Dance studio billing and autopay, explained

Dance studio billing is easiest when tuition, invoices, registrations, and shop purchases all run through one system, and monthly tuition is charged by autopay. Families pay online in the studio app or on your website, and every payment shows up on the family's profile. With Dominion Billing there's no monthly fee to start, just a rate on each successful payment.

What does a dance studio actually bill for?

Most studios bill for a lot more than tuition. Write the full list down before you pick software or set policies, because each type of charge works a little differently.

• Monthly tuition and class plans, charged on a schedule
• Registration fees for classes, camps, and intensives
• One-off charges like a recital costume or a competition entry
• Shop purchases such as apparel, costumes, and photo packs
• Event tickets and drop-in classes

Tuition repeats, so it belongs on autopay. Registrations happen at sign-up, so payment should be part of the sign-up itself. Our registration software guide covers that side. Invoices are for anything that doesn't fit a plan. Shop sales are small, but they add up, and they're the ones most likely to end up as cash in an envelope at the front desk.

How does autopay work for dance tuition?

With autopay, a family saves a card once and tuition is charged automatically on your billing schedule. Nobody has to remember the first of the month, and your front desk stops sending reminder texts. In Dominion, recurring plans live in Classes and Subscriptions: monthly or seasonal plans, each linked to the Groups it covers. Parents see each dancer's plan on one family bill, and you can set tiers for families with more classes or more dancers.

How should you set tuition and billing policies?

Software won't fix an unclear policy. Before the season starts, write short answers to the questions families always ask, and put them on your website and in your registration questions.

• When tuition is due, and whether you bill monthly or by season
• What happens when a payment is missed, and when a late fee applies
• Your refund and withdrawal policy, including how much notice you need
• Whether you offer sibling or multi-class pricing
• What tuition includes and what's billed separately, like costumes, competition fees, and recital tickets

Keep it to one page. If a parent can't find the answer in 30 seconds, they'll call you instead. A lot of studios also ask families to agree to the policy during registration, so there's a clear record if a question comes up in March.

What should you do when a payment fails?

Cards expire, get lost, and get replaced, so a few payments will fail every month. Treat it as routine, not a confrontation. In Dominion you see a failed tuition payment in your admin and can retry it in one click. The dancer stays in class while you sort it out.

1. 1Check the status firstLook at the family's profile and see what failed and when before you reach out.
2. 2Send a short, friendly noteMost failures are an expired or replaced card. A private message asking the parent to update their card fixes most of them.
3. 3Retry the paymentOnce the card is updated, retry the same charge instead of creating a new one.
4. 4Follow your written policyIf it's still unpaid after your grace period, apply your late fee or have a direct conversation with the parent.

How should you handle invoices, registrations, and shop sales?

Not every charge is tuition. For a costume deposit or a competition entry, send an invoice families can pay online from a link. For classes, camps, and intensives, families pay right in the registration flow and get a receipt, so enrollment and payment always match. Shop products, like studio hoodies, recital tights, and photo packs, sell in your app and on your website, and every sale runs through Billing.

Price things so the bill is easy to read. One costume line per dancer is easier to understand than five small fees. If you charge a registration fee, show it on the class page so it isn't a surprise at checkout. And send costume invoices once sizes are confirmed, not before, so you're not issuing corrections.

What do families see when they pay?

Parents pay with a saved card and get an emailed receipt. Their balances, receipts, and payment history are always in the studio app and on your website, right next to the schedule and announcements they already check. US families can also pay by bank account (ACH), and Canadian families can pay by PAD.

That last part matters more than it sounds. When a parent can look up their own history at 10 p.m., they don't need to email you for it. For the parent side of the app, see how families use the Studio App.

What does Dominion Billing cost?

Dominion Billing is $0 a month. There's no Billing subscription. Stripe bills its processing fees to your studio's own Stripe account, and Dominion charges 1% per transaction, after any discount, returned if the payment is refunded. Your studio sets the transaction fee families see at checkout. It can be any amount, including none. Billing is optional, and you can use the rest of Dominion without it. Payments go straight to your studio's own Stripe account. Stripe bills its processing fees to your account, and Dominion charges 1% per transaction, after any discount. See Pricing for details.

What does a simple billing year look like?

Here's a rhythm that works for a lot of studios. Open summer and fall registration with payment in late spring. Start autopay with the first month of fall classes. Send costume invoices once sizes are in. Use winter break to check who's on autopay and who still pays by hand, and nudge the second group. Camps, drop-ins, and recitals fill the gaps, and our post on selling camps, drop-ins, and recitals covers how to bill for them.