mail and notices to families
- Staff set-up, training and safety
XTutio has two switches for exactly this, under "While you still use Teachworks" on the billing policy page. They are independent, can be on together, and changing either needs two-step sign-in and is recorded in the audit log.
Lessons read only in the portal
Turn lessons to read only and the portal shows your centre's lessons but never changes them. The roll, moves, cancellations, bookings, rebookings and changes to who is in a lesson are all refused, and the screen says why in one sentence: lessons are managed in Teachworks for now, make the change there and it will appear here after the next sync. Calendar drag handles disappear, empty slots stop offering a booking, and the lesson pages give way to that sentence. The Teachworks sync keeps writing the portal's copy, so what staff see is what Teachworks holds.
Tutors get a calm version of the usual nag. The past-due reminder on their home page counts lessons still to mark in Teachworks, tells them to mark the roll there, and clears after the next sync, rather than sending them to a portal button that would only refuse them. Today's roll tile simply says rolls are marked in Teachworks. One thing to plan around: a lesson booked in Teachworks has no wrap-up in the portal yet, so tutors set homework from the Homework page.
Safety does not wait for the switch-over. A lesson booked in Teachworks never passes through the portal's booking check, so the Teachworks lessons check under Safety lists every tutor with a Teachworks lesson in the next 14 days who would not pass the working with children check on the lesson's date, or is not linked to a sign-in in the portal.
A family charging start date
Money is where an overlap goes wrong, so give it one date on your centre's own calendar. In XTutio you pick the day the portal starts charging families. Until then it posts no lesson charges, cancellation fees, invoices or payments, and the billing pages carry a banner saying charging is paused. A lesson that happened before the date is never charged by the portal, even once the date has passed, because it belonged to the old system to bill. That one rule is what stops a family paying twice for the same Tuesday.
Families see it plainly too. While charging is held, their billing pages say the centre bills through its current system until the date and nothing is charged in the portal before then; the wallet and packs leave their menu, and past invoices stay readable. The guide to services, prices and billing covers setting up the terms the portal will charge on from that date.
Plan the switch-over for January
The cleanest day to stop running two systems is the start of a new school year. Families expect change then, the timetable is rebuilt anyway, and Term 4's invoices close the old year's money. Our article on planning around the NSW school year helps you pick the week.
- Connect and import
Connect Teachworks, preview the import, then bring families, students and tutors across.
- Turn on both switches
Lessons read only, and a family charging start date at the new school year.
- Run the term
Lessons and invoices stay in Teachworks while staff and families learn the portal.
- Close the old year
The last Teachworks invoice run covers every lesson before the start date.
- Switch over
Turn read only off, check the first week's charges, then take a final export.
- Every tutor knows the roll is marked in Teachworks this term
- The front desk knows moves and cancellations are made in Teachworks
- The family charging start date is agreed with your bookkeeper
- Families are told which system their invoices come from, and until when
- Each family's balance on the start date is written down
- Someone checks the Teachworks lessons check under Safety each week
- Read only comes off on the same day charging starts, not before
Turning read only off is one switch, not a project: it flips back and lessons can be booked, moved and marked in the portal from then on. There is no automatic hand-over, so pick a quiet day, make sure Teachworks is no longer being used for new bookings, and watch the first week closely. Switching to XTutio shows how the import, the setup checklist and these two switches fit together.
Teachworks is a trade mark of its owner. XTutio is not affiliated with or endorsed by Teachworks.
Questions centres ask
- Can tutors mark the roll in XTutio while we still use Teachworks?
- Not while lessons are read only. The roll is marked in Teachworks, the sync brings the result into the portal, and the tutor's reminder says to mark it there.
- Could a family be charged twice during the overlap?
- Not by the portal for the same lesson. A lesson that happened before your family charging start date is never charged through the portal, even after that date, so the old system bills everything before it.
- When should we stop using Teachworks?
- At one clear date, ideally the start of the new school year, after the last Teachworks invoice run has covered every lesson before it. Turn read only off and start charging in the portal on that same day.
