Billing & Fees in openSIS helps institutions manage student charges, payments, subscriptions, refunds, discounts, invoices, deposits, waivers, and financial records. Depending on the institution’s setup, billing may be used for tuition fees, application fees, subscriptions, course-related fees, technology fees, activity fees, or other chargeable items.
This article explains the key Billing & Fees terms users may come across while working with student financial records in openSIS.
The Billing & Fees Module is the openSIS area used to charge fees to students, generate invoices, record payments, and maintain financial history.
It may support fee assignment, invoices, student ledgers, online payments, manual payments, fund deposits, subscriptions, reminders, voids, waivers, and accounting-related tracking.
Accessed from:
Main Menu → Billing and Fees
Billing refers to the process of assigning, tracking, and managing charges for students, applicants, or accounts.
Billing may include fees, subscriptions, invoices, payments, refunds, discounts, balances, fund deposits, waivers, and payment gateway transactions.
A Fee is an amount charged to a student, applicant, or account.
Examples:
Tuition fee, application fee, course fee, lab fee, technology fee, registration fee, library fine, or activity fee.
Fees may be assigned manually or triggered through a configured workflow.
A Fee Type is a labeled category used to define the kind of fee being charged.
Examples:
Tuition, Application Fee, Lab Fee, Transport Fee, Technology Fee, Library Fine, Activity Fee.
Fee Types help institutions organize charges and generate clearer financial records. Each Fee Type may be associated with a General Ledger account so collected revenue can be categorized properly.
Found under:
Settings → Billing and Fees
A General Ledger Account, also called a G/L Account, is an accounting classification used to categorize financial transactions.
Each Fee Type may be linked to a G/L Account so that revenue is recorded under the correct accounting category.
Institutions may also create sub-accounts under main G/L Accounts for more detailed categorization.
Found under:
Settings → Billing and Fees → General Ledger Accounts
An Assigned Fee is a fee that has been applied to a student or applicant.
Once assigned, the fee may appear in billing records and can be paid, discounted, waived, voided, or refunded depending on the workflow.
An Application Fee is the amount charged during the admissions process.
It is usually collected when an applicant submits an application form or before the application is reviewed.
A Course Fee is a fee connected to a course or course section.
Institutions may use course fees for lab-based courses, special programs, materials, or other course-related charges.
A Technology Fee is a fee charged for technology access, systems, tools, or digital resources provided by the institution.
A Subscription is a recurring or scheduled billing arrangement assigned to a student.
Subscriptions may be used when the institution charges students based on a selected plan and billing frequency. They help schools automate regular charges instead of manually assigning the same fee repeatedly.
A Subscription Plan defines the amount, frequency, and structure of a subscription.
Examples:
Monthly Plan, Term Plan, Annual Plan, Program-Based Plan.
A Plan is the selected billing option used for a subscription.
A plan may define how much the student pays, how often the payment is due, and what service, program, or period the payment covers.
A Billing Cycle is the recurring period for a subscription or scheduled charge.
Examples:
Monthly, quarterly, semester-wise, yearly.
The billing cycle controls when the next payment or invoice is expected.
A Subscription Start Date is the date from which the subscription begins.
It may be based on application submission, student enrollment, plan assignment, or administrator action.
A Subscription End Date is the date when the subscription ends or is no longer active.
Some subscriptions may continue until cancelled, while others may end after a fixed period.
An Active Subscription is a subscription that is currently running and available for billing.
An active subscription may continue generating charges based on its billing cycle.
Cancel Subscription is the action of stopping a student’s subscription.
This may be used to prevent future recurring charges or end a student’s billing plan.
Refund Subscription is the process of returning a subscription payment amount.
Refunds may depend on the institution’s refund policy and payment gateway rules.
Subscription from Application Form refers to a workflow where an applicant can select and pay for a subscription plan during the application process.
After the application is submitted, the selected subscription may be triggered according to the institution’s configuration.
An Invoice is a formal billing document or record that shows the amount owed.
An invoice may include fee details, subscription charges, discounts, taxes, payments, due dates, and balance information.
Invoices may appear in the student ledger and can be printed or shared as account statements depending on the workflow.
Create Invoice is an option used when assigning fees to generate a formal invoice for the assigned charge.
When enabled, the invoice becomes part of the student’s financial record and can be used for official billing communication.
An Invoice Item is a specific charge listed inside an invoice.
Examples:
Tuition fee, application fee, lab fee, subscription charge, technology fee.
A Student Ledger is the financial history screen for a student.
It shows financial activity between the student and the institution, including charges, invoices, payments, deposits, refunds, voids, waivers, discounts, balances, and adjustments.
The ledger helps administrators review a student’s account overview, receive payments, send reminders, print statements, void charges, or waive charges.
A Ledger is a record of financial activity for a student or account.
