All-in-one AI business management software · Payments, AI & automation on one loginFlorida & New York · 305-954-7362
MerchFinTech
Home › Industries › Schools
Industry edition · Schools

School software that collects tuition too

Enrollment, tuition plans, the parent portal and the annual campaign on one login. Tuition moves by card or flat-fee bank payment, failed payments chase themselves, and the office sees one ledger per family.

Monthly, semester or custom plansFlat-fee ACHParent portalBoard-ready reports
Merch FinTech · Schools editionAutopay ran at 6:00
$486K
Tuition collected this term
94%
Families on autopay
12
Balances still open after retries
TU
Tuition autopay318 plans charged on the 1st; 6 failed, 5 recovered by text
Auto
RE
Re-enrollment41 contracts signed this week, 12 reminders queued
Auto
PP
Parent portal96 balance checks, 14 payments, 3 plan changes
Today
FD
Annual dinner$52,400 pledged of $80,000; receipts sent
Live
Illustrative.
Built for schools

The school office, on one screen

Between enrollment season, monthly tuition, aftercare and the annual campaign, a school office moves more money than most businesses, usually across five systems. This edition puts it on one. Christian, Catholic and independent schools use it as it ships; Jewish schools run on 613OS.

Tuition plansMonthly, semester or custom schedules per family, charged to card or flat-fee ACH. Sibling discounts, split billing between guardians, retries and reminders are built in.
Enrollment & rostersOnline applications and re-enrollment contracts with e-sign. Class rosters, siblings, guardians and emergency contacts live on one family record.
Parent portalParents see balances, pay, change a card, sign forms and download year-end statements from a phone. Fewer calls to the office.
Financial aid, privatelyAid is a flag on the family account with a reduced schedule behind it. Staff who do not need to see amounts see only the flag.
FundraisingCampaign pages, pledges, recurring gifts and instant receipts. The dinner, the building fund and tuition sit on one family statement. Qualified 501(c)(3) schools are boarded at charity interchange rates.
Scribe campus cardsStored-value cards for lunch, the school store and activity fees. Parents top up online and the office sees every swipe, all in the same ledger as tuition. Provided through our card program partner.
AI, in school terms

What the AI does for a school

Describe the rule once in plain English. The workflow builder assembles it and asks before switching it on.

Chases the tuition that didn't go throughA card declines on the 1st. The parent gets a text with a secure link the same morning, a reminder on day 3, and the bursar sees only what is still open on day 7.
Answers the questions the office gets every dayRe-enrollment deadlines, aftercare rates, where to find a statement. The receptionist answers texts and chats around the clock and hands anything about aid to a person.
Runs re-enrollment without a mail mergeIn February every family gets its contract, a reminder a week later, and the office gets a call list of whoever has not signed by the deadline.
Builds the board packetEnrollment by grade, receivables aging, campaign progress, collected against budget. Describe the report once; it arrives on the first of every month.
Payments built in

Tuition without the card fee

Tuition is a large, predictable payment: the worst case for a percentage card fee and the best case for a bank payment. Families pay a small flat fee per bank payment instead of a percentage and no annual per-family fee; the school pays nothing for the software while it processes with us. The school decides whether the flat bank-payment fee is paid by the family or absorbed.

  • Flat per-item ACH fee instead of a percentage; the school decides whether the family covers it
  • Returned payments: the processor's return fee passes through at cost, with two automatic retries
  • Card on file with automatic plan billing and smart retries
  • Interchange plus one small, disclosed margin on card tuition; we show you the math on your statement
  • Compliant dual pricing for the school store, trips and events: both prices posted up front, within card-brand and state rules
  • Countertop terminal or kiosk at the front office, pay links for everything else
  • Each school holds its own merchant account, in its own name, with our processing partner

Everything we accept, A to Z →

Payroll for your staff runs on the same login — see payroll.

Your stored cards and family records move with you as tokens and exports if you ever leave. Dual-pricing and cash-discount programs are subject to card-brand rules and state law and are not available everywhere.

Family statement · one family, one ledger
Tuition, two students$24,000Plan10 monthly bank paymentsSibling discountAppliedFinancial aidFlag only; amount hiddenAftercare, October$340Annual dinner pledge$500, paidOpen balance$0
Illustrative. Staff without billing rights see the aid flag, not the amount.
What you can cancel

One login instead of eleven

Typical for a private school of 200 to 600 students. Your list will differ; send it and we'll map it.

FACTSTuition management
JotformForms
DocuSignEnrollment contracts
MailchimpParent email
RemindParent texting
CalendlyParent meetings
GiveButterCampaign pages
QuickBooks invoicingFee invoices
SquareFront-office reader
WixWebsite
ZapierGlue between them
Plans for schools

Which plan a school picks

Most schools start on Pro at $299/mo ($249/mo billed annually): tuition plans, the parent portal, campaign pages, workflow automation, the AI receptionist and unlimited users for the office. Pro is credited back at higher processing volumes. Basic is $99/mo, and while you process with Merch FinTech we credit it back on your monthly processing statement, so the software is on us; it covers invoicing, the portal, forms, one website and two users. Compare plans. Need it built around how you run? Custom builds from $1,999.

Jewish schools, yeshivas and early-childhood programs: see 613OS, our dedicated edition for Jewish institutions. Like FACTS tuition management, with the software credited back while the school processes with us. Christian, Catholic and independent schools use this edition.

Banking and cards. Scribe campus cards and business banking are provided through our partner bank and card program partners, subject to approval. See banking · See cards.
FAQ

Questions from school offices

Can parents pay tuition by bank transfer instead of card?
Yes. Bank payments (ACH) carry a flat per-item fee instead of a percentage, and the school decides whether the family pays it or the school absorbs it. Cards stay available for families who want them, on interchange plus one small, disclosed margin. Most schools make ACH the default on the plan form and let families opt into card.
What does the school pay for the software?
Basic is $99/mo. While the school processes with Merch FinTech we credit it back on the monthly processing statement, so the software is on us. Pro is credited back at higher processing volumes. There is no annual per-family fee.
How is financial aid kept private?
Aid is a flag on the family account with a reduced schedule behind it. Staff with billing rights see amounts; everyone else sees only the flag, so a teacher pulling a roster or an office volunteer sending reminders never sees who pays what.
What happens when a tuition payment fails?
The parent gets a text the same morning with a secure link to update the card or bank account. The plan retries on a schedule you set; returned bank payments retry twice automatically and the processor's return fee passes through at cost. The bursar sees one list of what is still open after the retries, not every decline.
We're a Jewish day school. Do we use this edition or 613OS?
613OS. It is our dedicated edition for Jewish institutions: schools, yeshivas, early childhood, camps and shuls, with the calendar, honors and community features built in. Christian, Catholic and independent schools use this edition. Both run on the same platform and the same rails.
Does it export to our accounting system?
Reports export cleanly for QuickBooks and similar systems. Every deposit reconciles to its transactions, and tuition, fees, aftercare and giving carry separate categories so your bookkeeper is not sorting a lump sum.

Run the school office on one login

Send us your tuition schedule and a processing statement. We'll show you the bank-payment math and the plan that fits.

305-954-7362 · [email protected]