The Studio Director - web based dance studio software and gymnastics software

The Studio Director - training video on managing classes Training Video on Managing Classes

Quick Start Guide

  1. Basic Use and Navigation
  2. Class Schedules
  3. Registration Steps
  4. Automatic Tuition
  5. Automatic Registration Fees
  6. Adding Enrollment
  7. Dropping Enrollment
  8. Switching Classes
  9. Waitlists
  10. Attendance
  11. Student Check-In
  12. Tags
  13. Letters and Mailing Labels
  14. E-mails
  15. E-mail History
  16. Entering Charges
  17. Deleting Charges
  18. Entering Payments
  19. On-line Registration
  20. Class Cards
  21. Payment Plans
  22. Promotions
  23. Inventory Management
  24. Event and Recital Management
  25. Costume Management
  26. QuickBooks Export
  27. Custom Student Fields
  28. Skill Charts / Report Cards
  29. Security
  30. Locking the Ledger
  31. Instructor Timesheets
  32. Leads

Basic Use and Navigation

Navigating

The Studio Director is an Internet application that works much like any website.

  • To navigate between pages, use the page tabs (for example, Home, Classes, Students, Families, Instructors, ...) and the toolbar icons / menus of your web browser (for example, File/Print, Back, Refresh).
  • Click blue text links for additional pages and information. Only single mouse clicks are needed.
  • Hovering your mouse over many of the blue text links will automatically display more information -- without having to click.  For example, hover over a class on the class calendar to see details about that class.  Hovering over a student name on the family page will show you current enrollment for that student. Hovering over the "?" next to some of the field names will give you some more information about how that field is used.
  • Click your logo in the upper left corner to go to your business' website.
  • The font size in the most of the application is an 8 point font. Under the Admin tab, you can change font size of the application (and the on-line registration site) to 9 point or 10 point if you prefer a larger font.

Using Tabs and Buttons

Tabs are used to manage information in the associated category. Studio Director page tabs include: Home, Classes, Students, Families, Instructors, Charges/Payments, Reports, and Admin. Beneath each tab, are one or more buttons. Click a button to perform the associated action:

  • New - refreshes the existing form to allow you to enter a new record
  • Save Changes - saves any changes or additions you made to the information displayed in the form. It's important that you Save Changes to any information that you've entered or changed before you switch to another page - if you don't Save Changes, your changes won't be saved.
  • Delete - deletes the record displayed (a message will ask you to confirm that you want to delete the information before actually deleting it).
  • Print - displays relevant information about the current record in a print format (once the report is displayed on the screen, use the File/Print menu in the browser to print it).
  • E-Mail - allows you to easily send one or more e-mail messages.  For example, E-Mail from a class and you can send a message to everyone enrolled in that class.  You can E-Mail to a single Student or Family.  From an Instructor, you can e-mail all students in that instructor's classes or all the instructors.

Searching and Sorting

  • The search results list (on the left edge of the screen) defaults to display all the records for the Tab you select (for example, select the Classes Tab and all Classes will be displayed in the search list).
  • Enter any text in the Search box to find all items that match. For example, enter "hip" and the search results will list all classes, families, students, or instructors that have the text "hip" in their names. Searching is not case sensitive.
  • Enter all or part of an e-mail address in the Search box to find the family associated with that e-mail address.
  • From the list of search results on the left edge of the screen, you can click on any of the items to go to the detailed information. Once you have clicked on one of the search results items, Prev and Next buttons will help you go through the search results list.
  • All text in blue is a link to more information. For example, click "Billy" on the Families page to go to Billy's student information; click "Family Info" on the Student page to go to the Family details and account balance for that student.
  • Click any column heading on reports or class schedules to re-sort the data by that column (for example, click "Instr" heading on the class calendar and all classes will be re-sorted alphabetically by Instructor name).
  • There is an Advanced Search feature available to help narrow your search results down to just the classes, students, or families you are interested in seeing. Click the "Advanced Search" link under the Search box to see all the fields and options you have for searching. The results of any search will be displayed on the left side of the page. This "Advanced Search" option also will let you "tag" or e-mail notes to all the families or students that came back in the search results. "Tags" are useful for grouping and finding families/students on reports - see Tags for more info.

Entering Data

  • When entering data into a form, press the tab button on your keyboard to move the cursor between fields.
  • Make drop-down list selections with the mouse, by entering the first letter of the item, or by using the up/down arrow keys.
  • Press Save Changes to save any changes you made.

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Class Schedules

  • Multiple seasons can be entered. Each season displays as a separate class calendar and has its own enrollment.
  • Holding the cursor over a class in the calendar displays a pop-up box with class details.
  • Clicking on the class name displays all information about the class.
  • Class names that appear in green text indicate the class still has available slots.
  • Class names that appear in red text indicate the class is full or has an existing waitlist.
  • Class Schedules can easily be printed from the Print button on the Home tab, the Classes tab, or the under the Reports tab. The schedule is formatted in a PDF that will page break and contain appropriate column headings.
  • A Class Resource Block report, under the Reports tab, shows classes in time blocks for specific dates. Conflicts of locations or instructors are easily spotted with red blocks.

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Registration Steps

  1. Enter family information first. You can do this on the Families tab. (you may want to enter the last name into the search box to check whether the family information already exists before you enter a new/duplicate family). Be sure to press Save Changes when all the Family information has been entered.
  2. Enter student information. You can do this on the Students tab or by pressing Add New Student from the Family page. (entering the Last Name is only necessary if it is different from the Family/Guardian Last Name - leave the Student Last Name blank if they have the same last name as the Family/Guardian to save yourself some time).
  3. Register the students for the class(es). You can do this from the Students page by pressing the Register for New Class button or from the Classes page by pressing the Add New Student button.

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Automatic Tuition -- multi class discounts and family discounts

There are many ways the system can be configured to calculate and post tuition automatically (for example, you can define recurring amounts for individual classes or individual students, base tuition on the number of class hours per week or the number of classes per week, give multiple class discounts and family discounts, etc ...). Each time you enroll a student in a class or drop a student, tuition and discounts for the family will be automatically calculated for the current and future billing periods. Auto Tuition amounts can be easily overridden.

  • To enter tuition rate tables (that is, the more classes they take, the less they pay per hour/per class), use the Admin tab / Auto Tuition Rates. If you have any questions about Auto Tuition for your business, please contact [email protected]
  • If you want to charge everyone that enrolls in a specific class the same amount, use the Session Charge field under the Class to enter that tuition amount. If an amount is entered here (not $0 and not blank), that tuition charge will be applied to all the enrolled students and no multi-class discounts will be given.
  • If you want to charge an individual student a different amount than what the system is automatically charging, use the Override Tuition link under the Other Actions drop-down on the Student page to enter those amounts. If $0 is entered, that student will not be charged any tuition.
  • Auto Tuition amounts are automatically re-calculated for current and future sessions/billing cycles for you as you drop/add students and change enrollment.
  • Auto Tuition amounts are calculated based on the enrollment dates and whatever "tuition" rates / multi-class discounts you have defined. You can easily change those dates and the system will re-calculate / re-prorate tuition amounts for current and future billing cycles.
  • Auto Tuition charges for old/past due sessions can be deleted. Adjustment charges can be easily entered if an individual Auto Tuition amount needs to be adjusted.
  • Auto Family Discounts can be added automatically based on a percentage of total tuition amounts or a flat dollar amount. Select Auto Family Discount under the Admin tab.
  • Sales tax for Auto Tuition charges and Discounts can be automatically calculated and posted. The tax is controlled by the "Tuition" Charge Category as defined under the Admin tab / "Charge Categories / Sales Tax Percentages" -- enter the Tax Rate and mark the "Tuition" charge category as Taxable.
  • Helpful Hint: to see how the Auto Tuition charge was calculated, click on the blue "Auto Tuition" charge link from the family's account ledger. That will display the details of the charge and the steps that were taken to calculate the tuition amount. There is also a link there to Override Tuition or Change Enroll Dates if needed.

