Sharon, I totally agree with you on the advance payment issue. I was told by a music teacher in the late 70s that it was the ONLY route to go and that I should NEVER take fees by the lesson if I plan to pay any bills with the lesson fees. There is simply too much risk that the student will get distracted by something and not show and then show 2 weeks later and the money will fall short. The semester concept is pretty new to me. I think, given the state of the US economy, it's a bit of a stretch to have folks pay for 3 months at a time, but that's just me. It seems to add in alot of bookkeeping. I'm pretty fine with monies due by the 1st but no later than the 5th of the month. Ed Sharon Szymanski <szy@n...> wrote:
(For those who cannot pay for a "semester," why not keep it really simple and just have payment due at each lesson, before it begins? This works really well for me.)
I'm glad it works well for you, but I would fear the loss of income if students were, for whatever reason, unable to actually make the lesson. You have reserved your time for them, but if they do not show up, you may not get paid, or may have to spend time and effort collecting from them for a missed lesson. Having some form of "pre-payment" helps insure that you do not fall into this situation and seems to help the students take the commitment more seriously in my experience.
Sharon Szymanski
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