# Understand tuition, saved methods and autopay

Category: Billing

Before you start: confirm the correct school and role. Use approved source records; perform live changes only within your assigned authority.

Do not treat these as one switch:

1. **Weekly invoice creation** is the child tuition assignment. On Thursday, an eligible positive weekly assignment creates the invoice for the following week. It does not charge Stripe and does not enable autopay.
2. **Family autopay** is a separate, explicit family-level choice. It uses the one selected saved method to collect eligible open invoices on or after their due date. Saving or replacing a method does not enable autopay.
3. **Batch invoice creation** is a manual way to create many invoices. It does not directly charge Stripe. A due batch invoice can still be picked up later by autopay, so never batch a tuition period already covered by recurring assignments.

`Create Invoice Now` also creates one due-now invoice; it is not an immediate card or bank charge. `Charge Selected Method` is a deliberate one-time stored-method charge and can be used while autopay is disabled.

## Verify the result

Identify which of the three controls you intend to change.

## If something goes wrong

Do not assume saving a method creates invoices or enables collection. Wait for pending actions; reopen the record before retrying an uncertain save or send.

Source: sources/BILLING_ADMIN_SOP.md — The Three Separate Billing Controls. Prepared October 8, 2026. SOP snapshot e06ad8d5; current source corrections are identified above. Written procedure; not a recording of a completed live action.