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Automatic Registration Fees

If you charge a fee when the student and/or family initially enrolls in a class, there are multiple models that can be configured to fit most businesses (for example, you can charge each student a fee, charge the first student one fee and cap the fee for the family, or charge returning students and families a different fee). Each time you enroll a student in a class, registration fees for the family will be automatically calculated and posted for you.

  • To enter registration fee amount and effective dates, use the Admin tab / Auto Registration Fee. If you have any questions about how to setup registration fees for your business, please contact [email protected]
  • Registration fees can be set to automatically charge the same time each year (for example, at the beginning of the class season or maybe Jan 1st) or based on the anniversary of the last registration fee the family/student paid (for example, they pay a fee every 12 months). Again, please contact [email protected] for help setting up this type of registration fee.
  • Charging registrations fees can also be turned on or off by "Class Type" or by "Season". This is useful if you charge registration fees for most of your classes, but maybe not for your special workshops or your summer season. Use the Admin tab / Class Types to specify whether a registration fee will be charged for the class type. Use the Admin tab / Seasons to specify whether a registration fee will be charged for the entire Season of classes.
  • Sales tax for Auto Registration Fees can be automatically calculated and posted. The tax is controlled by the "Registration" Charge Category as defined under the Admin tab / "Charge Categories / Sales Tax Percentages" -- enter the Tax Rate and mark the "Registration" charge category as Taxable.

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Adding Enrollment -- Pro-rated Tuition

If you're using the automatic tuition posting features of The Studio Director, each time you enroll a student in a class, tuition will be automatically calculated for you and posted to the family's account.

If pro-rating is set to YES

  • By default, a pro-rated tuition charge will be automatically created based on the actual number of times in the current session that the class will meet (today or later).
  • For example, if you enroll a student in a $40.00 class that meets once a week for 4 weeks and you enroll them the day AFTER the first class met, an auto tuition charge of $30.00 will be created by default.
  • The date to base the pro-rating upon can be easily changed by changing the "Enroll Dates". At the time of enrollment, a drop-down list of dates is available. After enrollment, from the student page - click on the "Enroll Dates" button next to the current class enrollment or from the family account ledger page - click on the "Auto Tuition" charge link to see/change the Enroll Dates.

If pro-rating is set to NO

  • By default, a complete session tuition charge will be automatically created.
  • For example, if you enroll a student in a $40.00 class that meets once a week for 4 weeks and you enroll them the day AFTER the first class met, an auto tuition charge of $40.00 will be created by default.
  • You can choose to pro-rate individual student tuition by changing the "Enroll Dates". At the time of enrollment, a drop-down list of enrollent dates is available. After enrollment, from the student page - click on the "Enroll Dates" button next to the current class enrollment or from the family account ledger page - click on the "Auto Tuition" charge link to see/change the Enroll Dates.

Pro-rating is turned on or off under the Admin Tab / Studio Contact Info. Pro-rating can also be turned on or off by "Class Type" or by "Season". This is useful if you pro-rate tuition for most of your classes, but maybe not for your special workshops or summer seasons. Use the Admin tab / Class Types to specify whether pro-rating will be on or off for the class type. Use the Admin tab / Seasons to specify whether pro-rating will be on or off for the entire Season of classes.

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Dropping Enrollment -- Pro-rated Tuition

Each time you drop a student from a class:

  • You can enter a reason for the drop (the list of drop reasons can be modified under the Admin tab) as well as enter free form notes.
  • The record of a student's dropped class history can be viewed under the individual Student pages. The history of all drops for a specific class can be viewed under the individual Class pages. Reports of drops are also available.
  • A tuition charge for the dropped class can be created for the current session automatically by the system. By default, that charge will be the tuition amount that the student was charged for the current session when they originally enrolled in the class.
  • For example, if a student was enrolled in a $40.00/session class and you dropped their enrollment, a dropped class tuition charge of $40.00 will be created by default. All future session charges for that student/class will be deleted.
  • The date to base this dropped class charge can be easily changed. Additionally, a "No Charge" option is available.
  • For example, if a student was enrolled in a $40.00/session class and you selected the 15th of the month for the drop date, a dropped class tuition charge of $20.00 will be created. Again, all future session tuition charges for that student/class will be deleted.

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Switching Classes

When you drop a student from a class you have the option to "switch" them to another class. This is different than just dropping them from one class and adding them to another because:

  • You can choose to have the system automatically calculate and add adjustment charges for the current session based on the tuition of the old class and the new class (even if the tuition is different).
  • For example, if a student was enrolled in a $40.00/month class and you switch them to a $50.00/month class on the 10th of the month, the system will adjust the current month's tuition for the $40.00 class for all classes on or before the 10th and add a new charge for the $50.00 class for the number of classes that meet on or after the 10th. This is done automatically for you.
  • The date to base the switch can be easily changed. A drop-down list is available that has all the dates for the currrent month. You can also change those "Enroll Dates" after the fact if needed.
  • Class "switches" are treated differently from a straight "drop" on the class drop reports and the student drop reports.

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Waitlists

  • If a student registers for a class that is full, the student will be added automatically to the waitlist for that class.
  • If an opening in the class becomes available (either a student drops or maximum class size increases), an e-mail will be sent to the business office e-mail address about the opening. The "Daily Alerts" report also shows all classes that have a waitlist, but have a potential spot available for the waitlisted student(s).
  • Contact waitlisted students to see if they still want the class and click on the "enroll" button for the appropriate waitlisted student to get them enrolled in the class.
  • Tuition (and registration fees if appropriate) will be added automatically to the family account once a student is enrolled in a class and off the waitlist.
  • Class Roster and Class List reports show waitlist information by class with the ordering of the waitlist based on the date the student was waitlisted.
  • Holding the cursor over a class on the schedule displays numbers of students on the waitlist.

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Attendance

  • Enter actual student attendance for your classes. The system defaults that the student attended each class, so you would only need to check off those that missed class. The system can be customized to default all the students to "not" attended if you prefer - please contact [email protected] if you'd like to make that customization.
  • The layout of the attendance pages is the same as the Class Roster reports / roll sheets that your instructors would use to record attendance in class. You can enter past and future attendance as well as specify absence reasons and enter your own notes about the absence for future reference.
  • Cancel classes -- if a class is being/was cancelled (snow day, teacher sick, ...) you can cancel the class (from the attendance pages) and that cancellation date will be noted on the class rosters as well. The cancellation and the notes you enter will also be visible to your families on their account pages for them to see any of the dates their classes will be cancelled.
  • Schedule make-up classes -- if you need to schedule a time for a specific class to meet outside of the regular times, you can schedule a make-up class -- could be a make-up of that cancelled class above. All the currently enrolled students in the class will be automatically "scheduled" into the make-up class and you can even track/report attendance for that make-up class. It'll show up on roll-sheets/class rosters and will be displayed on the pages the family can access so they can see what dates (and what notes you enter) their make-up classes will be.
  • Add drop-in students and schedule trial classes. If you have a student (could be enrolled or not enrolled - but they need to be in the system) that you want to schedule into a class for a "drop-in" or a "trial", you'll see "add drop-in" options to do just that. If you charge a "drop-in" class fee, you can add one during the process. The drop-ins show up on the rosters and pages the family sees as well. You can even configure the system to allow students to request their own trial classes through the on-line registration pages (see that configuration option under the Admin tab)
  • Attendance reports are there to help you understand and manage attendance -- for example, you can easily find classes/weeks that had less than 90% attendance with the "Class Attendance" report. Finding students that have missed 2 consecutive classes or students that have missed 4 classes in a specific timeframe is easy with the "Student Attendance" report.
  • Holding the cursor over a cancelled, make-up, or drop-in class will display the related notes.