It may show assigned fees, payments, refunds, discounts, deposits, balances, and adjustments over time.
A Payment is an amount paid toward a fee, invoice, subscription, or billing item.
Payments may be recorded manually or processed through an online payment gateway.
A Payment Type is the method used to record how a payment was made.
Examples:
Cash, Check, Credit Card, Debit Card, Electronic Fund Transfer, Bank Transfer.
Payment Types help institutions classify payments properly when recording financial transactions.
Found under:
Settings → Billing and Fees
An Online Payment is a payment made through an integrated payment gateway.
The available online payment methods depend on the institution’s configured payment processor.
A Manual Payment is a payment recorded by an administrator after the institution receives money outside an online payment gateway.
Examples:
Cash, check, bank transfer, or offline payment.
A Payment Gateway is an external service used to process online payments.
openSIS may connect with payment processors so institutions can collect fees or subscription payments online.
Stripe is a payment gateway that may be used to process online payments in openSIS, depending on the institution’s configuration.
A Transaction is a financial activity recorded in the system.
Transactions may include payments, refunds, deposits, adjustments, discounts, voids, waivers, or gateway responses.
A Transaction ID is a unique reference number or identifier connected to a payment or refund.
It helps track payment activity between openSIS and the payment gateway.
A Receipt is proof that a payment has been received.
Receipts may include payment amount, date, payer details, fee details, payment type, and transaction reference.
A Fund Deposit is a credit posted to a student’s ledger from an external or institutional funding source.
Examples:
Scholarship funds, grants, prizes, sponsorships, or other financial contributions.
Fund deposits reduce the student’s outstanding balance and may include details such as deposit type, date, fund source, and funding reason.
A Refund is the return of a paid amount to the payer.
Refunds may apply to application fees, subscriptions, invoices, or other payment records based on the institution’s policy.
A Partial Refund means only part of the paid amount is returned.
Example:
If a student paid $100 and $40 is returned, it is a partial refund.
A Full Refund means the entire paid amount is returned.
A Discount is a reduction applied to a fee, invoice, or subscription amount.
Discounts allow institutions to charge a reduced amount instead of the standard amount.
A Waiver means a fee is removed or not required to be paid.
Institutions may use waivers for scholarships, financial aid, special approvals, or policy-based exceptions.
Waive is the action of forgiving a specific charge on a student’s account without recording a payment.
A waived charge is marked as settled even though no payment was received. This helps institutions grant fee exemptions while maintaining a transparent financial record.
Waive actions may be available from the student ledger or transaction action menu, depending on permissions.
Void is the action of cancelling a previously recorded billing transaction.
Voiding a charge removes it from the student’s outstanding balance while preserving the transaction in ledger history for audit purposes.
Void actions help institutions correct billing records without losing the transaction trail.
Balance is the remaining amount that still needs to be paid.
Balance is usually calculated after applying payments, discounts, refunds, deposits, waivers, or adjustments.
Balance Due is the unpaid amount that is still outstanding.
It helps administrators and users identify what still needs to be paid.
An Advance Payment is an amount paid in excess of the current charges.
This may happen when the payment received is greater than the assigned fee or invoice amount.
A Due Date is the date by which a fee, invoice, or subscription payment should be paid.
Overdue means the payment due date has passed and the balance is still unpaid.
Paid means the required amount has been fully paid.
Partially Paid means only part of the required amount has been paid.
A remaining balance may still be due.
Unpaid means no payment has been recorded for the assigned fee, invoice, or billing item.
Payment Status shows the current state of a payment or billing item.
Common statuses may include paid, unpaid, partially paid, refunded, cancelled, voided, waived, or overdue.
An Adjustment is a change made to a billing amount or financial record.
Adjustments may be used to correct errors, apply approved changes, update billing records, or reflect special financial decisions.
Financial Aid is assistance provided to reduce a student’s payable amount.
It may be applied through discounts, waivers, scholarships, grants, fund deposits, or other institution-defined support.
A Scholarship is a financial award that may reduce or cover part of a student’s fees.
Scholarships may be tracked as part of billing, student records, fund deposits, or financial aid workflows.
An Account Statement is a printable or shareable summary of a student’s financial activity.
It may include charges, payments, deposits, refunds, waivers, discounts, and balance due.
A Payment Reminder is a message sent to remind students, parents, or responsible parties about pending fees, invoices, balances, or due dates.
Payment reminders may depend on communication settings and email configuration.
Billing & Fees terms help users understand how openSIS manages student charges, payments, invoices, subscriptions, deposits, refunds, discounts, waivers, and financial history.
When fees, payment types, invoices, ledgers, and financial actions are handled clearly, institutions can maintain cleaner financial records and reduce confusion for administrators, students, parents, and applicants.
Understanding these terms also helps users follow billing workflows accurately and interpret student financial records with confidence.