Every college gives concessions. There are merit scholarships, staff-ward discounts, hardship cases and one-off exceptions. None of that is wrong. What is wrong is a concession that nobody can later explain.
What goes wrong with concessions?
- They are verbal. A discount is promised at the counter and never written down.
- They are folded into the amount. The fee is simply reduced, so the concession cannot be reported.
- Anyone can give them. A cashier gives a waiver that should have needed approval.
- They cannot be audited. At the end of the term, the total given is a guess.
How should concessions be structured?
A controlled concession has four parts.
- A reason. Merit, staff ward, hardship, scheme or another category you define.
- An amount or percentage, applied to a named fee head or instalment.
- An approver. A person with the authority to grant it.
- A record. It appears on the student’s ledger and in the reports.
Who should be allowed to approve what?
Write it down in a table, and make the system enforce it.
| Action | Typical approver |
|---|---|
| Standard admission concession | Admission office |
| Merit or scheme discount | Principal or accounts head |
| Late fee waiver | Accounts head |
| Hardship concession | Principal |
| Refund | Accounts head, after an eligibility check |
Your own table will differ. What matters is that it exists, and that the software follows it rather than relying on people to remember.
How should late fees be handled?
Show the late fee on its own line, separate from the fee. That way you can:
- Report how much late fee was charged and how much was waived
- Waive it cleanly, with a reason
- Explain it to a parent, who sees exactly what they are being charged
What about refunds?
A refund is the reverse of a payment, so it should be tied to one. Check it against the payment, check eligibility under your refund policy, record a reason, and make sure the reversal reaches your accounts. Refunds made outside the system are the hardest to explain later.
What should you report on?
Three reports give you control.
- Concessions by reason, so you see which schemes cost what
- Waivers by approver, so you see who is granting them
- Late fee charged versus waived, so you see whether the late fee is working
How does Tuling handle it?
Tuling Financials applies discounts and late fee waivers against the student’s invoice or instalment with a recorded reason, uses policy tables to set who can waive what, and starts a refund with an eligibility check against the payment being refunded. Late fees appear separately from the fee. See college fee management software for the complete accounts desk, or read the fee management checklist.
Start here
List every kind of concession you gave last term. For each, ask: who approved it, where is the reason written, and could an auditor find it? Whatever you cannot answer is where to begin.
Frequently asked questions
How should a college record a fee concession?
Record it against the student's invoice or instalment, with a reason and the person who approved it, so it appears in the ledger and the reports.
Should late fees be waived?
Sometimes, with a reason. The key is that a waiver is a recorded decision by an authorised person, not an informal favour.
How do refunds work in fee software?
A refund should be checked against the payment it reverses, with an eligibility check and a reason, and it should reach the books.
Can we see all concessions given in a term?
You should be able to. Reports on discounts and waivers by reason and by approver make audits and reviews much easier.
See concessions and waivers with a reason on file
We walk through a discount, a late fee waiver and a refund with your accounts team.
Book a demo- Fee concessions
- Late fee
- Waivers
- Refunds