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Student Check-In

There is a special set of web pages that allow students to check themselves into classes by entering their first and last name. Students can check-in up to 60 minutes before the class starts or up to 10 minutes after the class starts. If they have back-to-back classes (no more than a 30 minute break between classes), they will be checked into those as well. Checking in will mark the student as "attended" for that class and day. If a student does not check-in, they will be marked as "absent" for that class. The staff can always go into the Attendance pages of the admin application and adjust attendance.

The idea is that a workstation would be present in the lobby for students / parents to use for self check-in. They would only have access to the check-in pages of the application and a staff member must log into the check-in pages initially to open up the check-in pages.

The staff could also check students in as they come to class. For security reasons, you can not switch between the administrative pages of the application and the check-in pages; the staff would need to open a new browser session (for example, Internet Explorer or Firefox) and use one window for the admin site and one window for the check-in pages.

You can even display your own custom message on the check-in pages. Under the Admin tab / On-Line registration message, you can type in a message that will be displayed at the top of the Student Check-In pages for all students / families to see.

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Tags

Each student and/or family can be tagged with a special characteristic - a "tag". This is useful if you want to group or highlight families or students outside of the normal class enrollment groupings. For example, you may want to tag families as a "prospect" or "inactive". The staff could tag a family as "follow-up needed" for the owner to easily search for (use the Advanced Search) and review that specific account later. A student could be tagged as "interested in hip hop" or "part of the July 15th competition".

You can tag a student or family with as many tags as you want.

You can add new and delete tag descriptions as needed (Admin tab - Enter Tag Descriptions).

You can easily remove tags from all students or families that have a specific tag. For example, if you add tags for the students that are going to a special competition. Before the competition, you could use the "E-mail to a Group" report to send them reminder e-mails and communications. Then when the competition is over, you could quickly remove that special tag for all the students (Admin tab - Remove Tags).

You can also easily apply new charges to all student and/or families that have a specific tag (Charges/Payments tab).

Many of the reports, letters, and mailing labels have tag filters to help communicate effectively with just that special group of students/families.

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Letters and Mailing Labels

  • Ready-to-print Invoices, Statements, Transaction Detail letters, Class Confirmation Letters, Mailing Labels, and Birthday Postcards are created for you in Adobe format (PDF).
  • Your logo can be uploaded (Admin tab) and automatically inserted into the letters.
  • You can enter your own text that will be automatically inserted into each of the letters.
  • The letters can be printed, or if you have e-mail addresses for your customers, they can be e-mailed.
  • Invoices, Statements, Transaction Detail letters, and Class Confirmation Letters can also be sorted by class name. That way, you can hand out these types of letters to the students in class.
  • Data files (.csv files) can also be generated if you have a special need and want to do your own mail merge. E-mail addresses are included in all the data files.
  • Invoice Letters: summarizes their account activity into a beginning balance, charges, payments, and a balance due. You can choose transaction date range that will calculate and display balances due for those dates (useful for printing proactive statements for families to tell them what they will owe before the account becomes past due). Can be e-mailed or printed/folded so the mailing address shows in a window envelope; no need for mailing labels.
  • Statement Letters: a more detailed display of the family account activity. You can choose to enter a transaction date range that will calculate and display transactions for those dates (useful for printing proactive statements for families to tell them what they will owe before the account becomes past due). Can be e-mailed or printed/folded so the mailing address shows in a window envelope; no need for mailing labels.
    • Transaction Detail letters: a detailed display of the family account activity for a specific category of transactions. For example, it can be used to show only "tuition" charges and payments or just "costume" charges and payments. Can be e-mailed or printed/folded so the mailing address shows in a window envelope; no need for mailing labels.
  • Class Confirmation Letters: shows the current class enrollment for all students in a family. Can be e-mailed or printed/folded so the mailing address shows in a window envelope; no need for mailing labels.
  • Family Mailing Labels: easily print out labels for just the families you need. One label per family. The labels are ready-to-print on the standard 30 label per page sheets.
  • Student Mailing Labels: If you need student names instead of family names, you can easily print out labels for just the students you need. One label per student. The labels are ready-to-print on the standard 30 label per page sheets.
  • Birthday Card Letters: select the list of students with a birthday in a specific month. These could also be used for Thank You notes or reminders that need to be sent to one or more students. Can be e-mailed or printed.
  • Report Cards: shows the Skill Charts (achieved and/or not-achieved skills) for the list of students that you define. One report card per student; a student can have multiple skill charts if they are in multiple classes. Can be e-mailed or printed/folded so the mailing address shows in a window envelope; no need for mailing labels.
  • Invoices, Statements, and Postcards (including Birthday, Welcome, Prospect, and Special Event postcards) can be set to automatically print and postal mail through our partner - Marketing Rhythm. If you have an interest in automating your invoice printing/folding/stuffing/mailing or you would like to automatically send specialty postcards recognizing the customer's birthdays, reaching out to prospective customers, advertising special events, or welcoming new customers automatically, please contact [email protected] to enable this feature.

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E-mails

E-mails to one or more people can be quickly and easily sent within The Studio Director.

  • When viewing the details of an individual class, use the "E-mail" button to send an e-mail or Report Cards (Skill Charts) to all the students currently enrolled in that class. Waitlisted students are not included in the e-mail distribution list.
  • When viewing the details of an individual student or family, use the "E-mail" button to send an e-mail to that student/family. Invoices, Statements, Class Enrollment Confirmations, and Report Cards (Skill Charts) can also be e-mailed this way.
  • When viewing the details of an individual instructor, use the "E-mail" button and you'll have the option of sending an e-mail to that instructor, to all the students currently enrolled in that instructor's classes, or to all the Instructors. Waitlisted students are not included in the e-mail distribution list.
  • The "E-mail to a Group" link under the Reports tab has multiple filters to pick from to narrow your e-mail distribution list to just the families you want to send e-mails to. This allows you to quickly send an e-mail to some or all your customers.
  • NOTE: the e-mail addresses will all be listed in the TO: field, but the e-mails are actually sent individually.  That means that each recipient of the e-mail will only see their e-mail address.  You'll be sent one copy of the e-mail.
  • A signature block can be automatically added to e-mail notes. Just use the "Edit E-mail Signature" link under the Admin tab / Studio Information section to create or change your e-mail signature.
  • Files (for example, a brochure, a newsletter or a waiver form) can also be attached to e-mail notes. Up to 5 files can be attached; totaling up to 2MB.
  • When e-mails are sent, if a family has multiple e-mail addresses, the specific e-mail will be sent to all those e-mail addresses.
  • Each family has the ability to "opt-out" of receiving e-mails. Either the family can "opt-out" themselves within the on-line registration pages or you/the staff can set a family so NO e-mails will be sent to that family's e-mail address(es). Families will be "opt'ed-out" of future e-mails by the system automatically if e-mails are sent to invalid e-mail addresses and they bounce back. You will be notified if this happens and the reason for the "opt-out" is listed at the bottom of the family page.

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E-mail History

The history of every e-mail (including attachments) sent to each family is kept.

  • From an individual Family page, use the "View E-mail/Communications History" link above the Family Notes box to view a list of all the e-mails that have been sent to that family.
  • You can also use the "History of e-mails sent" link from the Advanced Search to view a list of all the e-mails that have been sent to one or more specific e-mail addresses.
  • The resulting list will show a summary of each individual e-mail sent and the status of the e-mail (that is, "Sent", "Bounced", or "Reported as Spam") along with a link to Retrieve the actual email.
  • Once an old e-mail has been retrieved, it can easily be Resent to some or all of the original e-mail addresses.
  • If the e-mail bounced or was reported as spam, clicking on the red "Bounced" or "Reported as Spam" text will give more details as to why the e-mail was rejected.
  • E-mail history started to be kept with a December 2010 Studio Director release.
  • Currently, 1GB or one year of e-mail history will be kept per business depending on conditions.

