How to Charge Tuition Fees by Term in Singapore (Mid-Term Joiners, Make-Ups and PayNow)

Every small tuition or enrichment centre in Singapore ends up answering the same questions each term. Do we charge per lesson or a flat fee? What does a student who joins in week 5 pay? What happens when a child is sick, or when Good Friday lands on a Saturday class? And who has actually paid?

This guide sets out a simple way to run term fees, with a worked example. It uses SME AI Office's Learning Centre as the example because it is free for one centre, but the rules make sense whatever you use.

1. Decide: per lesson, or one term fee

There are two common ways to price a class:

  • Per lesson. The term fee is the number of lessons times the lesson price. Fair when terms have different numbers of lessons, and easy to pro-rate.
  • One flat term fee. Simpler to say ("S$450 a term"), but you still need a rule for students who join late.

Some centres charge by the month instead of the school term. That works the same way: a month is just a short term. Charged per lesson, a month with five Saturdays costs more than a month with four.

2. Skip public holidays before you count lessons

Count the lessons that will really happen. A Saturday class in a term with a public holiday on a Saturday has one fewer lesson. Learning Centre skips Singapore public holidays when it lays out the term, so the lesson count and the fee start right.

3. Pro-rate students who join mid-term

A student who joins after four lessons should pay for the lessons left, not the whole term. Worked through for a P5 Maths class every Saturday at 10am, 10 lessons a term at S$45 a lesson:

  • Full term: 10 × S$45 = S$450.
  • Joins after lesson 4: 6 lessons left, 6 × S$45 = S$270.

With a flat term fee, the same rule works by sharing the fee across the lessons. If you prefer to charge the full term whatever the joining date, say so on your website before parents enrol.

4. Write a make-up rule, and count what is owed

Make-ups cause more friction than fees. Two rules keep it fair:

  • Give each student a set number of make-ups per term, such as two. Lessons owed are counted, so nobody has to remember.
  • A lesson the centre calls off is always owed back, and does not use up the student's allowance.

5. Send the fee with PayNow or card, amount and reference filled in

When a parent enrols, send the fee with your PayNow QR, the amount and a reference already in it. Parents pay in one scan, and you can match each payment to a student without asking for screenshots. Parents who would rather pay by card, or by PayNow that confirms itself, can pay through your own HitPay account: the fee is marked paid by itself, HitPay charges its own fee on each payment, and SME AI Office adds nothing on top. If you bank with Aspire, link it and payments to your own PayNow QR confirm themselves too, free on every plan.

A centre website helps here too. On Learning Centre, parents see the seats left in each class, enrol for the term, book a free trial lesson and pay, without a WhatsApp in between.

6. Count term fees as earned lesson by lesson

A term fee paid in January for lessons running to March is not all January's income. Hold it as paid in advance and move it into income as each lesson is given. For the S$450 class above, S$45 moves into income each Saturday. Your profit and loss then shows what the centre earned each month, which is what you need when deciding whether a class pays for its teacher.

Which software should you use?

For one centre with classes on a fixed day and time, SME AI Office Learning Centre covers enrolment, term fees by PayNow or card, the register and make-ups on its Free plan. If you need grade books, report cards or bulk SMS, tools like Classcard, TutorBird or Classe365 have them, and SME AI Office does not. If you teach one-to-one and bill by the hour, Teachworks or TutorBird suit that way of charging.

We put seven options side by side, with each price checked and dated: tuition centre software in Singapore, compared. To see Learning Centre itself, see Learning Centre.

Questions

How do I pro-rate tuition fees for a student who joins mid-term?

Charge for the lessons left. For a class of 10 lessons at S$45 a lesson, a student who joins after lesson 4 pays for 6 lessons, which is S$270. With a flat term fee, share the fee across the lessons the same way.

How many make-up lessons should a tuition centre give?

It is your policy to set. Many centres give a fixed number per term, such as two, and always owe back a lesson the centre itself calls off without using up that allowance.

Are term fees income when parents pay?

Not all at once. A term fee paid before the lessons happen is held as paid in advance and moves into income lesson by lesson, so each month shows what the centre actually earned.

Is there free software for a small tuition centre in Singapore?

Yes. SME AI Office Learning Centre is free for one centre: a website where parents enrol and pay, terms, classes, the register and make-ups, with no card, no monthly fee and no cap on lessons.

We may earn a referral fee from partners we link to, such as HitPay. It costs you nothing.

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