Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance For Schools

Introduction

This user guide for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance For Schools provides a comprehensive overview for school finance staff, administrators, and IT teams on effectively managing school fees and related financial processes using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. It explains the system setup, daily operations, and advanced features, all based on the underlying functional and technical design tailored to the unique needs of educational institutions.

Purpose and Scope

The solution is designed to deliver a robust, automated, and flexible framework for school fee management. It supports multi-child families, applies discounts dynamically, offers flexible payment frequencies, automates invoice generation, and streamlines payment collection and reconciliation. The system also addresses complex family scenarios, such as divorced parents and legal guardians, to ensure accurate financial tracking and communication.

Parent/Guardian Management

Creating and Managing Customer Records

Each family or the primary financially responsible parent/guardian is set up as a Customer in Business Central. This allows consolidated billing and provides a unified view of all children associated with the family. On the Customer Card, capture essential contact information, preferred billing addresses, and agreed payment terms.

Linking Multiple Children to a Family Account

Multiple children can be linked to a single parent/guardian customer record. The system uses standard contact relationship functions and a custom Student-Parent Link table to map students to their respective parent/guardian. This structure enables accurate sibling discount application and consolidated statements.

Defining Family Relationships

Custom fields on the Customer record allow you to specify the relationship type (e.g., “Biological Parent”, “Step-Parent”, “Legal Guardian”, “Divorced Parent — Primary Payer”, “Divorced Parent — Secondary Liable”). Additional fields support legal requirements, such as court order references and payment split percentages for complex families.

Student Management

Maintaining Student Master Data

Each student has a dedicated Service Object record in Business Central, holding comprehensive information about the student, their linked parents, and class enrolment. The student record is the basis for all financial transactions.

Linking Students to Parents and Fee Structures

Students are directly linked to their parent/guardian customer account, ensuring all fees are correctly associated. The system dynamically assigns the applicable fee structure based on student attributes (grade, program, etc.) using Service Commitment Templates.

Custom Fields for Student Billing Data

• Grade Level

• Academic Program

• Enrolment Status

• Enrolment Start and End Dates

• Sibling Order (for discounts)

These fields ensure accurate fee assignment and enable advanced discount logic.

Fee Component and Structure Setup

Defining Fee Types

Each fee component (e.g., tuition, lab, extracurricular, registration) is set up as a separate Non-Inventory Item in Business Central. This allows flexibility in pricing, discount application, and detailed invoice itemisation.

Categorising Fees

Fee items are systematically categorised using item categories and dimensions for flexible reporting and analysis. For example, group fees by academic year, program type, or department.

Creating Standard Fee Structures

Standard fees for different grades, programs, or branches are defined using Service Commitment Templates. These templates bundle relevant fee items and default prices for a specific student profile, ensuring consistency and reducing manual entry.

Handling Variable and Ad-hoc Fees

Fees with non-standard billing frequencies (e.g., quarterly, annual, ad-hoc) are managed through Service Commitments. Ad-hoc fees (like excursions) can be added directly to a student’s Service Object or invoice as needed.

Managing Extra-Curricular Activity Fees

When a student enrols in an activity, the relevant fee item is added to their Service Object. This ensures optional charges are included in the automated invoicing process.

Billing Cycles and Recurring Invoicing

Configuring Billing Cycles

The system supports monthly, quarterly, annual, and per-term billing cycles using Recurring Billing Templates. Assign the appropriate template to each student based on the parent’s chosen payment frequency.

Leveraging Recurring Billing

Once set, the system automatically generates invoices according to the scheduled frequency. This automates invoice delivery and reduces administrative workload.

Discount Management

Sibling Discounts

The system supports various sibling discount models, including fixed percentage or tiered discounts (e.g., 5% for the second child, 10% for the third, etc.). Sibling Order is tracked to ensure discounts are applied correctly. Discount rules can target specific fee items (e.g., tuition only) and require concurrent enrolment.

Early Payment Discounts

Early payment incentives are configured using Payment Terms. If an invoice is paid promptly, the system applies the defined discount automatically.

Scholarships and Corporate Discounts

Scholarships can be managed as sales prices, credit memos, or tracked with custom fields on the student record. Corporate/group discounts are managed through Customer Discount Groups, applying set discounts to all invoices for eligible families.