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System Generated E-Mails

On the Admin Tab under Studio Contact Info, you identify an e-mail address for the system to send certain e-mails to (for example, "new online registration" and "waitlisted class is now available" and the address that "copies" of e-mails will be sent to). This e-mail address is meant to be a business office e-mail account that is regularly viewed by staff.

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Entering Charges

On the Family account page, press Add New Charge to enter a single charge for a family. If the charge is for a taxable item (as defined under the Admin tab / Charge Categories), sales tax will be automatically calculated and entered.

Global / Mass Charges

  • There are a handful of processes designed for you to quickly and accurately add charges to a specific group of customers. These are under the Charges/Payments tab
  • "Enter new family charge" to enter a charge to a single family or to enter charges to all families or all students that are currently enrolled
  • "Enter new charge for a class" to enter a charge to everyone enrolled in an individual class that you select
  • "Enter new charge for a class type" to enter charges to everyone enrolled in a specific type (grouping) of classes or to ALL currently enrolled students.
  • "Enter new charge for each families or students that have a tag" to enter charges to accounts that you have categorized with a specific "tag".
  • "Enter new family charges for each future session" to enter adjustment charges for future sessions. This one is useful if the Auto Tuition charge is slightly off for a family or if there is an additional charge (or credit) you want to make for a series of months.
  • "Enter late fees for families that have a balance due" to quickly add late fees to families. Late fees can be a flat fee or a percentage of the balance due.
  • "Enter performance fees" to enter fees for everyone in specific performances or competitions.
  • "Enter event/recital fees" to enter fees for everyone performing in an event. You can charge each student a fee or charge the first student one fee and cap the fee for the family.
  • "Enter costume deposits" to enter deposits for every student that needs a costume.
  • "Enter costume balances" to enter the remainder of the costume amount (costume list price less any deposit) for all students.
  • "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" to enter discounts (or premiums) for ONE individual family or ALL families "tagged" with a specific payment plan or promotion.

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Deleting Charges

Under the Charges/Payments tab, there is a way for you to quickly identify and delete multiple charges at once. This is useful if you accidentally posted global charges incorrectly or if you want to delete old charges and re-post them based on current enrollment and current variables.

"Delete multiple charges at once"

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Entering Payments

On the Family account page, press Add New Payment. Additionally, payments can be entered quickly after you enter a New Charge (if you do it this way, the charge amount is brought over for you into the Payment)

Deposit Date field

  • Can be entered when the payment is entered or added anytime later - the deposit date defaults to today
  • Used to identify a "batch" of bank deposits to easily reconcile a bank deposit to the actual payments entered into The Studio Director.
  • Deposit Date "batches" are displayed and subtotaled on the Deposit List report.

Paid Toward field

  • Can be entered when the payment is entered or added anytime later.
  • Used to identify what categories (tuition, registration, merchandise) the payments were made toward if you recognize revenue when the payment is made (cash basis accounting). If you recognize revenue when the charge is made (accrual basis), you don't need to enter Paid Toward.
  • To easily enter a single payment to multiple paid toward categories (for example, check #1234 for $85.00 that is used to pay $50 for tuition and $35 for a registration fee), use the Split Payment button. Enter the total payment amount and the remaining amounts for up to four splits are calculated for you automatically.

Global / Mass Payments

  • There are a handful of processes designed for you to quickly add payments to a group of customers. These are under the Charges/Payments tab
  • "Enter cash or check payments for multiple families at once" will bring up a list of all overdue families with their balance due and let you enter payments for many families at once. This is useful if you have a stack of checks at the end of the day and you need to enter the record of those payments to the family accounts.
  • "Enter multiple cash or check payments for one family" will let you add multiple payments for one specific family. This is useful if you collect post-dated checks from a customer and want to quickly enter them all up front into the system.
  • "Process credit card payments for families on the Automatic/Recurring Payment Plan that have a current balance due" if you have the credit card/EFT capabilities of The Studio Director enabled. This allows you to quickly process recurring payments for all customers that you have credit card or EFT (checking account or savings account) information on file for that have a current balance due. It automatically processes the payment (deposits the money in your bank), sends e-mail receipts to your customers if a payment is processed, and posts the payment to their account. This is also under the Admin tab. You can even have the system automatically e-mail customers that had their payment fail for some reason (expired card, insufficient funds, ...)
  • "Process credit card payments with more options" if you have the credit card/EFT capabilities of The Studio Director enabled. This allows you to process payments for all customers that you have credit card or EFT (checking account or savings account) information on file with a variety of options. You can process payments for: 1) those families on a specific payment plan, 2) those enrolled in a specific season, 3) those identified with a specific tag, and 4) those on, or not on, the auto/recurring payment plan. It allows you to enter an additional charge (for example, a late fee) as well as allows you to exclude/postpone certain charges (for example, exclude "costume" fees from the payment amount). The system automatically processes the payment (deposits the money in your bank), sends e-mail receipts to your customers if a payment is processed, and posts the payment to their account. This is also under the Admin tab. You can even have the system automatically e-mail customers that had their payment fail for some reason (expired card, insufficient funds, ...)

Each time a payment is entered, the system will automatically allocate the payment amount to un-paid charges. Payments made towards "Tuition" will be applied to Auto Tuition, Discounts, and Class charges. Payments made towards "Registration" fees will be applied to the Registration charges. Other payment amounts will be allocated to the remaining outstanding charges. This allocation process will help you find charges that have not been paid by a family (for example, all families that still owe a registration fee) as well as help associate actual revenue dollars (payments received) with classes, class types, locations, and/or instructors. See the Charges/Payments Summary, Family Charges/Payments Summary, Class Payments Summary and the Aging/Collections List. You can also view the details of how a specific payment was allocated or what payments paid for a specific charge by clicking on the payment or charge within the family's account ledger. You can change the way the payment was allocated by changing the "paid toward" category of the payment or by splitting the payment.

Overdue charges will show on the ledger with a bold red amount - hovering your cursor over the amount will display the amount of that charge that's been paid.

Note: this "allocation" process can be turned off for businesses that only want to know balances due - charge and payments - and not track what specific payments are applied to what specific charges. If you want allocations turned off, please contact [email protected]

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On-line registration

What families can do:

  • Enter and Edit Family information for only their own family.
  • Change their e-mail(s) and on-line registration password.
  • Add Students and Edit Student information.
  • View and Search the class schedule.
  • Enroll Students in Classes (they must "Accept" your business terms or disclaimer to enroll).
  • An e-mail will be sent to the business office e-mail account with notification about the on-line registration and each time they enroll in a class.
  • View the classes they are enrolled in. Including the dates of any cancelled classes, make-up classes, and scheduled drop-in classes.
  • View their attendance record (if you want this option enabled, please contact [email protected])
  • Drop from an enrolled class, but ONLY if they enrolled today.
  • Drop waitlisted classes anytime.
  • Schedule a make-up class (only if you enable this option; configured under the Admin tab). The number of make-ups can be limited.
  • Request a trial or drop-in class (only if you enable this option; configured under the Admin tab). The number of trial / drop-in classes can be limited as well.
  • View the details of the events/performances and costumes they need as well as the student measurements that are on-file (if you want this option enabled, please contact [email protected])
  • View their Report Card (Skill Charts). If you want this option enabled, please contact [email protected]
  • View their current balance due.
  • View the detailed history of their charges and payments (if you want this option enabled, please contact [email protected])
  • Enroll in a Payment Plan (if you have active Payment Plans defined).
  • Enter a Promotion code to receive a special discount (if you have active Promotions defined).
  • Return anytime (with e-mail/password) to do any of the above.

What families can NOT do:

  • Delete their family or student records (they must contact the business office to have their information deleted).
  • Drop enrolled classes if they did not enroll the same day (they must contact the business office to have classes dropped).
  • Drop from make-up or trial classes.
  • Change payment plans (they must contact the business office to have payment plans changed or removed).

