Guide for bursars

Who this guide is for

You are the school's Bursar. You set up what the school charges, issue families their invoices and follow what they owe, keep staff salaries up to date, and build each month's payroll for the Principal to approve.

Every amount you type is in your school's own currency, which is shown beside the amount box. Every task works on a computer and on a phone; where the two differ, the step says what to do on each. Each task has a short video beside its steps; they are all listed, in the order to learn them, under Videos at the end of this guide.

Before you start

Your school creates your login and gives you a temporary password.

1. Open your school's address and add /app/login, or follow the sign-in link your school gave you. The sign-in page shows your school's name.

2. Enter your Email address and Password, and select Sign In. You arrive on the Dashboard (Today on a phone).

To choose your own password, select Forgot password? on the sign-in page, enter your email and select Send reset code, then type the code from the email and choose a new password. You can also select Sign in with a one-time code to receive a six-digit code by email instead of typing a password.

Find your way around

On a computer, your pages are in the menu on the left under FINANCE: Fee Structure, Invoices and Payments, then Salaries, Payroll Runs and your own My Payslips. Pupils is under ACADEMIC. Select a heading to open or close its group. Along the top of the screen:

• the search box (Search…, or press Ctrl+K) finds a pupil by name or number;

• EN and FR switch the app between English and French;

• the sun or moon button switches between light and dark;

• your picture or initials, at the top right, opens a menu with Profile and Sign out.

On a tablet, the menu opens from the menu button at the top left. The app follows your device's light or dark setting until you choose otherwise.

Use it on your phone

The same app runs in your phone's web browser; there is nothing else to download.

1. In the phone's browser, open your school's address with /app/login added, and sign in.

2. If the phone offers to install your school's app, select Install app. On an iPhone or iPad, the offer says how: tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. From then on, open it from your home screen. Select Not now if you do not want it; the offer is not repeated.

3. Use the bar at the bottom of the screen: Today (the Dashboard), Invoices, Payments and Fee structure.

4. Select More for every other page, such as Salaries, Payroll Runs, My Payslips and Pupils, and for Appearance (System, Light or Dark), Language (English or Français) and Sign out. Your name at the top of More opens your profile. Close the sheet to go back.

On a phone, the invoice list is a list of cards instead of a table. When a new version of the app is ready, a message says A new version is available. Select Reload when it suits you.

Change your own name, phone or photo

1. Select your picture or initials at the top right, then Profile. On a phone, select More, then your name at the top.

2. Change your First name, Last name or Phone number, and select Save changes. The name is the one the app shows for you at this school.

3. To add a photo, select Add a photo (or Change photo) and choose a JPEG, PNG or WebP image of up to 3 MB. Remove photo takes it off. If there is no photo button, photo uploads are not set up for your school.

Your email address and password are how you sign in, so they are not changed on this page. Under Email and password, Change password opens the page where you set a new one. To change the email address you sign in with, ask your school's administrator.

Your Dashboard

Your Dashboard (Today on a phone) opens with the school's fees for the current session.

1. Look under Fees this session at the top.

2. Read Billed, everything invoiced this session, and Fees Collected, what has been paid against it.

3. Read Outstanding, what is still to pay, and Overdue, the part of it that is past its due date.

4. To see who owes what, go to Invoices, in the menu or under Quick Actions (the Invoices tab on a phone).

Set up the fees

Each fee item is a name and an amount, for one class level or for every level, and for one term or for the whole session.

1. Open Fee Structure under FINANCE, or the Fee structure tab on a phone. Choose the Session at the top. The items are grouped by class level, with All class levels first.

2. Select Add Item.

3. Enter the Name, for example Tuition, and the Amount.

4. Choose the Class Level it is for, or All class levels.

5. Choose the Term it is billed in, or Whole session for a fee charged once a year.

6. Tick Optional for a fee only some families pay, such as a school bus. Optional items are never put on invoices automatically.

7. Select Save.

Issue invoices

1. Open Invoices under FINANCE (the Invoices tab on a phone) and select Generate invoices.

2. Choose the Session and the Term. Choose Whole session to bill the items set for the whole session instead.

3. Choose a Class, or All classes for every pupil enrolled in the session.

4. Optionally choose a Due date (optional). An invoice with no due date is never shown as overdue.

5. Select Generate.

Each pupil is billed only the items for their own class level, plus the items for every level, for the term you chose. The result shows how many Invoices issued, how many pupils were Already invoiced, not billed again, and anyone Not invoiced with the reason, such as a pupil not enrolled in a class, or no items set up for their level and that term. Fix the reason and select Generate invoices again: nobody is billed twice for the same term. Select Done to see the new invoices in the list.

