In the past I've given students the option of paying each week or for four consecutive weeks at once, but I think this year I'm going to make it a policy to pay monthly. However, I'm wondering how you all deal with the fact that there are sometimes five weeks in a month. I would like my students to pay at the first lesson of the month just to keep everything simple...when they would pay once for four consecutive lessons I never had that problem because it didn't really strictly follow the month. I don't really want to have to change the rate depending on how many weeks are in the month, because I want to be able to keep it simple and tell someone that my hourly rate, for example, is $30/week or $120/month. (I'm still pursuing my BM, which is why my rates are so low.)

I'm thinking that maybe I could say that if a student misses a lesson, a makeup will not be given because there are four times a year where each day of the week occurs five times in a month (that's a mouthful). I feel nasty having a no make-up policy though, so maybe just no make ups only if they cancel with less than 24 hours notice, but the problem with that is that has always been my policy, but I suppose the advantage this time is that I'm almost guaranteed to already have their money and be entitled to not give them a refund :p . Any other suggestions?

I take the number of total weeks I teach and divide that number by the number of months.

I'm a stickler for fairness, so I remind my students at the beginning of each month how many lessons there will be that month. And when there's a holiday coming up, I'll remind them that there will be no lesson on that day and they need not pay for that particular week.

So for example my Monday students will pay for four lessons in September, because there are five Mondays and one Monday (Labor Day) is a holiday.

That seems to be the general policy among teachers I know (including my daughter's flute teacher)--it seems to make the most sense to me!

That is why I have semester tuition. Students get a set number of lessons per semester, and if they decide to pay monthly, they pay the same amount each month: I divide the semester tuition evenly between the 5 months per semester. This makes it easy on them to figure out how much to pay, and easy on me as well. I simply give them a note to remind them of days off and when those will be made up (I have designated make-up days throughout the semester). For example, my Monday students will make up Labor Day on the Monday the week of Thanksgiving, since no regularly scheduled lessons will happen that week.

They are allowed one make-up lesson per year, and if they attend all lessons, they will actually get a free lesson. Anything beyond the one make-up lesson can be swapped with another student, but ti's up to the student swapping to find someone to switch with them, and no less than 48 hours in advance, so no students feels put out by changing their schedule to help the other.

You figure out the total number of weeks for the year (I teach September thru next June). Take out the weeks you're not teaching (I take off one week for Thanksgiving, 2 for Christmas, one for Easter, and an extra week that I can take off at any time). Then what you have left is the total number of lessons for the year.

Then figure how much you want to charge per lesson, multiply that by the number of lessons so you have a total figure for the year. Then simply divide it into 10 equal payments.

When people call about lessons you should address the tuition issue as a 'yearly fee, payable in 10 equal payments'. You'll also have to emphasize that some months students will get 4 lessons, some months 5, some months 2 or 3 (depending upon the holiday schedule). Then make sure you put it in your studio policy. And then.... understand that you'll still have parents who will question why December's tuition is the same, even though they're only getting 2 lessons.

More and more, annual tuition for teachers makes the most sense. Getting parents to transition from thinking of lessons such as the "Aunt Tillie" lessons they had as a child, where they carried $2 to the lesson and paid the teacher each time they showed up, to piano lessons as a bone fide extra curricular activity which they have enrolled in, is the challenge.

My studio's program is 36 private and 10 group lessons through the school year. Tuition covers that. Lessons may be rescheduled in advance, but if you miss a lesson, you miss a lesson.

Some parents elect to pay tuition in lump sums and others elect to pay tuition monthly. The lump sum payers receive a slight price break, or rather, the monthly payers pay a premium for the extra accounting work I have to do.

I charge monthly, not by the lesson, but it is a flat rate based on an average of four lessons per month. The five-week months end up balancing again the three-week months (caused by holidays and breaks). I make sure it works out evenly for students no matter what day of the week their lessons are.

For customer acceptance, may I suggest that in presenting this, you give the first explanation, and not touch the second with a ten foot pole? Nobody wants to think that he is paying more than the real rate, while everyone can accept the idea of breaks and incentives.

