Running a prepaid account for families
How the prepaid account works, the warning floor and the deposit bonus ladder.
Updated 18 October 2026
Why this exists
Invoicing families every week is admin for you and a steady stream of bills for them. With a prepaid account, families pay in ahead and each lesson comes off as it is taught, with a clear balance they can see at any time. You get money ahead, and a lesson is never stopped because a balance runs low.
With the prepaid account, families pay money in ahead and each lesson is taken from it as it is taught.
Before you start
You need the settings.edit permission. Choose Prepaid account under Settings > Billing and cancellations. The settings below appear once it is chosen.
Settings
- Warn below this many lessons of cover. A warning, not a barrier. A family below it still gets taught.
- Keep this many weeks of booked value. How much you ask families to keep in the account.
- Bonus credit lasts (days). How long bonus credit lasts.
- Deposit bonuses. Add rungs, each with "Deposit at least" and "Bonus". It is a ladder, not a stack: a family who reaches the top rung gets that rung only. Clear a rung's two boxes to remove it.
How families see it
On their Your account page a parent sees how many lessons are paid for, the lesson balance, the bonus credit and a statement of everything that has happened. They add money from the same page by direct debit.
Good to know
- Money a family pays in never expires, and any unused balance is refunded on request. Only bonus credit you give away expires.
- Bonus credit is for books and resources, not lessons.
- The lesson balance and the bonus credit are never added together.
- An empty account never stops a lesson. The balance goes negative and the family is reminded.
- The bonus a family was offered when they started a top-up is the bonus they get, even if you change the ladder before the money arrives.
- Nothing tops up an account automatically.