Term time is school time: classes, sport and events. The administration that keeps the school running should be a routine, not a scramble. Run this list twice - once at the start of term, once before the last week - and the office stays ahead of the calendar instead of behind it.
At the start of term
- Confirm term dates and fees. The fee schedule for the term, the due date and the interest terms are all current and known to the office. The start-of-year fee setup checklist shows the same job done once for the whole year.
- Publish the term fee to parents. Every family sees the amount and the due date before the term starts, not after. A fee communicated late is a fee disputed early.
- Issue term statements. The first statement of the term goes out with the fee on it, so parents read the number once, in one place.
- Confirm staff and classroom allocations. Names on doors, classes in the system, and the register ready before the first bell. Term time starts cleaner when the plan was set in the week before.
- Reconcile fees received so far. What was billed last term against what arrived, so the new term starts with a true balance. Our guide to bank reconciliation for schools runs the matching step properly.
During the term
- Run the fee collection routine. The weekly rhythm of reminders, chasing and orphan payments, per the weekly fee collection checklist.
- Close each month. Month end is a set of small jobs, and doing it on a fixed date keeps the term from drifting. The month-end finance checklist is the guide.
- Keep the board informed. A standing agenda item for fees, cash flow and arrears, so the board hears about the trend before the term ends, not at the year end.
- Keep parents informed. One clear note about what is billed, what is due and how to ask questions - better than ten scattered messages that answer nothing.
- Watch the arrears list. Not to chase every account, but to spot the ones growing quietly. A call early in the term solves more than a letter at the end of it.
Before the term ends
- Confirm the next term's fee. If the fee changes next term, the amount and reason are communicated before this term closes. No family should meet next term's invoice for the first time on its due date.
- Prepare board documents. The term's fee report, arrears position and any resolutions for the next board meeting, ready early. A board that reads ahead decides better.
- Close the term's books. Billed, collected and outstanding for the term are all final and reconciled, so the term's story is one clean number.
- Hand over the office. If anyone leaves or steps in, the accounts, the arrears list and the calendar are handed over in writing. The new bursar's first 90 days picks up from that handover.
The quarterly checks
- Confirm bank balances and signatories. A quick check that the bank matches the books and the signing limits are still correct, every term without fail. The quarterly financial controls checklist runs this and the other money-safety checks.
- Review supplier and payment details. Payment instructions change; catch the changed ones by reviewing them each term, not after a payment goes missing.
- Refresh the compliance calendar. What is due to SARS, the Information Regulator or the bank this quarter, and who owns it. A calendar nobody owns is a deadline nobody meets.
- Ask what the term taught. One note per term on what worked and what broke in the office routine. Three notes a year make next year's checklist sharper.
What to keep
- One term file per term. The fee schedule, the statements issued and the reconciliations, together, so a term can be recalled in one folder.
- The decisions in writing. Fee changes, concessions and handovers, recorded the day they happen.
- The dates. A single calendar of term dates, due dates, board meetings and deadlines, owned by one person.
That is the termly list. It fits on one page on purpose: a school term should never be more complicated than one page of jobs done in order. Where a step has its own checklist or guide, it is linked above.
Sources & further reading
- Start-of-Year Fee Setup Checklist - the yearly version of the term fee job.
- The Weekly School Fee Collection Checklist - the routine between term boundaries.
- The Bursar's Month-End Finance Checklist - the monthly close inside the term.
This checklist is general information, not financial or legal advice. Term dates, fee structures and deadlines are set by each school. Confirm the routine that applies to your school with the bursar's office.
