If your program is choosing to use brightwheel Billing, this resource is a one-stop-shop for all common questions. Questions that range from just getting started to maintaining your account to one-off unique scenarios you may encounter.

It's quick and easy to get set up to make online payments to your program. Add a bank account or credit card, and you're ready to make payments!

Enabling autopay is a great solution to ensure tuition is paid on time, every time.

Billing autopay functions much like other automated payment systems and will charge the default payment method for the full balance due on the due date of each invoice or statement. It’s important to note that there can be multiple payment methods on file, but autopay will always trigger using the default payment method.

Some programs choose to enable Mandatory Autopay, and some do not. If autopay is not mandatory, parents and payers can manage these settings easily from the web or app. Learn more by viewing our Manage Autopay resource.

Receipts are sent to the email on file once payment is successfully processed. For payments made using a credit card, this should occur pretty quickly. For payments made using a direct bank transfer, such as ACH if located in the U.S. or pre-authorized debits (PADs) if in Canada, this could be up to 5-7 business days after making the payment

If you need to see a full history of all payments made in a given timeframe, you can pull a payment summary report for the desired date range. You can also view and print any desired invoices as needed.

Payers can access financial reports for tax or reimbursement from within their brightwheel account by printing individual invoices or statements or exporting the payment summary.

Unfortunately, no. If you have made a payment that is currently in a 'Pending/Processing' status, neither brightwheel nor the program you've paid can cancel/stop the pending charge. For your program to take any action on the payment, it must reflect a status of 'Paid.'

We recommend working directly with your program to obtain any refunds when able. It's important to note that brightwheel is not responsible for any overdraft fees due to processed payments.

Learn more by reviewing our Avoiding Payment Disagreements resource and Tuition Program Payment Terms that reference our tuition and fee collection policies.

Service fees on online payments support brightwheel’s secure, efficient, and reliable transaction infrastructure, support operations and technical applications. If a program chooses, these fees may be passed on to payers and will appear on prepayment invoices, in the Make a Payment screen, and on post-payment receipts.

For specific fee policies, please contact your program. Brightwheel offers a wide variety of features and options, and ultimately it is up to each provider to determine their own policies and procedures.

If you need a refund, reach out to your program directly regarding this. Brightwheel is not authorized to make any changes to any account. Your program is responsible for creating and managing all transactions (including charges, refunds, late fees, credits, and offline payments) and will be able to assist you!

Online refunds may take 5-10 business days to be processed back to your online payment method (online credit/debit card or bank account).

We understand how important it is to receive your refund as soon as possible. Within the financial services industry, 5-10 business days is the standard amount of time for a refund to be fully processed. Different banks and merchants have differing policies and processing times around refunds. This is something that is happening in the background between our payment processor and the payor’s bank account and/or credit card.
​

If you do not see the refund after 10 business days, please let us know, and we will be happy to investigate further.

No, service fees associated with a successful payment are non-refundable.

Although administrators do have the option to refund the credit amount, a credit on the account does not automatically issue a refund. To receive a refund, this will have to be initiated by an administrator at your program. Please note that your program is responsible for creating and managing all transactions (including charges, credits, and refunds) and will be able to further assist you!

We recommend that you reach out to your program directly regarding this. Brightwheel is not authorized to make any changes to any account. Your program is responsible for creating and managing all transactions (including charges, refunds, late fees, credits, and offline payments) and will be able to assist you!

FSA/HSA/Dependent Care accounts are potential options that can be added to a parent's brightwheel account to make payments to a program. It's important to note that each program can choose what type of payments they'd like to accept (direct bank transfers and Credit/Debit cards, or direct bank transfers only), and these settings may limit how certain FSA/HSA/Dependent Care accounts can be utilized.

Due to the nature of FSA providers and their specific regulations or requirements, there may be some other factors limiting your ability to use this payment method. If you have the option to add your FSA/HSA account but are experiencing trouble doing so, please follow our Troubleshooting steps so we can try and assist you further.

We understand how frustrating it can be when you receive invoices from a program that your child is no longer enrolled in or a program that has since closed. We highly recommend contacting your old program directly regarding any unexpected charges. Since your old program is responsible for creating and managing all transactions, they will be the best resource to assist you in how to resolve this matter.

If a payment fails, both the payer and the program are notified. If your financial institution provides a reason for the failed payment, that reason will be included in the notification you receive. If there is not a reason or if you disagree with the reason, please reach out to your financial institution for more information.

If you are enrolled in autopay, it's important to note that autopay will not attempt to retry the payment. Instead, you can make a payment manually to make up for the payment that failed. If you do not make a subsequent payment, any past-due balances will be triggered via autopay on the due date of the next invoice posted to your account.

If you would like to add another payer to your child's billing account or if you would like to update the primary payer, please reach out to an administrator from your program for assistance. Only administrators can manage payers and payers and primary payers, and they will be able to assist you!

If you'd like to update, remove, or add payment methods on an account, you can easily do so from the payer account. Please visit Payment Methods and Settings to learn more.

Payers can make payments of another amount under individual student accounts by selecting the student's name under Payments, then choosing Make a Payment and selecting Other amount, entering a custom amount.

We recommend that you reach out to your program directly regarding this because only administrators can transfer payments from one sibling to the other. Brightwheel is a tool that schools use to manage all of their own billing, and is not authorized to make any changes to any account. Your program creates and manages all transactions (including charges, refunds, late fees, credits, and offline payments) and will be able to assist you!