Can parents pay school fees by M-Pesa?

Yes. Parents get an M-Pesa prompt on their phone to pay the school's own paybill or till, and paybill payments made with a learner's admission number are recorded against that learner automatically. The money goes straight to the school, never through Skulink.

Do we have to use Skulink's paybill?

No. Each school uses its own paybill or till, with its own M-Pesa (Daraja) keys. Only the school's administrator can change them, with a code from an authenticator app, and every change is emailed and texted to all of the school's administrators.

Does Skulink issue invoices, receipts and fee statements?

Yes. Fee structures with vote heads, invoices, receipts, credit notes and statements are all in KES and printed on the school's letterhead.

What about bank payments?

Each school lists its own payment methods, including bank accounts. A parent who pays by bank can upload the slip as proof, and the bursar confirms or rejects it.

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Managing school fees in Kenya

Fees are where a school's records matter most to parents: a wrong balance or a missing receipt costs trust quickly. Most of the work is matching payments to learners, and most of that work disappears when payments arrive with the learner's admission number already attached.

Start with the fee structure

A fee structure sets out what each class owes each term, split into vote heads such as tuition, boarding, lunch, transport and activity. Invoicing from the structure means every learner in a class is charged the same way, and the bursar can see what was collected under each vote head.

Take M-Pesa without the reconciliation

Have parents pay the school's own paybill with the learner's admission number as the account number.
Record each payment against the learner automatically, instead of reading M-Pesa statements line by line.
Send parents an M-Pesa prompt (STK push) so they only enter their PIN.
Keep bank and other payments in the same account, with proof of payment checked by the bursar.

Give parents a clear account

Parents should be able to see their child's balance, receipts and statement without calling the school. A receipt on the school's letterhead for every payment, and a statement that shows each invoice and each payment, answers most fee questions before they are asked.

Follow up on balances

A list of overdue balances, kept up to date as payments arrive, lets the bursar follow up the right parents. A reminder by SMS reaches parents without a smartphone too.

How Skulink does it

Fee structures with vote heads per class and term; invoices, receipts, credit notes and statements in KES on the school's letterhead.
M-Pesa to the school's own paybill or till: the money goes straight to the school, never through Skulink.
Paybill payments with a learner's admission number recorded against that learner automatically.
Bank payments with proof of payment uploaded by the parent and confirmed by the bursar.
Overdue balances shown to the bursar and the administrator, and fees, receipts and statements in the parent portal.

Common questions

Can parents pay school fees by M-Pesa?: Yes. Parents get an M-Pesa prompt on their phone to pay the school's own paybill or till, and paybill payments made with a learner's admission number are recorded against that learner automatically. The money goes straight to the school, never through Skulink.
Do we have to use Skulink's paybill?: No. Each school uses its own paybill or till, with its own M-Pesa (Daraja) keys. Only the school's administrator can change them, with a code from an authenticator app, and every change is emailed and texted to all of the school's administrators.
Does Skulink issue invoices, receipts and fee statements?: Yes. Fee structures with vote heads, invoices, receipts, credit notes and statements are all in KES and printed on the school's letterhead.
What about bank payments?: Each school lists its own payment methods, including bank accounts. A parent who pays by bank can upload the slip as proof, and the bursar confirms or rejects it.

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