Invoice Generation and Payment Processing

Automated Invoice Creation

Invoices are generated automatically from Service Commitments using the Recurring Billing module. Bulk invoice generation tools allow staff to create hundreds or thousands of invoices simultaneously.

Prorated Billing

For students who enrol or leave mid-period, the system calculates prorated fees to ensure parents are only charged for the exact enrolment period.

Payment Reminders and Overdue Notifications

Automated reminders and overdue notices are sent to parents, reducing late payments and improving collection rates.

Bank Reconciliation

Integration with AR automation and parent portals streamlines the reconciliation process, ensuring accurate financial records.

Special Scenarios: Divorced Parents and Multiple Payers

Legal Considerations

Both biological parents are generally legally responsible for school fees, regardless of divorce settlements. The system captures relationship types, court orders, and payment split percentages to reflect legal requirements.

System Design for Multiple Payers

While a primary payer is set as the Invoice Recipient, the system tracks secondary liable parents and relevant legal details. In the event of payment default, custom reports help finance staff identify and pursue outstanding amounts from all legally responsible parties.

Reporting and Analysis

The system’s categorisation of items and use of dimensions enables detailed reporting on revenue streams, outstanding balances, discount usage, and family financial health. Use built-in Business Central reporting tools to generate statements, analyse trends, and support budgeting.

Tips for Effective Use

• Regularly update student and family records to ensure accurate billing and discount application.

• Review and assign the correct Service Commitment Templates during student onboarding.

• Monitor bulk invoice runs and review error logs for exceptions.

• Utilise automated reminders to reduce late payments.

• Leverage reporting tools for financial planning and compliance.

Support and Troubleshooting

For technical issues, consult your IT team or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central support resources. Always refer to your school’s internal policies for handling sensitive family and financial data.

Appendix: Glossary of Key Terms

• Customer: The parent or guardian financially responsible for one or more students.

• Service Object: The student record used for billing purposes.

• Service Commitment: A contractual commitment for a particular fee component (e.g., tuition, activity fee).

• Service Commitment Template: Predefined bundles of fee components and default pricing for specific student profiles.

• Sibling Order: The birth or enrolment order of siblings, used for discount calculation.

• Customer Discount Group: Grouping of customers for bulk application of discounts.

• Recurring Billing Template: Preset schedule for automatic invoice generation (monthly, quarterly, etc.).

For further details on system configuration or to review the underlying design, please refer to the “Functional and Technical Design Document Finance for Schools” (Please reach out to David(David@d365.Global) or d365 Support(support@d365.global) for more information at ).

Reference Screens

These are screenshots for your reference from Finance for Schools in Business Central.

Roles

Users have different roles in Business Central to access the Finance for Schools module. The main roles are Parents and Students.

Setups and Configurations

1. Enrollment Status — Helps in defining the enrollment status of a student.

2. Academic Programs — Helps to define the programs specific to an institute.

3. Grade Level Programs — Helps to define the grade level program for a specific institute.

Master Records

Parent and Student Master Records

1. Parent Record — Customer Card for Parent/Guardian
2. Student Record — Service Object Card for Student

Parent Master Card - Helps to define a parent record in the system.

Student Master Card - Helps to define the student record, as well as the relationship with the parent and other options, like enrollment status, academic program, grade level, etc.

The Student Card also helps to define the sibling discount, relationship between the student and if there is a discount available then the % of the discount.

Fees Package

This helps to define the package for a fees structure and also the billing frequency for each component in the fees structure.

Student Enrollment Card

The student enrollment card helps in defining the package, the enrollment date, the scholarship if any and the % discount if any applicable. It also helps in defining a one-time fee at the time of enrollment.

The fees’ structure helps in defining each parent % that will pay towards student fees.

Fees Schedule

By generating the fees schedule the system understands at what billing rhythm the invoices are to be billed to the parents.

We can view on the Student Card the fees schedule created.

Generating Invoices for the Generated Fees Scheduled

This feature tells what is to be invoiced against which parent for a defined period, this can be automated via job queue.

This will generate the invoices for the parent, and this can be automated via job queue.

Once posted this generates an outstanding towards the parent and we can send out the invoices via email to the parent.