If the family has forgotten their login or password:

  • They can use the "Forgot your password?" link to reset their password if their e-mail address is on-file.
  • If their e-mail address is not in the system, they must contact the office to add it to their Family account before they'll be able to access their account.

If you have enabled the on-line credit card and/or EFT capabilities of The Studio Director, families can also:

  • Enter and Edit their payment information.
  • Make payments.
  • Enroll themselves in a recurring payment plan.
  • View their charge and payment history. This option can also be disabled; please contact [email protected] to disable this option
  • Receive e-mail receipts anytime a payment is processed to their account.

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Class Cards

If you offer "class cards" or "punch cards" as a way for you customers to pay for a set of classes, you can track the number of "punches" left and the expiration dates of those cards through the application. The cards can also be purchased by the families / students directly through the on-line registration pages.

Basic Usage

  1. Add the types of class cards that you offer under the Admin tab / Manage Class Card Types. The price, the number of classes the card is good for, the types of classes the card can be used for, and the days until expiration are all entered there.
  2. Student buys a class card. This can be done by the student on-line, or by the staff directly from the Other Actions drop-down on the Student pages. This will automatically add a charge to family account for the cost of the card.
  3. The student's attendance record is used to automatically "punch" the cards. Any classes that they have attended on or after the purchase date of the class card will be used a "punch" for the card (assuming the class card is associated with that type of class). The details of how student's class card(s) have been virtually punched are available from the Student pages / Other Actions drop-down / Class Cards option. If you change the student's attendance record or the purchase date of the class card and it will automatically "re-punch" the card.
  4. A Student Class Card Usage report is available to show each student and how their class cards have been utilized. More importantly, this report will show you the students that are enrolled in classes that need a class card, but they do not have an available card to "punch". These students have no class card; their card is expired; their card is all punched; or, their card can not be used for the type of class they are enrolled in. Run this report often to be sure your students have valid class cards for the classes they are attending.

Typically, you would not want to charge "Auto Tuition" for the types of classes that you offer class cards for as the families may be "double billed" - once with an auto tuition charge and again with a class card charge.

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Payment Plans

Payment plans are used if you want to offer your customers additional payment schedule options. Typically, payment plans are options such as:

  • Monthly - the normal tuition schedule that the system posts automatically (see Automatic Tuition for more on setting up this default payment schedule)
  • Quarterly - "pay the quarter in advance and receive X% off tuition"
  • Yearly - "pay the year in advance and receive Y% off tuition"

You can add/manage the payment plans under the Admin tab. Payment plans are treated as special case "tags" that are attached to a family. This is done so that you can easily find the families on each plan, post the appropriate discounts, and process payments due.

The families can sign up for a payment plan when they register on-line. They can not change or remove themselves from a payment plan. They'd have to contact the office to be removed from a plan or have the plan changed as the office will need to review/adjust any previous payment plan discounts that were given. When they sign up for a payment plan, the family is tagged with the appropriate payment plan "tag". The discounts are not added automatically - the office staff would enter those and then process any remaining balances due per the specific payment plan that the family signed up for. An e-mail is sent to the office each time a family enrolls themselves in a payment plan to alert the staff to review the specific family account, add the appropriate discounts, and process any payments due. The staff can use the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab to guide them through entering discounts for ONE single family or ALL families on a specific payment plan.

The office staff can also tag families to a specific payment plan using the "Tags" on the Family page. The discounts are not added automatically - the staff can use the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab to guide them through entering discounts for ONE single family or ALL families on a specific payment plan.

If a family is taken off a payment plan by the office staff, the staff must adjust/remove any previous discount charges manually.

Basic Usage

  1. Family selects a payment plan on-line, or the office staff "tags" the family with a payment plan tag
  2. Office staff reviews the family account and adds a discount per the payment plan for that family for the current payment plan period only. This can be done by using the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab
  3. Staff processes the payment for any balance due for the current payment plan period (or sends an invoice / statement letter to the family)

Payments - the next time a payment is due per the plan

  1. Office staff adds the appropriate discounts to all the families on that payment plan. This can be done by using the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab
  2. Staff processes the credit card payments for balances that will be due at the end of that payment plan period (or sends invoices / statements to the families)

Setup and Administration

  • Manage Payment Plans under the Admin tab. Do not add a payment plan for the default way the system posts Auto Tuition (per your Sessions-Billing Periods)
  • Review the on-line messages that the families will see when they enroll in a payment plan. Admin tab, "On-line registration messages"
  • If you are using the credit card features of the Studio Director, review the agreement verbiage that you have in place already for the families to accept when they sign up for the recurring / automatic billing plan to be sure it covers your new payment plans. Send a request to [email protected] to change
  • Run the "Payment Plans / Promos" report occasionally to view families on each plan and the discounts given. This report will help to identify those families that were not given the correct discount per the payment plan they selected

EXAMPLE - you offer three payment plan options (monthly-default, quarterly, and yearly):

Monthly (this would be what your Sessions-Billing Periods are set to)

  1. You do not need to set up a "monthly" payment plan as this will be what families will be associated with by default. You can name how this default option will be displayed to your customers under the Admin tab, Manage Payment Plans
  2. The office staff does not "tag" the family with any special Payment Plan tag. The family is on this payment plan by default
  3. On the normal/default tuition due date of each Session (likely the 1st of the month), run the processes credit card payments option - under the Charges/Payment tab - to process payments for the families on the default payment schedule (that is, they did not select one of your special plans, but they agreed to be on "Automatic/Recurring Payment Plan"). If you are not using the credit card option, you'd run Invoices / Statement Letters for that month
  4. On the date that tuition is past due, run the processes credit card payments option to add additional late fees and process payments for overdue balances due. Again, just for those families on the default payment schedule. If you are not using the credit card option, you'd Enter Late Fees and run Invoices / Statement Letters for that month

Quarterly - "Pay quarterly and receive 5% off tuition"

  • First payment for those on the Quarterly payment plan
    1. the family enrolls on-line
    2. office is notified that the family signed up for the quarterly payment plan through an e-mail sent to the office
    3. office enters the appropriate discount for that family for JUST that first quarter by using the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab. Be sure to specify the last day of that quarter for the "Apply discount to charges due on or before" date
    4. office then processes a payment for that family for the balance they have due at the end of that first quarter. If you are not using the credit card option, you'd run an Invoice / Statement Letter for that quarter for that family
  • Next (and subsequent) Quarterly payments
    1. on the day that the next quarterly payments are due (usually the first day of the quarter), the office would post discounts to ALL the families on the quarterly plan using the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab
    2. run the process credit card payments option - under the Charges/Payment tab. Only for families on the quarterly payment plan and be sure to use the last day of the quarter as the date you select when you run the process. If you are not using the credit card option, you'd run Invoices / Statement Letters for that quarter selecting all families tagged with the quarterly payment plan
    3. Note: families on the "Quarterly" payment plan should have a credit balance up to the last tuition charge of the quarter and then have a $0 balance on the last day of the quarter if the correct discounts were given. The Payment Plans / Promos report will help you see those families that may need attention

Yearly - "Pay for the year in advance and receive 10% off tuition"

  1. family enrolls on-line
  2. office is notified that the family signed up for the yearly payment plan through an e-mail sent to the office
  3. office enters the appropriate discount for the year by using the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab. Be sure to specify the last day of that year for the "Apply discount to charges due on or before" date
  4. office then processes a payment for that family for the balance they have due at the end of that year. If you are not using the credit card option, you'd run an Invoice / Statement Letter for that year for the family
  5. if the family has other charges throughout the year, run the process credit cards option for yearly plan families each month to catch those balances due - especially the last month of the year
  6. Note: families on the "Yearly" payment plan should have a credit balance up to the last tuition charge of the year and then have a $0 balance on the last day of the year if the correct discounts were given. The Payment Plans / Promos report will help you see those families that may need attention

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Promotions

Promotions are typically special discounts that you offer your customer when they register or enroll on-line.

