Coaches: How often do you bill your students?

I typically bill my students either weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly as several of my students have established different payment methods with me. My skaters who have lessons several times a week typically get billed weekly or bi-weekly whereas some of my skaters only have lessons once a week and prefer to be billed monthly.

My DD coach does it twice a month.

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My coach will give me a monthly bill if I haven't paid her but she'll take a check every week which is what I prefer to do - it's easier to keep track. But she keeps all the checks and cashes them all at the end of the month.

My daughter bills once a month.

j

My previous coach required that all lessons were paid in advance. This meant most students would pay him each lesson, for the next one. I, however, would write him a check at the beginning of the month to cover all lessons for the month, and keep track of when he had to cancel to make sure I got all the lessons I paid for. It was up to the student to keep track of whether you had already paid for a lesson he canceled. He also gives a cash discount on his lessons. This coach has many students, who all pay ahead of time.

My current coach does not like me to pay ahead of time, as she is uncomfortable taking the money before she has done the lessons. She also does not bill, but has me keep track of the lessons myself. I pay her on the last lesson of each month for the month's lessons. This coach does not have many students. I think this sort of "honor system" will only work while her numbers are small.

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Our current rink runs all the coaches' fees through the register. It's convenient because I never have to make change and they take credit cards so I rack up the points when I pay!


My students pay for 3 or 4 in advance and we both keep track of when the payment's about to run out. I keep the receipt in my appt. book and write the dates right on the receipt. When I see we're down to the last prepaid lesson, I let them know and they send a check ahead of time.

I usually pay as I go because I try to "fill in" empty lesson slots rather than schedule in advance. Which explains why I'm not progressing, lol. For the twins, I pay when I get their freestyle card punched.

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I prefer for my students to pay me after the lesson, but many of them pay as the lesson begins. One paid for 4 lessons in advance, and I had to make a not of that in my PDA. Paying at the register would be a pain for me because I do a lot of pick-up business on the busy weekend public sessions.

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I don't formally bill. I have a couple of students who pay in advance, by their choice, then I keep track of the lessons for which they have paid, and they keep track also. Others pay for each lesson as it occurs.

My coach bills via email, but I haven't figured out his schedule. Then I pay via online banking.

I invoice my students montlhly. My coaches always billed monthly as well and I found it easier to write one cheque rather than four for the same amount. However, some of my skaters' parents tend to be forgetful - and end up with two months owing plus interest if they are regularly tardy.

BTW - It is interesting that any parent who used to skate - is always asking for the invoice and ready to pay at the beginning of each month, while the parents who 'drop and drive' or never come to the rink -- can't remember to bring a cheque with them once a month........I had one skater whose mother would hand me a blank cheque after a few months, and say just fill in the amount! Once she didn't pay me for a year, although they were very well off and the skater was a good kid, so I just put up with it. The skater was a once-a-week wonder, so the bill was never too big.

You just reminded me that I forgot to bill for October!

Rink runs all fees through the register. That way, they get their commission immediately. I am paid by the rink. So I do not formally bill. I used to work at a rink where the student paid me then I had to fill out a form and pay the rink office their commission. I don't know how commission is usually handled otherwise.

Kay

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At my rink, I pay $4/hour for commission.

My students pay me directly and I pay the rink its commission. I have to keep track in the coaches' book what sessions I teach and submit that along with my commission receipts to the skating director at the end of the month. (We had an issue a while back with some coaches not paying commission, so its her way of keeping track of who pays.)

Our coach likes us to pay per lesson. I once paid for the whole week (she was doing two a week over the summer) and he was totally thrown off and confused. lol We will just pay him per lesson from now on at the lesson!

About half my students pay daily while the other half pre-pays. Usually everyone is pretty consistent to their patterns. I just keep track of the pre-pays in my planner. Sometimes they even have a check before I remind them which is great! I think it's because I will often give students who really love the sport a little extra time if I have it. I think this has helped me retain a lot of students during the recession we've been having because I've noticed other peoples numbers have been dropping while I've actually increased a bit!
-K
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Except at skate camp, all my coaches want to be pain in cash at the lesson. I paid by check for a while until one coach told me 'This is a cash business.'

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Sounds to me like your coach is having some shady record keeping for the IRS if this is cash only...

(For the record, for coaches who do just one or two hours a week, I don't care if it's under the table. But if it's a real part time or full time job, they should be paying taxes like everyone else. It's a huge pet peeve of mine the ones who I know- because they brag- about cheating on their taxes.)

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Yeah, I wondered about that, but don't the coaches have to pay the rink a commission? And their rates are all posted, so I wondered how they could get away with it if they were audited. That coach is long gone to another rink, but now I have the habit of paying in cash.

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Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

Not all rinks charge comissions. Our rink doesn't charge a commission.

Joelle

We have to pay our coaches for the use of the ice, as well as the lesson fees, and they have to pass this on to the rink along with their "rent". So the coaches prefer this part of the fee to be paid in cash, simply because it makes for easier bookkeeping - they will accept a cheque if they have to, but prefer it in cash. But we can pay for our lessons by cheque, no problem.

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