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School Fees & Payments Platform

Overview​

The School Fees & Payments Platform is a centralized, secure, and configurable solution designed to help educational institutes digitize their fee collection and payment workflows. The platform provides dedicated portals for both administrative users and students, enabling efficient fee management, online payments, and complete auditability.

Business Value​

The platform delivers key business benefits for educational institutes:

  • Digital Transformation - Move from manual, paper-based fee collection to a fully digital workflow
  • Accuracy & Efficiency - Reduce manual errors in payment tracking and reconciliation
  • Self-Service Experience - Enable students and parents to view dues and make payments online
  • Security & Compliance - Provide role-based access, data isolation, and complete audit trails
  • Customization - Allow institutes to configure and brand their student-facing portal

Platform Architecture​

The solution consists of two main portals:

Admin Portal​

A secure management interface for platform and institute administrators to:

  • Onboard and manage institutes
  • Configure fee structures and types
  • Invite and manage institute administrative users
  • Create and manage student records
  • Initiate bulk payment collections via Excel upload
  • Monitor payments and perform reconciliation

Student Portal​

A user-friendly interface where students and parents can:

  • Authenticate securely via email OTP
  • View pending fee dues and amounts
  • Review complete payment history
  • Make online payments through integrated payment gateways
  • Receive payment confirmations and receipts

User Roles & Responsibilities​

Platform Admin​

  • Manages multiple institutes on the platform
  • Controls global configuration and settings
  • Oversees institute onboarding and activation

Institute Admin​

  • Manages their specific institute's data and configuration
  • Creates and maintains fee type structures
  • Invites and manages institute-level users
  • Initiates payment collections
  • Monitors and reconciles payments
  • Configures payment gateway settings
  • Customizes student portal branding

Student (Public User)​

  • Accesses the student portal to view personal dues
  • Makes online payments for outstanding fees
  • Views payment history and downloads receipts
  • Limited to viewing and paying their own obligations only

Core Features​

Institute Management​

  • Multi-tenant architecture supporting multiple institutes
  • Complete institute profile management (name, address, contact details)
  • Payment gateway configuration per institute
  • Custom branding and theming for student portals
  • Support personnel information setup

Fee Type Configuration​

  • Flexible fee structure definitions (tuition, library, lab, etc.)
  • Support for full and partial payment options
  • Late fee penalty configuration
  • Fee type maintenance and updates

Student Management​

  • Student record creation and maintenance
  • Login ID management
  • Parent/guardian contact information
  • Association with specific institutes

Payment Collection​

  • Bulk payment demand creation via Excel upload
  • Support for multiple fee types in a single collection
  • Individual payment collection items per student per fee type
  • Due date tracking and management
  • Multiple payment modes support

Payment Processing​

  • Secure online payment gateway integration
  • Support for partial payments
  • Multiple payment collection item details per fee type
  • Complete transaction tracking (PG order ID, transaction ID)
  • Payment status monitoring
  • Single payment can cover multiple fee items

Audit & Reporting​

  • Complete audit trail for financial operations
  • Transaction traceability
  • Payment reconciliation tools
  • Historical payment records

Data Model​

The platform's data model consists of interconnected entities:

Core Entities:

  • Institute - Educational institution details, settings, and branding
  • Institute User - Administrative users associated with institutes
  • Fee Type - Configurable fee structures with payment rules
  • Student - Student records with contact information
  • Payment Collection - Bulk collection events with due dates
  • Payment Collection Item - Individual student fee obligations
  • Payment Collection Item Detail - Payment details and partial payment tracking
  • Payment - Actual payment transactions with gateway details

Key Relationships:

  • One Institute → Many Institute Users, Fee Types, Students, Payment Collections
  • One Payment Collection → Many Payment Collection Items (per student per fee type)
  • One Payment Collection Item → Many Payment Collection Item Details (for partial payments)
  • One Payment → Many Payment Collection Item Details (consolidated payments)

Security & Access Control​

The platform implements comprehensive security measures:

  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) - Access rights defined by user role
  • Data Isolation - Institute data strictly separated and accessible only to authorized users
  • Audit Trail - All critical operations logged for compliance
  • Secure Authentication - Email OTP for students, secure login for admins
  • Payment Security - Integration with certified payment gateways
  • Access Restrictions:
    • Institute admins limited to their own institute's data
    • Students can only view and pay their own dues

Technical Capabilities​

Performance​

  • Background job processing for bulk operations
  • Asynchronous email and notification delivery
  • Efficient handling of large data uploads

Compliance​

  • Secure payment processing standards
  • Complete transaction traceability
  • Reporting capabilities for audits

Integration​

  • Email service (SMTP) for notifications
  • Payment gateway APIs for transaction processing
  • Excel file processing for bulk uploads

Platform Assumptions​

The platform operates under these key assumptions:

  • Institutes maintain accurate and up-to-date student records
  • Students and parents have access to email for communication
  • Online payment gateways are available and properly configured
  • Internet connectivity is available for online operations

Dependencies​

The platform requires integration with:

  • Email Service - SMTP server for sending notifications and OTPs
  • Payment Gateway - Third-party payment processor for online transactions

Summary​

The School Fees & Payments Platform provides a complete solution for educational institutes to modernize their fee collection processes.

By combining secure administrative tools with a user-friendly student portal, the platform reduces manual effort, improves accuracy, and enhances the payment experience for all stakeholders while maintaining strict security and compliance standards.