School Fee Waivers and Bursaries: How to Handle Them With Proper Approval
By PayDesk · Updated
How do I record a school fee waiver or bursary properly?
Never edit a balance directly. Record each waiver against specific invoices with a written reason, and require a second person, usually the principal, to approve it before the balance changes. That keeps bursaries defensible when the board or an auditor asks why a balance went down.
Why waivers need a second approver
A balance reduction has the same effect on school income as cash going missing. When one person can lower balances alone, honest mistakes and abuse look identical. Requiring a reason and a separate approver protects the bursar as much as the school.
How PayDesk handles bulk waivers
A mass waiver in PayDesk is queued as an approval request rather than applied straight away. It must cover at least 2 open invoices of your own school and state a reason, and it can reduce balances to zero or to a set amount. The principal approves or rejects it, and the person who requested it cannot approve their own request.
Once approved, PayDesk adds a negative waiver line item to each invoice carrying your reason, recalculates the balance, and writes an audit log entry. The same approval step applies to single balance adjustments, invoice cancellations, large refunds and fee structure deactivations.
What to write in the reason
- The type: bursary, staff-child discount, hardship, or correction.
- The authority: board minute, sponsor letter or principal decision.
- The scope: which term and which students.
Keep a bursary register
Separate from the system, keep a register of sponsors and the students they cover, so each waiver can be traced to a document if challenged.
Frequently asked questions
- Who should approve a fee waiver?
- Someone other than the person who requested it, typically the principal, acting on a board decision or a sponsor's written commitment.
- Does a waiver delete the invoice?
- No. The invoice stays. PayDesk adds a negative waiver line item with your reason, so the invoice shows both the original charges and the reduction.
See it work with your own Paybill
PayDesk matches M-Pesa payments to invoices automatically. Book a short demo and we will show it on a sample school.