School payment software has become an integral part of any school district that aspires to keep up in the 21st century. From the processing of fees to meal payments, to fundraising and ticketing and events, the K-12 finance landscape has become a complex system, and automation is crucial.
Consideration #1: SIS Integration
Most likely, your school district has established the use of a Student Information System (SIS), such as PowerSchool or Skyward. When evaluating payment software options, it is vital to understand that specific system’s automation and synchronization capabilities with your existing SIS, ensuring reliable data transfer with minimal effort to ensure a seamless process for administrators and parents.
Consideration #2: School Nutrition Integration
Not only is SIS integration important, but food service integration is also crucial. Choosing a payment software that connects to other point-of-sale systems in the industry is essential to ensure funds are appropriately updated within all programs. Your current POS may need the capability to accept online payments. Look for software that can partner and transfer the data seamlessly.
Consideration #3: Accounting and Treasury Integrations
General Ledger and account integrations make a seamless flow of funds for administrators. Many accounting systems used by school districts don’t have the integration to post payments to their ledger, making for a long and tedious reconciliation process at month’s end. With increasing online payments for food service, fees, and ticketing and events, looking for software that can manage ledger posting will be an enormous timesaver and an accuracy booster for your accounting team.
Bonus Consideration: Support
Many software companies will address some variation of these considerations, maybe even all of them, to some degree. The support-driven approach with our clients separates i3 Education, the industry leader, from these companies. Any software has a learning curve with expected questions from parents and administrators. Leave this to our award-winning qualified support team, always available to promptly assist your district.
Summing It Up
When parents make payments online, fee management gets much easier for school staff and administrators. Security and accountability are bolstered with fewer checks and less cash in the front office. Administrative efficiency increases with software that automatically sends parent receipts, fee deadline reminders, and low meal-balance alerts, eliminating the need for staff involvement. Foodservice efficiency increases with the lunch line moving faster as parents prepay student accounts online. Cash flow is boosted with the option for your parents to pay quickly and easily. Seamless integration is the key to all this, and i3’s PaySchools Central manages every consideration discussed above, with the added bonus of our award-winning support.