You can add/manage the promotions under the Admin tab. Promotions are treated as special case "tags" that are attached to a family. This is done so that you can easily find the families for each promotion and post the appropriate discounts later.

Families can enter a promotion code when they register or view their account on-line. If the promotion code that they enter is valid, they'll be "tagged" with that promotion and the office will be sent an e-mail alerting the staff to review the specific family account and add the appropriate discounts.

The office staff is responsible for adding the discounts to each of those families. Depending on the details of the promotion, discounts can be done one by one as the registrations are done, or all at once for all families that are "tagged" with that promotion code. The "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab can be used to guide the staff through entering discounts for ONE single family or ALL families associated with a specific promotion.

Basic Usage

  1. Family enters a promo code on-line, or the office staff "tags" the family with a promotion tag
  2. Office staff reviews the family account and adds a discount per the specific promotion for that family. This can be done by using the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab
  3. Run the "Payment Plans / Promos" report occasionally to view families associated with each promotion and the discounts given. This report will help to identify those families that were not given the correct discount per their promotion

EXAMPLES

  • No Registration Fee if you register by August 15th
    1. admin sets up the promotion under the Admin tab setting August 15th as the day the promo ends. Communicate to prospects and customers the promotion details and the unique promo code
    2. the family enrolls on-line and enters the valid promo code. They are charged the normal registration fee and the office is sent an email notification
    3. office staff enters a discount (a negative charge) to the family's account to credit back the registration fee. They can use the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab to enter that discount
  • 10% off October's tuition if you register by August 15th
    1. admin sets up the promotion under the Admin tab setting August 15th as the day the promo ends. Communicate to prospects and customers the promotion details and the unique promo code
    2. the families are tagged with that promotion "tag" - either by the family entering a valid promo code themselves on-line or by the office staff using the family "Tags"
    3. on Oct 1, the staff adds 10% discounts to all families at once by using the "Enter discounts for payment plans or promotions" option under the Charges/Payments tab. Being sure to use Oct 1 - Oct 31 as the due date range and selecting "Only tuition charges" so it will only give the 10% off of tuition charges

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Inventory Management

This allows you to set up and manage inventory items/products. Inventory items can then be 'purchased' and quantities-on-hand can be tracked to help with inventory ordering.

Steps to set up and manage inventory

  1. Set up your inventory Suppliers under the Admin tab --> Inventory Administration section --> Suppliers
  2. Set up the Colors of your products under the Admin tab --> Inventory Administration section --> Colors. A few colors have already been added, but you can add/delete/change the list to match the colors of the inventory items/products that you actually sell.
  3. Set up the Sizes of your products under the Admin tab --> Inventory Administration section --> Sizes. A few sizes have already been added, but you can add/delete/change the list to match the sizes of the inventory items/products that you actually sell.
  4. Add your Inventory Items/Products under the Admin tab --> Inventory Administration section --> Items/Products. Add one item for each product that you want to track. For example, if you want to track the sales of Small and Medium shirts, you'd setup one item for the Small shirt and a separate item for the Medium shirt. There is a Copy button to make that process very easy. If you have images of the products/items, be sure to add those images.
  5. Use the Inventory Items/Current Quantity on Hand report to view the details of the quantities-on-hand and easily find inventory items/products that should be re-ordered.
  6. Use the Inventory Transaction History report to view the inventory transactions (sales, returns, adjustments) and the financials of those transactions.
  7. Manage inventory levels and prices under the Admin tab --> Inventory Administration section --> Manage Levels/Quantities/Prices as you receive inventory and need to make adjustments to the quantities-on-hand or the prices or costs of inventory items.
  8. The ability to manage inventory (items, suppliers, quantities, ...) and the viewing of inventory reports can be secured to allow only certain users to perform these functions.

Basic Usage

  1. Staff enters/changes quantities and prices as new inventory arrives. Enter new inventory using the "Items/Products" link; use the "Manage Levels/Quantities/Prices" link for existing products.
  2. As a customer wants to buy an inventory item/product, the staff clicks the "Buy From Inventory" button to go through the purchase and checkout process. This process is started under the "Add New Charge" button on the Family Information page.
  3. If a customer returns an item/product, follow the "Buy From Inventory" process again, but enter a negative quantity when checking out.
  4. Run the "Inventory Items/Current Quantity on Hand" report occasionally to view inventory items/products that may need to be re-ordered.
  5. Run the "Inventory Transaction History" report to view or audit the history of one or more inventory items/products or to review the activity for one family.
  6. Periodically, the staff would perform a physical inventory and adjust quantities-on-hand using the Manage Levels/Quantities/Prices link under the Admin tab.

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Event and Recital Management

This allows you to set up and manage events. Events can be recitals, competitions, or any event that one or more classes is participating in and you want to track who's participating, where and when it is, the order of performances, and even easily post charges to all those participating.

Steps to set up and manage events

  1. Set up the overall Event under the Admin tab --> Events/Recitals
  2. Add Performances to the classes performing in the event. This can be done under the individual class (Performance & Costume Management button) or from the Event itself (Admin tab)
    • A class can participate in multiple events
    • A class can have multiple performances within an event
    • If you need to charge a fee to all students participating in an individual performance, enter a Performance Fee. This is useful for competitions that charge a specific fee for an individual performance and not the overall event. Fees for the overall event can be charged under the Charges/Payment tab --> Enter event/recital fees
  3. Order the performances within an event (Admin tab --> Events/Recitals) using the UP and DOWN buttons - be sure to Save Changes. The system can also order the performances for you and ensure that there are no students in "back to back" performances. Use the "Order Performances" link after you've entered all the individual class performances for an event if you want the system to order your performances
  4. Check for Conflicts to be sure students are not performing too close together. You can select how many performances are "too close" and the conflicts will be displayed above the performance to help you re-order your performances
  5. For Students that are not performing, be sure to set the "Performing" flag under those specific Students to "No"
  6. If a student is performing in some, but not all the performances, set the "Performing" flag under those specific Students to "Sometimes" and then:
    • From the Student Information page, click the "Other Actions:" drop down and select "Measurements, Costumes & Performances"
    • Select "Set performing flags by performance"
    • Set the "Performing" flag for the student's performances to "Yes" or "No" depending on which performances they are, and are not, performing in and press "Save Changes"
  7. Use the reports (Event List and Event Cast List) to view the details of the events, performances, and participants. The Event Cast List report can be used to easily identify student performances in an event that are too close together (that is, no time to change)
  8. The Event Program report creates a PDF file. Once the Event Program is displayed, you can easily copy/paste the event program text into something like MS Word to make final formatting changes for your actual printed programs.
  9. Post fees to those performing in the event:
    • Any individual Performance Fees that you entered can be posted under the Charges/Payments tab
    • You can post per student or family fees for an overall event (or multiple events) under the Charges/Payments tab

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Costume Management

A great option in managing your costume ordering, tracking, and distribution process is to use CostumeManager.com. They handle ordering your items from the manufacturer on your studio's behalf. They receive & sort items by studio and bundle by dance class. They individually package your items and mail them to your studio. All your instructor has to do is hand the student their bag! Information about the costumes for each of your classes, the costumes ordered by your students/customers, and the costumes that still need to be ordered will be available to you and your students/customers to view through The Studio Director! You can even easily e-mail all students in a class that still need to order their costumes. To take advantage of this service, signup with CostumeManager.com directly. Then, contact [email protected] for us to enable the integration of The Studio Director and CostumeManager.com.

