A school's finance office deals with a lot at once. Fee invoices go out to hundreds of families at the start of every term. Payments arrive over weeks in different amounts, through different channels. Payroll has to run on time. Petty cash needs tracking. And the bursar needs to know at any moment who owes what.
Vendra gives the finance team one platform. Fee billing runs automatically. Outstanding balances update in real time. Payroll covers teaching and support staff. The canteen uses the same POS. Purchasing flows through an approval process. Everything feeds the same set of accounts — the books are always current.
Student records and fee billing
Each student is a contact in Vendra, organised by class group or year level using contact tags. At the start of each term, fee invoices are generated for all enrolled students. The invoice includes each fee component as a separate line — tuition, boarding, transport, activity levy, library fee — so parents see exactly what they are paying for and the school can report on each revenue stream independently.
- Student contacts tagged by class, year or boarding status for bulk invoice generation
- Fee invoices with itemised lines per component and applicable tax
- Payment terms set per student for families with approved instalment arrangements
- Credit notes raised instantly when a student withdraws mid-term
- Customer statements emailed to parents at any time showing balance due
Fee payment tracking and outstanding balances
When a fee payment arrives — by bank transfer, mobile money or cash — it is registered against the student's invoice. Partial payments are handled correctly: the invoice shows the amount paid, the remaining balance and the due date of the next instalment. The aged receivables report shows the entire school's outstanding fee position at any time, grouped by days overdue so the bursar knows exactly which families to follow up with first.
Bank reconciliation matches incoming fee payments to open student invoices automatically using the student reference number on the bank statement. Most schools reconcile an entire term's fee receipts in under an hour with Vendra's automated matching rules.
Teacher and staff payroll
All teaching and support staff are employees in the Vendra payroll module. Each staff member has a salary structure with their basic salary, allowances, statutory deductions and net pay formula. Payslips for the entire school are generated in a single batch run each month. Public holiday calendars are configured per country so deductions are never applied on non-working days. Leave balances are managed within the same system — annual leave, sick leave and compassionate leave.
Stationery and supply purchasing
When the school needs to purchase stationery, textbooks, cleaning supplies, sports equipment or any other consumable, a purchase order is raised in Vendra. The purchasing workflow ensures requests are approved before orders are sent to suppliers. When goods arrive, a receipt confirms delivery and updates stock. Supplier bills are matched to the purchase order automatically, preventing duplicate payments.
Term fee invoicing
Generate fee invoices for all students at once. Each invoice shows tuition, boarding, transport and other fees on separate lines. Students on instalments get their own payment terms.
Outstanding balance reports
See who has paid and who hasn't, sorted by how many days overdue. Email a statement to any parent at any time showing exactly what they owe.
Staff payroll
Run payslips for all staff in one batch. Leave balances, public holidays and tax deductions are all handled automatically.
Supply purchasing
Raise purchase orders for stationery, books and supplies. Orders go through an approval step before going to the supplier. Stock updates when deliveries arrive.
Canteen POS
Sell meals and snacks at the canteen through the Vendra POS. Stock goes down automatically with each sale. Students can pay from a prepaid account instead of cash.
Petty cash management
Staff submit expense claims with receipts. A manager approves before anything posts to the accounts. Every petty cash disbursement has a paper trail.
Canteen POS for student meals
The school canteen uses Vendra POS to process student meals and snack purchases. Every sale deducts from the canteen inventory in real time so stock levels are always accurate and reorder alerts fire when products run low. VAT receipts are generated per transaction where required. For schools running prepaid meal accounts, students are set up as customer accounts in POS and meals are charged to their account balance, reducing cash handling at the counter.
Petty cash and expense management
Small school expenses — transport reimbursements, emergency purchases, event costs — are submitted as expense claims by the responsible staff member. Each claim is attached to a receipt and sent for manager approval before it posts to accounting. The expenses module gives the bursar a complete record of all petty cash disbursements with the approver, the account charged and the date — eliminating the paper petty cash book entirely.
Multi-campus management
School groups operating multiple campuses or separate primary and secondary schools use the Pro Plus plan to manage each institution as its own company. Each campus has its own student contacts, fee invoices, payroll and bank accounts. The group finance director sees consolidated income, payroll costs and outstanding fee debtors across all campuses from a single dashboard.
Which plan does a school need?
Most schools start on the Pro plan at $27/month, which covers full fee billing, accounting, payroll, purchasing and POS for the canteen. School groups with multiple campuses or those needing consolidated group reporting use Pro Plus at $50/month.