Follow invoices and balances

1. Open Invoices under FINANCE, or the Invoices tab on a phone. The list opens on the current session.

2. The totals at the top show Total Billed, Total Paid, Outstanding and Overdue for the invoices listed. Drafts and voided invoices are not counted. If the list holds invoices in more than one currency, each currency is totalled on its own.

3. Narrow the list with Session, Term, Class and Status. Class is the class the pupil was in for that invoice's session. Choose Overdue under Status to see invoices past their due date that still have something owing.

4. On a computer, each row shows the Invoice #, Pupil, Class, Total, Paid, Balance, Status and Due date, with amounts in the invoice's own currency. On a phone, each invoice is a card with the same figures, and Invoice PDF and Pay at its foot.

5. Select Export CSV to download the invoices listed as a spreadsheet file.

To see one invoice in full, select its row, or its number on a phone. The invoice shows the pupil, term, session and class, each item billed, and the Total Billed, Amount Paid and Balance Due. Select Back to return to the list.

Send or print an invoice as a PDF

Every invoice is also a PDF with the school's name, the family's details, each item, the payments received and the balance, stamped PAID, PART-PAID or UNPAID.

1. Open the invoice from Invoices, or use Invoice PDF on its row (on its card on a phone).

2. On a computer, use the buttons at the top of the invoice. On a phone, the invoice has four large buttons under its heading: WhatsApp, Email, Download and Print.

3. Choose one:

   • Download PDF saves the PDF.

   • Print prints the PDF. On a phone it opens the PDF so you can print it from there.

   • Share on WhatsApp sends the PDF itself where your device can share files. Otherwise it opens WhatsApp with a short message and a link to the PDF, addressed to the parent when their number is on file with its country code. The link works without signing in for 30 days.

   • Email sends the PDF as an attachment. The parent's email on file is filled in under Send to, and you can type another address.

4. For an email, select Send. A message confirms it went. If your school has no email set up, it says so and nothing is sent.

Take a payment online

If your school takes fees online, you can start a payment on an invoice that still has something owing.

1. Select Pay on the invoice's row or card, or Pay Now on the invoice.

2. Under How will this be paid?, choose one of the ways shown. Only the ways your school has set up for the invoice's currency are listed.

3. For mobile money, enter the payer's number. Select Start payment.

4. Follow what the page shows: open the payment page, give the payer the account number to transfer to and the exact amount, or ask them to approve the prompt on their phone.

5. Select Check the invoice.

The invoice is marked paid only when the payment provider confirms the money, which can take a few minutes. Check the invoice shows whether it has arrived. Drafts, voided invoices and invoices paid in full cannot be paid.

The Payments page (the Payments tab on a phone) always starts from an invoice: opened on its own, it says Choose an invoice to pay from the Invoices list. Select Go to Invoices.

Look up a pupil

1. Open Pupils under ACADEMIC (on a phone, More, then Pupils).

2. Type in Name, admission number or guardian phone…: a name in either order, an admission number, or a guardian's phone number or email.

3. Narrow the list with the filters if you need to.

4. Select a pupil to open their page. Its Fees tab lists their invoices and what is still owed.

In Invoices, the Pupil column shows whose each invoice is.

Set a salary

1. Open Salaries under FINANCE (on a phone, More, then Salaries). The list shows each Member of staff with their Grade, Basic, Gross and Net pay.

2. Select Set a salary, or Change on someone already listed.

3. Choose the Member of staff, and optionally a Grade and Step. Enter the basic monthly salary in your school's currency.

4. Under Allowances and Deductions, select Add for each line and enter its name and amount. The Gross, Deductions and Net figures update as you type.

5. Select Save salary.

Changing a salary closes the old one and opens a new one. Payslips already issued keep the figures they were issued with.

Say where each member of staff is paid

Where your school is connected to the payments service, salaries can be paid by bank transfer from the school's own fee collections instead of by hand. Each member of staff needs a salary account first.