Steps to set up and manage costumes within The Studio Director

  1. Review the Costume Vendors, Costume Catalogs, Costume Vendor Size Charts, and Costume Sizes under the Admin tab to be sure all the costume vendors you use are in there and that all the size charts are up to date. If not, you can add and update them as needed. You can also use the Costume reports to help review the existing costume vendors and size charts
    NOTE: we last updated/reviewed all the size charts in 2007
  2. If you haven't already, add the Costume Ship To Info under the Admin tab
  3. Add Costumes to the classes. This can be done under each individual class by clicking the "Performance & Costume Management" button
    • A class can have multiple costumes - enter any costumes or accessories that are needed for that specific class as separate costumes
    • If there are multiple colors of the same costume, enter each color as a separate costume. You can use the COPY button to copy all the details of one costume into another and then just change the color
    • If there are child and adult sizes needed for the same class, enter both a child costume and an adult costume for the class. You will need to enter a separate costume for each size chart that could be used for that class
    • If there are boy and girl costumes for the same class, enter them both for that class. Specify the appropriate Gender for the costume to help with the automatic costume sizing later
    • Pick the appropriate vendor / size chart for each costume (this is used to automatically size the costumes for you based on the student's girth and the size charts that have been entered under the Admin tab - Costume Vendor Size Charts)
    • Enter the unit cost (the cost the vendor charges you) and the list price (the price you charge your customers). If different sized costumes for the same costume item/style have a different price, enter separate costumes for each price range
    • If you charge a costume deposit, enter that amount -- the costume deposits for each class can later be charged under the Charges/Payment tab --> Enter costume deposit charges
    • If the same costume is used by the same student in multiple classes, just enter the costume details under one of the classes
    • The Costume Order List report will show you the costumes that have been entered for each class
  4. Capture and enter measurements and costume sizes for the individual students
    • The Costume / Student Measurement Worksheet report can be used to print and have staff capture this information for each class/student. If measurement information or costume sizes have already been entered, that information will be displayed on the worksheets. If needed, you can clear out ALL the measurements for ALL students under the Admin tab --> Remove all student measurements
    • Any new information can then be entered for each student by clicking the "Measurements, Costumes and Performances" action under the Student
    • The measurements for an entire class can also be easily entered into the system on one screen (under the class, click the "Performance & Costume Management" button and then the "Enter Student Measurements & Sizes" button)
    • IMPORTANT: If a student doesn't need a specific costume that's been identified for the class, be sure to select "** Do Not Order **" as the costume size for that student/costume
    • Student Girth is used to automatically size the costumes.  A best practice is to add about 2" to the student's current girth when entering the measurements for students under 13 years of age to allow for growth.   Enter whole sizes for the student Girth -- all vendor size charts use whole numbers for the girth and costume sizing.
  5. Size Costumes
    • Under the Admin tab, select Size Costumes.  This will add sizes for the costumes for you based on the student's girth and the costume's size chart.  If a size had already been entered, it will not be changed/updated.  Waitlisted students are not included. Costumes for students tagged as "Performing" will be sized.  Unsized costumes for students tagged as "NOT Performing" will be set to a size of "** Do Not Order **". Costumes for students tagged as "Unknown Performing" will not be sized
    • If you specified a Gender for the costume, that will be used to set "** Do Not Order **" as the size appropriately. For example, the sizes for the Male students will be set to "** Do Not Order **" for any costumes that are tagged as "Female only" costumes
    • If you don't want to order a costume for a student, be sure to select "** Do Not Order **" as the size for that student/costume
    • The Student Costume List report can be used to quickly show you costumes that have not been sized
    • The Costume / Student Measurement Worksheet report can be used to print and have staff validate the sizing for each class/student before you place the order
  6. Order costumes
    • The Costume Purchase Order report shows each costume style, colors, sizes, quantities, and costs for each vendor
    • The PO is formatted to fold into a #9 double window envelope and have the addresses show (no need for a mailing label)
  7. Post costume fees
    • Any Costume Deposits that you entered can be posted under the Charges/Payments tab -- this will post charges for anyone currently enrolled in the class
    • Costume Balances (costume list price less the costume deposit) can be posted under the Charges/Payments tab -- this will post charges for anyone currently enrolled in the class
  8. Tag the costume bags
    • The Costume Labels report can be used to print labels for you to identify the costume contents and student for that bag
    • The labels are sorted by class day, class time, and student name
    • Either costume Descriptions or Item/Style numbers can be printed on the labels
    • They are formatted to print on 1" x 2 5/8" mailing labels (30 labels per sheet)

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QuickBooks Export

The Export to QuickBooks function within The Studio Director exports daily "revenue" numbers from The Studio Director and automatically enters them into QuickBooks for you. Depending on how/when you recognize "revenue" per your business accounting practices, you can choose to export to QuickBooks either Sales Receipts (cash basis) or Invoices and Payment Receipts (accrual basis).

One-time initialization:

  1. Select if you use a Cash Basis or an Accrual Basis accounting method. This is done one-time within The Studio Director (Admin tab / QuickBooks section / Setup QuickBooks Export) and after you have selected your accounting method, this option will not be available again.
    • Cash Basis: this option will export daily payment numbers from The Studio Director and create Sales Receipts in QuickBooks. The Sales Receipts will be assigned to QuickBooks Items based on how you later associate Studio Director paid toward categories with specific QuickBooks Items. Each Sales Receipt will also be assigned a specific payment method (e.g., cash, check, Visa, Mastcard, ...).
    • Accrual Basis: this option will export daily charge numbers from The Studio Director to create Invoices in QuickBooks. It will also export daily payment numbers from The Studio Director and then Receive Payments within QuickBooks. The Invoices will be assigned to QuickBooks Items based on how you later associate Studio Director charge categories with specific QuickBooks Items. Each Receive Payment transaction will be assigned a specific payment method (e.g., cash, check, Visa, Mastcard, ...).
  2. Install the Intuit QuickBooks Web Connector program onto the same PC that has QuickBooks financial software installed already. This program is free to all QuickBooks customers and the download is available under the Admin tab / QuickBooks section / Install QuickBooks Web Connector.
  3. Add The Studio Director to the QuickBooks Web Connector - Admin tab / QuickBooks section.
  4. Map your Studio Director categories and payment methods to QuickBooks Items and Payment Methods. Each time you run the export process, it will check to be sure you have all your Studio Director to QuickBooks mappings defined. If any are missing, you will automatically be walked through the process to map them.
  5. Access to run the Export to QuickBooks process can be opened up to different levels of users under the Admin tab / Login Access pages.

Each time you want to export The Studio Director revenue numbers into QuickBooks:

  1. Login to The Studio Director on the PC you have QuickBooks installed.
  2. Start QuickBooks and the QuickBooks Web Connector programs on your PC.
  3. Run the Export to QuickBooks process from within The Studio Director (Admin tab / QuickBooks section).

The use the Export to QuickBooks feature, you must have QuickBooks financial software installed on your PC.

  • NOT available for Mac versions of QuickBooks. Intuit does not currently have a QB Web Connector option for Mac
  • NOT available for the QuickBooks Online Edition

Negative Sales Receipts, Invoices and Payments are not exported to QuickBooks. You will receive a warning during the Export to QuickBooks process if that happens and you will need to add those transaction amounts into QuickBooks manually (Credit Memos or Refunds, depending on the specifics).

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Security

The Studio Director has five levels of security. The system features and data that each user can access are defined by the type of login the user is given. Types of logins include:

Admin User

This user has access to all features and functionality.

Staff Users - Office Login Access

When adding a new staff login, select the "Office Login" option from the drop down. The capability that these staff users have is maintained using the Admin tab / Office Login Access. Multiple office staff logins can be created (for example, logins for Mary, Tom, and Sue could all be created with different passwords). The office staff login capabilities that are defined will be the same for all office staff users (that is, Mary, Tom, and Sue would all have the same capabilities). You can easily control access capabilities such as deleting, modifying, or adding information and the ability to view specific reports.

