Account Statements

The Statements tab within each billing account provides a complete financial overview for that account, and is the best place to get started with your billing workflow. Here you can:

• Record charges owed by the account.
• Track payments that have been received or are expected.
• Record expected ESA or voucher funding.
• Apply account credits or debits.
• Create invoices and installment plans.
• Export the statement as a PDF or CSV for your records.

A statement gives you a complete picture of the account balance and everything that contributes toward paying that balance.

Getting Started

Creating Charges

Before recording payments, generating invoices, or creating ESA/Voucher funding requests, you must first create a posted charge.

Spark allows you to create charges for a single billing account or create the same charge for multiple accounts at once.

Creating a Charge for a Single Account

1. Go to Billing → Accounts.
2. Open the desired billing account.
3. Select the Statements tab.
4. Click + Add Posted Charge.
5. In the Create Charge window, build the charge using one or more line items.
   • Create a single line item for the entire charge, or multiple line items for individual fees.
   • Select line items from your saved prices on the Prices & Categories page.
   • Assign each line item to a specific student within the account, if applicable.
   • Optionally assign the entire charge to a billing period.
6. Click Post Charge.

Posted charges can be opened and edited at any time, and multiple charges can be created for the same billing account.

Creating Charges in Bulk

If you need to post the same charge to multiple billing accounts, you can create charges in bulk.

1. Go to Billing → Accounts.
2. Click + Create Charge.
3. Select the billing accounts that should receive the charge.
4. Enter a title for the charge.
5. Add one or more line items and their amounts.
6. Specify whether each line item should be charged per student or per family.
7. Review the charges in the Preview section.
8. Click Post Charges.

Understanding the Statement

Once charges have been created, they appear on the Statements page as the account balance.

At the top of the page, a bar graph provides a visual summary of:

• Total charges
• Payments received
• Expected payments
• Expected ESA or voucher funding
• Remaining balance

Charges can be filtered by Billing Period or Student.

The goal is for the account balance to reach $0.00, indicating that every charge has been accounted for through payments, expected funding, adjustments, invoices, or installment plans.

Resolving the Balance

As explained before, the goal is for the account balance to reach $0.00, indicating that every charge has been accounted for through payments, expected funding, adjustments, invoices, or installment plans.

Recording Payments

Payments can be recorded as either received or expected.

To add a payment:

1. Click Payment in the Statement section, or Expected Payment in the Expected Funding section.
2. Select the payment type (cash, check, scholarship, grant, etc.).
3. Select the charge(s) and line items the payment applies to.
4. Review the information in the Record Payment window.
5. Click Save.

The payment will appear in either the Statement or Expected Funding section. The payment amount will also be reflected in the bar graph and deducted from the remaining account balance.

Recording ESA or Voucher Funding

Expected ESA or voucher funding can be tracked until the funds are received.

To create an ESA or voucher funding request:

1. Click ESA/Voucher in the Expected Funding section.
2. Select the student the funding applies to. (Only one student can be assigned to each funding request.)
3. Select the charge(s) and line items the funding will cover.
4. Enter the expected funding amount and click Continue.
5. In the ESA/Voucher Funding Request window, configure the expected funding schedule, including submission dates and expected payment dates.
6. To automatically divide the funding into installments, click Recast Expected Installments, then choose the number of installments and the starting date.
7. Click Save.

Each expected installment will appear in the Expected Funding section. These expected funds are reflected in the bar graph and reduce the remaining account balance.

Applying Credits and Debits

Adjustments allow you to manually increase or decrease an account balance. For example, you may apply a credit for volunteer hours, tuition discounts, or early registration incentives.

To create an adjustment:

1. Click Adjustment in the Statement section.
2. Select Credit or Debit.
3. Enter the adjustment amount.
4. Select the charge(s) and line items the adjustment applies to.
5. Click Save.

The adjustment will appear in the Statement section. Credits reduce the account balance, while debits increase it.

Creating Invoices

Invoices bill the family for any remaining balance after payments, funding, and adjustments have been applied. Invoice line items automatically reflect only the outstanding amounts still due.

To create an invoice:

1. Click Invoice in the Expected Funding section.
2. Select the charge(s) and line items to include.
3. Review the invoice details.
4. Click Save & Send or Save as Draft.

The invoice will appear in the Expected Funding section. It can also be accessed from the account's Invoices tab or from the main Invoices page.

For more information, see the Invoices help document.

Creating Installment Plans

Installment plans automatically divide an outstanding balance into multiple scheduled invoices.

To create an installment plan:

1. Click Installment Plan in the Expected Funding section.
2. Select the charge(s) and line items to include.
3. Enter a name for the plan.
4. Choose whether payments should occur weekly or monthly, then specify the due date or day of the week.
5. Verify the line items and available payment methods.
6. Click Create.

Spark automatically creates an invoice for each scheduled payment. These invoices appear in the Expected Funding section and can be opened or edited individually.

The installment plan itself can also be edited from the top of the page and is available from the main Installment Plans page when Show Single-Account Plans is enabled.

Exporting Statements

Statements can be exported as either a PDF or CSV file.

To export a statement:

1. Click Export at the top of the Statements page.
2. Select either PDF or CSV.

The file will be downloaded for your records.