1. Open Salaries under FINANCE (on a phone, More, then Salaries).

2. Select Pay to beside the member of staff.

3. Select Add an account (or Change account). Under Pay into, choose A bank account or Their 9PSB wallet.

4. For a bank account, choose the Bank. Enter the ten-digit Account number (or the wallet number) and select Check and save.

5. The bank returns the Name at the bank. Check that it is this person before you rely on it; nobody types the name.

A member of staff with a 9PSB wallet opened at the school is paid into it automatically. Anyone with neither a wallet nor a salary account is left out of a transfer and must be paid by hand.

Build the monthly payroll run

1. Open Payroll Runs under FINANCE (on a phone, More, then Payroll Runs).

2. Choose the Month and select Build the run. The run is built from the salaries standing on that day.

3. Select Payslips on the run to check each member of staff's Basic, Gross, Deductions and Net.

4. If something is wrong, correct the salary, select Delete on the draft run and confirm, then build it again.

5. When it is right, ask the Principal or the Institution Admin to approve it.

There is one run per month. You build it; the Principal or the Institution Admin approves it and marks it paid. You cannot approve a run yourself, so every payroll has a second check.

See your payslips

1. Open My Payslips under FINANCE (on a phone, More, then My Payslips).

2. Each month you have been paid for is listed, with your net pay.

3. Select Breakdown to see your basic pay, each allowance, each deduction and the total.

Your wallet, airtime and bills

Where your school offers bank wallets, FINANCE also shows My Wallet and Airtime & Bills. Anywhere else the two items are not in the menu.

1. Open My Wallet under FINANCE (on a phone, More, then My Wallet).

2. If you have no wallet yet, select Open a wallet, fill in the form (your Surname, BVN, Date of birth, Phone number and the rest) and select Open my wallet. The details go to the bank to open an account in your name; the school does not keep your BVN or national identity number.

3. Your Account number appears when the bank has finished its checks. Until then, select Check again later: there is nothing to fill in a second time.

4. Money in lists what the bank has paid into the wallet, and the statement lists every movement with the balance after each. If your salary is paid there and it differs from My Payslips, this is the record to quote.

To buy airtime or data, or to pay a bill from the wallet, open Airtime & Bills under FINANCE. Choose Airtime, Data or Bills, fill in the phone number or account, and confirm. What you have bought lists each purchase. For a prepaid meter the token is shown on the page: copy it and keep it, because it cannot be issued again.

Look after the school's wallets

Wallets under FINANCE lists everyone at the school who holds a 9PSB wallet. When a pupil graduates, withdraws or transfers out, or a member of staff leaves, their wallet is frozen at the bank within minutes. It keeps its balance and number.

1. Open Wallets under FINANCE (on a phone, More, then Wallets).

2. Choose what to Show: all wallets, Frozen, People who have left, Active or Still being opened.

3. Select Details on a wallet to see its History and its Statement from the bank.

4. To freeze a wallet (a lost phone, a dispute), enter why and select Freeze. To reactivate one (a pupil who returns, a leaver taking out their balance), enter why and select Reactivate. A leaver's wallet reactivated this way stays active until someone freezes it again.

Nothing changes unless the bank confirms it, and every change is kept with who asked and why.

Watch the help videos

1. Open Help videos under HELP. On a phone it is under More.

2. The videos for your role are in three groups: Start here, Every day and Now and then, each with its length.

3. Select one to play it. Where there is a phone version and a computer version, you can switch between them. A line marked Coming soon is not recorded yet.

Tips and common questions

• Why can I not approve payroll? Approval belongs to the Principal and the Institution Admin, deliberately separate from the person who builds the run.

• Raising a salary did not change last month's payslips. That is by design. A run is a snapshot of the salaries on the day it was built.

• Where are my own payslips? Under My Payslips in FINANCE (on a phone, in More).

• A pupil got no invoice. Open Generate invoices again for their class and term: the result names every pupil it did not bill and why.

• When does an invoice become overdue? The day after its due date, by your school's own calendar, if something is still owed.

• How do I change the language, or switch between light and dark? On a computer, use EN and FR and the sun or moon button at the top. On a phone, select More.

Getting help

For anything to do with your account or access, ask your school's administrator.

To try any of this for yourself, open the live demo.