Brightwheel now offers a brand new Subsidies payment management experience that helps administrators simplify managing their agency payments by giving a complete picture of agency invoices, balances, and payments right from within brightwheel billing. Subsidies will be fully integrated with bill plans, student profiles, and reports.

🎉 Follow the four easy, getting-started steps outlined below to get accurate tracking of past and future subsidy payments!


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Migrating from our Legacy Subsidy Experience

If you previously used our legacy subsidy experience and have been migrated to our new experience, we're so excited to share this update with you! This experience helps administrators simplify managing their agency payments by giving a complete picture of agency invoices, balances, and payments right from within brightwheel billing.

Accessing Data from the Legacy Experience

In the new experience, admins are provided a clean slate and can get easily get set up by following the rest of this resource. Data from the legacy experience is not transferred to the new experience and is instead accessible through a downloadable report as needed by following these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Billing page from your account on the web

  2. Open the Subsidies tab

  3. Click the Download subsidy data link below the “Subsidies” header and above the agencies table

  4. Open the .csv report downloaded in your browser to view information on past subsidy charges, payments, write-offers, and more.

💡 If, after migration, you are looking to recreate the starting balances for students/agencies to know much your program is owed and/or recreate recurring subsidy charges, we've provided some additional guidance in our resource here to assist you.

When you're ready to dive into setting up the new experience, continue following along below! 🎉


Subsidies Tracking Overview

Review our Subsidy Tracking Overview resource for detailed insight on the Subsidies Dashboard, Agency Summary page, Payer Type Field, and learn what reporting options are available!

If you're a visual learner, watch this tutorial video that overviews the 4 getting-started steps below!


Step 1: Add Agency

Adding an agency is the first step to tracking subsidies in brightwheel Billing.

  1. Log in to an administrator account on the web

  2. Click to open the Billing tab on the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Subsidies tab

  4. Click the Add agency button

  5. Fill in the Agency's name

  6. Fill in any other applicable contact information
    💡The name is the only required field

  7. Click Create agency


Step 2: Add Agency as a Payer

Once you've added the agency, you can add them as a payer on students' billing accounts. Just as Family and Approved Pickups can be added as payers, agencies can now be added in the same way. Agencies can be added individually as a payer for a student or in bulk to multiple students.

  1. Log in to an administrator account on the web

  2. Click to open the Billing tab on the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Subsidies tab

  4. Click the agency to open the agencies profile

  5. Jump to the Students tab

  6. Click + Add students

  7. Use the available filters to narrow down the list of students to select from

  8. Check the box next to each student who should be associated with the agency. If there are multiple, select them all!

  9. Click Add students

💡 If needed, learn how to Remove an Agency as a Payer!


Step 3: Create Billing Plans

Once you've added an agency's contact information and added them as a payer on the student(s) billing account - it's time to set up a billing plan.

  1. From the student's billing profile, use the Select an action menu to choose Set up a Billing Plan.

  2. For "What should this billing plan be called?" - input the billing name name

  3. For "How Often should payers receive bills?" - select the frequency of expected payments from the agency

  4. For "When do you want the first payment to be due?" - select when the first payment is expected from the agency for this student

  5. For "When do you want the last payment to be due?" - select when the last payment is expected from the agency if this information is known or otherwise, leave blank

  6. For "When should payers receive their invoices?" - select any option; we will not send invoices directly to the agency at this point in time.

  7. Click Add charges

  8. Input the charge information and amount expected from the agency for the student based on the frequency you selected in Step 3

  9. Toggle the Assign $X to specific payers? option to YES (on)

  10. Check the box for the agency

  11. Click Save

  12. Click Preview & confirm

  13. Review the billing plan to ensure all information is accurate

  14. When ready, click Create billing plan

💡You can also record one-off agency charges for subsidies that may not recur on a regular frequency by adding one-time charges.


Step 4: Log Agency Payments

Agency payments can be logged on posted invoices associated with agency billing plans or a one-time charge already added. In addition to this, logging a payment without a bill plan/invoice is an option if you want to record an agency payment quickly and aren’t looking for full tracking of money owed by agencies. You can still go back and create an invoice after the fact! Learn more by reviewing the steps below.

Log a Payment on an Invoice

  1. Log in as an administrator on the web

  2. Click to open the Billing page from the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Subsidies tab

  4. Locate and click the agency to open its profile

  5. Scroll down the Invoices section and locate the invoice to be paid

  6. Click the Actions drop-down menu, and select Log a payment

  7. In the Paid By dropdown, select the agency

  8. In the Payment method dropdown, select how the agency paid

  9. Input the Amount paid

  10. Input the Date paid

  11. Add an optional note

  12. When ready, click Save & apply

💡You can also log a payment against a posted invoice for a subsidy agency from the student's billing account!

Log a Payment without a Billing Plan/Invoice

  1. Log in as an administrator on the web

  2. Click to open the Billing page from the purple sidebar menu

  3. Jump to the Students tab

  4. Locate and click to open the specific student

  5. Click the Select an action menu and then Log a payment

  6. In the Paid By dropdown, select the agency

  7. In the Payment method dropdown, select how the agency paid

  8. Input the Amount paid

  9. Input the Date paid

  10. Add an optional note

  11. When ready, click Save & apply

💡If needed, Learn how to View Agency Payments and Handle Underpayments!


See our all-new Subsidy experience in your account. If this content does not match what you see in your account, you may be using our older Subsidy experience; learn more here. This new experience will be coming to your account soon!

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