Many families prefer to pay a term or a full year of tuition in a few planned payments rather than one lump sum. Installment Plans let you set a fixed Commitment amount for a billing period and split it into a schedule of invoices, such as 6 monthly payments or 2 quarterly payments. Illumine generates each installment invoice on its own date, so you don't need to create them manually.
An Installment Plan is created as a Tuition Plan inside a Program, using the Installments billing cycle.
Before you start: set up your Fee Components, Tax Rates and Discounts first. You'll pick them while building the plan. See Creating Billing Plans.
How to create an Installment Plan
Once you have logged in, from the left panel:
Navigate to Program > Program > Click on Add Program.
Fill in the Program step (name, room, schedule, duration) and click Continue.
Choose the billing cycle:
On the Tuition Plan step, enter a Tuition Plan name (e.g., "Installment Plan 2026-27").
Under Billing Cycle, select Installments.
Set the Billing Period:
Select the Start Date and End Date. This is the window the total commitment covers. For example, 01 Nov 2026 to 30 Apr 2027 is a 6-month period.
Add Charges:
Choose a Charge Name from your saved fee components, or type a new one, and enter the Unit Price.
Optionally add a Description, + Discount or + Tax Rate, and use + New charge to add more charges.
The Total becomes the plan's Commitment, the full amount split across installments.
Select the Installment Schedule (required):
Open Select installment schedule. Illumine suggests schedules based on your billing period. For a 6-month period you'll see:
Monthly: 6 payments
Every 2 months: 3 payments
Every 3 months: 2 payments
One time: 1 payment
You can select more than one schedule. This lets families choose how they want to pay.
Review the installment table:
Each selected schedule shows a table with an Invoice Date, Due Date and Amount for each installment, plus the balance left after each one.
By default the commitment is split equally. The footer confirms it, e.g. Allocated $6,000.00 / $6,000.00 · balanced (split equally).
Optional: turn on Auto-settle invoices with available credit and Email invoices to parents automatically, then click Continue.
On the Students step, enroll students now or click Skip for now.
On Review & create, check the plan details and click Create Program.
Note: proration settings aren't available for Installments. Each installment is a fixed amount from the schedule.
How to customise an Installment Schedule
The suggested schedules cover most cases. You can also fine-tune them in the Tuition Plan step.
Add a custom schedule:
At the bottom of the schedule dropdown, enter the number of payments next to Add custom schedule and click Add.
Edit installment dates and amounts:
Change any Invoice Date, Due Date or Amount in the table. The balance column updates as you type.
Remove an installment with the Ă at the end of its row.
Make sure the allocated total still matches the commitment before you continue.
Offer a discount for a schedule:
Use Discount for [schedule] to attach a saved discount to that schedule only. For example, give a discount to families who pick One time over Monthly.
Preview the invoice:
Click Preview Invoice, pick a schedule, and check how each installment invoice will look to parents.
Invoice
Tip: to remove a whole schedule from the plan, click Remove under its table.
How to assign students to an Instalment Plan
Each student is enrolled on the plan with one of its schedules. Invoices are then generated on the schedule's dates.
On the Students step of the wizard, or later from the program's Students tab > + Enroll Students:
Select the students. Use the Search, Room and Tuition Plan filters to narrow the list.
Set the Start Date, End Date and attendance Days.
Under Tuition Plan, choose your Installment Plan, then pick the student's Installment Schedule.
Click Apply to⊠to apply these settings to all the selected students at once.
Click Continue, review, and save.
Note: students marked Missing info need parent details added before they can be enrolled. Click + Add Parent Info next to their name.
Manage Instalment Plans
How to view an Instalment Plan
Go to Program from the left panel and open the program.
Click the Tuition Plans tab.
Each plan card shows its status, Commitment amount, Enrolled students, Est. Revenue, Next Billing date, Frequency (Installments), Charge Type (Fixed Amount), Due date and Charges.
Use the Status and Frequency filters to find instalment plans quickly.
How to switch off billing for a program
On the Tuition Plans tab, use the Switch off billing toggle. Invoices stop generating until billing is turned back on.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can I give families a choice of how to pay?
Yes. Select more than one schedule on the plan, then pick each student's schedule when you enroll them.
Do installment amounts have to be equal?
No. Equal splits are the default, but you can edit any installment's amount as long as the total still matches the commitment.
Can I prorate installments for students who join late?
No. Proration isn't available for the Installments billing cycle. Adjust that student's installment amounts or dates instead.
Can I reuse the same Installment Plan in other programs?
Yes. Click Save as Template on the plan. When you set up another program, click From template on the Tuition Plan step to start from it.