How payment plans work
Payment plans explained from the very beginning. Templates, installments, lines, anchor dates, offsets and issue dates, with a worked example.
This page explains payment plans assuming you've never seen one before. No finance background needed. By the end you'll know exactly how XPortal turns a plan and one date into a student's full list of bills.
The big idea
Think of a payment plan as a recipe for a student's bills.
A recipe doesn't say "bake at 3:15 pm on Tuesday". It says "bake for 45 minutes". The actual clock time depends on when you start. A payment plan works the same way. It never contains real dates. It says things like:
- "The first bill is due on the starting day."
- "The second bill is due 30 days after the starting day."
- "Each bill is sent 14 days before it's due."
Then, for each student, you give XPortal one real date, the starting day. That date is called the anchor date. XPortal adds the days on, and every bill gets a real date.
That's the whole trick: a plan plus an anchor date equals a student's bills.
The pieces of a payment plan
A payment plan is built from three layers, like a set of boxes inside boxes.
1. The plan, called a template
The outer box is the payment plan template. It belongs to one program and has:
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Template Name | A name staff will recognise, such as Standard 12-Month Installment Plan. |
| Program | The program this plan is for. It only appears for applications to that program. |
| Issue Date Offset (days) | How many days before or after each due date its invoice is sent. See Issue dates. |
| Set as default plan for this program | Tick it to make this plan the one chosen automatically on new applications for the program. |
2. The bills, called installments
Inside the plan are its installments. Each installment is one bill the student will receive:
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Name | What the bill is called, such as Deposit or Installment 2. |
| Amount | How much the bill is for. Worked out for you by adding up its lines. |
| Offset (days) | How many days after the anchor date this bill is due. 0 means due on the anchor date itself. It can't be negative. |
| Is Deposit? | Tick it if this bill is a deposit. See Deposits. |
3. What the bill is for, called lines
Inside each installment are its lines. A line is one item on the invoice, the way a shop receipt lists each thing you bought. An installment might have a Tuition Fee line and a Materials Fee line.
| Setting | What it means |
|---|---|
| Line Item Template | Optional. Pick a saved line to fill in the rest for you. |
| Line Name | What appears on the invoice, such as Tuition Fee. |
| Description | Optional extra detail. |
| Amount (cents) | How much this line is for, in cents. |
| Xero Account Code, Xero Tax Type, Xero Item Code | Accounting codes used when invoices are sent to Xero. Ask your finance team what to use. |
| Commissionable | Whether this line counts towards the agent's commission. |
An installment's amount is always the total of its lines. XPortal checks they match.
Amounts are typed in cents
In the payment plan editor, amounts are entered in cents, not dollars. To charge $500.00, type 50000. To charge $1,250.50, type 125050. Typing 500 would charge five dollars. Always double-check the Schedule Preview, which shows the amounts in dollars.
The anchor date: the starting day
The anchor date is the one real date you choose for each student, on the application's Payment tab. Every due date in the plan is counted from it.
Which date to use is your organisation's decision. Many organisations use the student's course start date, or the date the student signs up. Whichever you use, use it consistently, because the anchor decides when the student has to pay.
Due dates: when the bill must be paid
Each installment's due date is simply:
anchor date + the installment's offset (days)
| Installment offset | Anchor date 1 October 2026 gives a due date of… |
|---|---|
| 0 days | 1 October 2026, the anchor date itself |
| 14 days | 15 October 2026 |
| 30 days | 31 October 2026 |
| 90 days | 30 December 2026 |
Offsets count days, not months. "30 days" isn't always "one month later", because months have 28 to 31 days. If you want bills on roughly the same day each month, choose offsets that suit, and check the preview.
Issue dates: when the bill is sent
A student needs the invoice before it's due, so they have time to pay. The plan's Issue Date Offset (days) says how far from the due date the invoice is sent:
issue date = due date + the plan's issue date offset
- A negative offset sends the invoice before the due date. -14 means "send it two weeks before it's due". This is the usual choice. The editor reminds you: Negative values issue invoices before the due date.
- 0 sends it on the due date.
- A positive offset sends it after the due date, which is rarely what you want.
The offset must be between -365 and 365 days, and it applies to every installment in the plan.
A worked example
Here is a simple plan for a carpentry course:
- Issue Date Offset: -14, so every invoice is sent two weeks before it's due.
- Installments:
| Installment | Offset (days) | Lines | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | 0 | Tuition Fee 50000 | $500.00 |
| Installment 1 | 30 | Tuition Fee 150000, Materials Fee 50000 | $2,000.00 |
| Installment 2 | 60 | Tuition Fee 200000 | $2,000.00 |
| Installment 3 | 90 | Tuition Fee 200000 | $2,000.00 |
The student's anchor date is 1 October 2026. XPortal works out:
| Bill | Due date (anchor + offset) | Issue date (due − 14 days) | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | 1 Oct 2026 | 17 Sep 2026 | $500.00 |
| Installment 1 | 31 Oct 2026 | 17 Oct 2026 | $2,000.00 |
| Installment 2 | 30 Nov 2026 | 16 Nov 2026 | $2,000.00 |
| Installment 3 | 30 Dec 2026 | 16 Dec 2026 | $2,000.00 |
That's exactly what the Schedule Preview on the Payment tab would show. If you moved the anchor date a week later, every due date and issue date would move a week later too.
Default plans
Each program can have one default plan. On a new application, XPortal selects it automatically as soon as the program is chosen. Staff can still pick a different plan from the list. Tick Set as default plan for this program on the plan you use most.
Where payment plans are managed
Payment plan templates live in Financial → Payment Templates. Create, edit and copy them there. Reusable invoice lines can be set up in Financial → Line Item Templates, so they can be picked with Line Item Template instead of typed each time.
A plan made on the spot for one student is a custom plan. It uses the same editor.
Agent commissions and payment plans
Agent commission is calculated from the lines marked Commissionable. A tuition line is usually commissionable; a materials or administration fee often isn't. The commission goes to the agent selected on the application's Personal Details tab, if Agent Commissions is on.
What happens after you submit
- On submission, the plan and anchor date are turned into the student's actual schedule of bills and locked in with the application. If you set up deposits, a deposit invoice is created now for each installment marked as a deposit. See Deposits.
- On approval, the schedule moves across to the student's enrolment, together with any deposit invoices and any payments already made against them.
- Once the student is oriented, their payment plan becomes active. From then on, XPortal sends each invoice to the student on its issue date. If an issue date has already passed by the time the plan becomes active, that invoice is sent as soon as it does.
Payment plan checklist
- The plan belongs to the right program and has sensible installment offsets.
- Amounts were entered in cents, and the preview shows the right dollar amounts.
- The issue date offset is negative, so students get invoices before they're due.
- Commissionable lines are marked correctly.
- The anchor date follows your organisation's rule.
- The Schedule Preview adds up to the full course fee.