Brightwheel makes it easy than ever to track family payments and monitor student account balances!

This resource is useful for new providers looking to gain a comprehensive overview of family payments in brightwheel, as well as the tools available to track and manage payments effectively.

There are two types of payments:

Online payments made in brightwheel are automatically tracked when a payer adds a payment method and uses brightwheel to pay an account balance. Payments can be made via credit/debit card, FSA or direct bank transfer, each with a service fee specific to your program.

Refunds for these types of payments can be returned directly to the payer’s connected payment method.

Some programs allow payments like cash, checks, or 3rd-party systems (Venmo, Zelle, Interac e-Transfers, etc.). These payment types are sometimes referred to as “offline payments” since they were not made directly through the brightwheel platform by the payer.

Recording these payments in brightwheel are for tracking purposes only and you will still need to apply them to the student's account balance and deposit the funds at your bank. Because they are not linked to a payment method, you can't refund them directly through brightwheel.

For check payments specifically, you can deposit the check directly through brightwheel by taking a photo of the check, which automatically deposits the check in your linked deposit account and logs the payment for you.

Providers can easily review the status of a payment to see if it has been paid or not, or if it is still processing. To do this, you'll want to review the Payment status for a given invoice or transaction.

You can check the payment status by running the Payments & credits report or by heading to the student's billing account and clicking All transactions> Credits & payments:

Once families add a payment method, they can pay specific invoices, all open invoices, or any amount toward the student balance in the brightwheel app. If they are enrolled in autopay, they will be charged automatically on the invoice due date.

To learn more, visit Understanding the guardian billing experience.

Providers can require families enroll in automatic payments, which ensures the families payment method is automatically charged for a invoice on the due date. This avoids families making manual payments and makes it much more likely for you to get paid online.

To require autopay, visit Customize your billing experience in settings.

Empower your families with the information they need and help them find answers to their billing questions with these valuable resources: