Electronic Payments for Independent Schools
Electronic Payments for Independent Schools
For years, Independent Schools have been looking for ways to streamline their typically small business offices in order to become more efficient. Schools have looked at electronic formats for payroll, student billing, enrollments, and other labor and paper intensive processes. However, most schools have not looked at the easiest way to transform their business office—electronic payments.
During a recent National Business Officer’s Association (@NBOAnet) webinar, 61% of attendees stated that they are still processing most of their payments by check and only some with electronic payments (ACH and P-card). This time-consuming process exposes schools to fraud is the most expensive form of payment and it is dragging down the efficiency in business offices at schools. There is no better time than now for Independent Schools to make this small procedural change to an electronic platform. Most importantly, an electronic payments will eliminate fraud exposure, get rid of costly checks, and save the business office staff 100’s of hours annually—allowing them to focus on more critical objectives.
Through Paymerang’s work with the NBOA and other state/regional associations, we have been able—through a simple, straight-line process—to help schools move to an electronic format. Collegiate School, in Richmond, VA, has been able to decrease the number of checks written in house by at least 75%, gain valuable hours back to the business office, and find a new revenue stream for instructional programs for the students. Woodberry Forest, an all boarding school in Virginia, has also seen the efficiency gains.