You can also stress convenience to the customer. Personally I find it almost embarrassing to have to come in with that cheque every fifth week and do that transaction. If I could pay once annually (had the money to do it) I would. I also have to do my books when I make that payment. So you might hint at the convenience that semester payments will give your student/parent(s).

Any time that you present things in a way that demonstrates your interest in your customer and serving him better you get greater compliance. If you present something that can be seen as punitive you can get resentment which is unnecessary. Your own needs should not be brought up any more than is necessary, though client education as to the reality of a profession is necessary.

In dollars, cents, and time expenditure, the argument of bookkeeping inconvenience does not add up, and I would not present this position to a client. You will have to make a monthly trip to the bank regardless of how many students pay monthly and that one student's timely payment will not make a dent in that. Writing down the actual payment in your ledger book should take seconds.

What you are really after is a more convenient way of doing business, and offering incentives that will steer your customers into a direction that is better for you and the smooth running of your business.

Which suggests another argument: the time I don't spend in bookkeeping is time that I can spend finding even more wonderful ways of teaching you.

Thank you for all of your input, but there's one thing...I would love to charge by the semester, but that would drive a lot of my potential students away. If I already had built up a studio, that would be fine, but as of right now, all of my students from last year will not be returning (I only had three last year, all college students - two quit and one got into the music school for this year), so I'm pretty desperate. A lot of the people I will be teaching are college students, and my school is not in a particularly affluent area, so most of my potential students will not be able to pay for a semester all at once.

I'm thinking of just requiring the students to pay at the first lesson of the month, and the cost will depend on how many weeks are in that month. That way it's fair to the people that don't necessarily want lessons all year round, and is much simpler to understand. Thoughts?

A suggestion:

Raise your half hour price to $20 and if a student buys 10 prepaid lessons at a cost of $200, you could afford to give a 10% discount of $20, and you would still be receiving $18 per lesson.

The fee for hour lessons, could be doubled to $40, allowing the student who has bought the 10 half hour lessons, to convert to hour lessons if occasionally needed.

This would provide you with $36 per hour income.

It's a good option of:
1) offering a discount without it being a lower price over all, it's an option for the customer to same some money.
2) it provides for trying out hour lessons as a easy option.

You just have to plan the schedule accordingly.

Half hour $20
Hour $40

10 lessons prepaid - discount $200
Appliable for hour or half hour scheduling

I also use the 10 months, equal payments, year round lessons. I charge for 40 lessons per year in the annual tuition fees over 12 months. If they receive more it is because they had excellant attendance. If they receive less, it was due to excess absences. I can elect to make some up at the end of their payment year which is the same date as their start date the year before.

I think you need to ask committment from your students for longer term study, and these are both ways to do it while making it advantageous to them.

Good luck!

Betty

The monthly charge will work....you just have to make sure the student knows how many lessons are in a particular month. Don't lower your rate unless you have to.

Try not to have make up lessons.

H1

as far as my policy is concerned, it's based on a yearly tuition with monthly payments, and a set number of lessons within the year. That way they'll pay the same each month, and instead of taking off the fifth week or something, I'll put it aside for a holiday or some other event.

Another vote for yearly tuition, and if you want to divide it into monthly payments, make them equal every month.

I get a set of post-dated cheques all based on a 4-week month. Since students get 4 "free" lessons throughout the year, I then take 4 weeks off throughout the year as holidays without having to refund tuition.

I second this! This has work well for me too!

When I had more students than I have now I tried the monthly payment method, much as dumdumdiddle outlines. 40 weeks lessons per year @ $whatever per lesson, divided by 11. Monthly payment was the same, every month except January (summer holidays). But no matter how carefully I spelled it out, there were some who couldn't comprehend that you paid the same for December (3 lessons), July (2 lessons) and May (5 lessons)(for example). *sigh*

I guess different teachers do it differently.

On a four-week month, I pay $200.

On a five-week month, I pay $250.

Seems fair to me.

It's fair. It's simple. I can see why many piano teachers do that.