Invoicing fees and recording payments

An invoice starts as a draft. Nothing has been sent, the family cannot see it, and every line is still editable — which is exactly when to get the fee structure, instalment and any concession right.

Drafting is deliberately a distinct state rather than an unsaved form, so a half-built invoice survives being interrupted.

Issuing is the moment the invoice becomes a claim on a family. It appears in their portal and the amount is fixed.

A payment is recorded against the invoice with its method and reference. Where it covers only part of the balance the invoice becomes partially paid, which is a real state rather than a rounding of unpaid.

That distinction matters at the point somebody chases arrears: a family paying in instalments as agreed should not appear on the same list as one that has paid nothing.

• Pending — recorded but not yet cleared.
• Succeeded — the money has arrived.
• Failed — attempted and did not clear; the invoice balance is unchanged.
• Refunded and partially refunded — kept apart, because the amounts differ.

An invoice past its due date with a balance outstanding becomes overdue. This is derived from the date and the balance rather than set by hand, so the arrears list is a fact rather than somebody's housekeeping.

Void and cancel are separate outcomes. Voiding withdraws an invoice that should never have been issued; cancelling closes one that was legitimate but is no longer due — a family that left mid-term, for instance.

Neither deletes anything. The record stays, because an invoice a family received is part of the school's account of what it asked for.