Staff Users - Restricted Office Login 

When adding a new staff login, select the "Restricted Office Login" option from the drop down. The capability that these users have is maintained using the Admin tab / Restricted Office Login Access. Multiple restricted office staff logins can be created (for example, logins for Donna, Lisa and Laurie could all be created with different passwords). The restricted office staff login capabilities that are defined will be the same for all restricted office staff users (that is, Donna, Lisa and Laurie would all have the same capabilities). You can easily control access capabilities such as deleting, modifying, or adding information and the ability to view specific reports.

Staff Users - Instructor Login 

When adding a new staff login, select the "Instructor Login" option from the drop down. The capability that these users have is maintained using the Admin tab / Instructor Login Access. Multiple instructor logins can be created (for example, logins for Kathy, Steve, and Dan could all be created with different passwords). The instructor login capabilities that are defined will be the same for all instructors (that is, Kathy, Steve, and Dan would all have the same capabilities). You can easily control access capabilities such as deleting, modifying, or adding information and the ability to view specific reports.

Family Users

Families can be given a password to access the on-line registration portion of The Studio Director. Family users have access ONLY to:

  • add and change their family and student information
  • view classes
  • enroll in classes
  • drop classes (only if enrolled the same day)
  • drop waitlisted classes
  • schedule a make-up class and/or request a trial class (optional)
  • view current balance due
  • enroll in a payment plan
  • enter promotion codes
  • if the credit card/EFT functionality is enabled, they can also enter payment information and pay
  • viewing student attendance, event/performance info, costume info, measurement info, and report cards (optional)
  • viewing detailed charges/payments history (optional)

NOTE: To help prevent unauthorized access to The Studio Director from an unattended computer, the system will "time out" after 60 minutes of inactivity. A login/password must be entered to continue. You can also logout of the system yourself by pressing the "Logout" link on the Home tab screen.

Details about different security measures that The Studio Director takes to protect you and your customers can be viewed here

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Locking the Ledger

You can prevent changes to all charges and payments before a specified date - the "lock date". This is useful if you have closed out a time period (for example, a fiscal year) and you do not want anyone to change, add, or delete any of the charges or payments for that time period. The lock date can be set under the Admin tab -- Tuition Rate / Charge Administration section -- Manage Ledger Lock Dates. The lock date must be before the due dates of any current or future Sessions (billing periods).

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Custom Student Fields

Custom Student Fields are optional and are used to help you gather, store and display more information about your Students than the core application provides. The fields are displayed on Student pages in the Admin application and are optionally displayed in the Student section of the on-line registration module. The information can be printed on the Class Roster and Student List reports and can also be searched through the Advanced Search.

To Add a Custom Student Field
Adding a Custom Student Field will put that field on the Student pages for entry and display within the Admin application. One to five fields can be added. To make a custom student field available:

  1. Go to Admin / Manage Studio Information / Custom Student Fields
  2. Select a Type
    • Not Used - select this type if you DO NOT want to use/display this field as a custom student field.
    • Text - select this type to allow users to enter any characters into the field. Allows for numbers, letters, or special characters. The text entry fields can hold up to 255 characters.
    • List - select this type to allow users to select from a drop down list of values that you define. If you select this type, a new entry box will appear that you would enter your drop down values into. For example, you could type in these values (one item per line) if you wanted to track the school the student is attending.
      • Peak Elementary School
      • Trails Elementary School
      • Mountain View Middle School
      • Vista Ridge High School
    • Yes/No - select this type if the answer to the question you are asking about the student has a simple Yes or No answer.
    • Number - select this type if the answer to the question you are asking about the student is a number. For example, number of years of experience. The user will have to enter a number (no letters or special characters allowed for this type of field).
    • Date - select this type if the answer to the question you are asking about the student is a specific date.
  3. Enter a Label. This is the text that will be displayed on the forms and reports next to the values that are entered.
  4. Select Required - Yes or No. If you select Yes, the user (that is, your staff within the admin application or a customer through the on-line registration site) will have to enter a value for this field. If you select No, entering a value for this field will be optional.
  5. Select Display in on-line registration - Yes or No. If you select Yes, your customers through the on-line registration site will see this field and be able to enter/change the value. If you select No, the customer through the on-line registration site will NOT see this field.
  6. Press OK
EXAMPLE: you want to capture the Name and Phone of the Doctor for each student. Define the custom student field as:
  • Type: List
  • Label: Doctor Name/Phone
  • Required: No - this will make it optional
  • Display in on-line registration: Yes - this will allow the customers to view/enter the information themselves

To Change a Custom Student Field
Changing the Type of an existing Custom Student Field will remove that field from the Student pages for future entry and display and any values that had been entered will be lost.
Changing the Label, Required, flag or Display in on-line registration flag will retain the previous values entered and just change the way the application displays those fields after the change. The information that had been previously entered for that type of field will remain.

  1. Change the Label, Required, flag or Display in on-line registration flag for the field you want to change
  2. Press OK

To Delete a Custom Student Field
Deleting a Custom Student Field will remove that field from the Student pages for future entry and display. The information for that type of field that had been previously entered for any students will be lost.

  1. Set the Type for the field you want to delete as Not Used
  2. Press OK

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Skill Charts / Report Cards

Skill Charts are useful if you track goals, evaluations, and/or skills for specific classes and would like know if students have achieved those goals and then easily print or e-mail "Report Cards" to your students.

Basic Usage

  1. Office Staff enters the list of skills that you want to track for the business under the Admin tab / Skill Charts. Skills have a "level", a "sub skill" and a skill "name". For example, you could categorize skills as "Beginner" level, "Floor" sub skill, and "Cartwheel" as the skill name. Entering the list of skills is a one time event and skills can easily be uploaded from a text file
  2. Office Staff adds Skill Charts to each class using the "Skill Charts" button from the specific class page. This will let you easily add one or more skills to a specific class. Repeat this for all classes that have skills to track. Skill Charts can also be added to multiple classes at once using the "Assign Skills to Classes" link under the Admin tab. This would allow you to quickly add the same skills to all classes in a specific season and/or a specific class type.
  3. Instructors enter the student's achieved skills including the date they achieved the skill, their score, who signed off the achievement, as well as any private or public notes. The student skills can be entered for an entire class from the class page, "Skill Charts" button. Student skills for an individual student can be entered from the student page, "Other Actions" drop-down, and the "Skill Charts" option
  4. Run the "Student Skills" report to view students that have, and have not, achieved specific skills
  5. Run the "Report Cards" letter to print or e-mail a formatted report of the skills that students have, and/or have not, achieved for all, or a sub-set, of your students
  6. Report Cards can also be printed or e-mailed to all students in a single class from the class page. Use the E-mail button from the class page to e-mail the entire class their report cards, or the Print button to print report cards
  7. Report Cards can also be printed or e-mailed to a single student from the student page. Use the E-mail button from the student page to e-mail the student their report card, or the Print button to print the report card
  8. As another option, Report Cards can be made visible to your customers through the on-line registration pages. Please contact [email protected] to enable that option

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Instructor Timesheets

  • From the Instructor's page, you can enter actual instructor attendance for your classes. Click on the Enter timesheet info / substitute teachers link. The system defaults that the instructor attended each class, so you would only need to check off those that missed class.
  • When an instructor misses a class, be sure to specify the substitute instructor so that the substitute will get credit for teaching the class.
  • If you are allowing your instructors to enter their own attendance, you can approve and lock down their attendance sheets after you have reviewed them. This will prevent your instructors from changing attendance reports that you have already approved. You can either approve and lock by week/instructor, or you can approve and lock for a range of dates for all instructors (on the Admin tab, under Class/Date Administration).
    Note: if you change the actual Instructor for a class or delete a class, the instructor timesheets will be lost for the original Instructor.
  • You can control what users can view/change timesheets and what users can approve/lock timesheets from the "Login Access" pages under the Admin tab.
  • The Instructor / Class Attendance (based on instructor timesheets) Report and the Instructor Work Schedule Report are there to help you understand and manage instructor attendance and their work schedules -- for example, you can easily determine how many classes, class hours, students, or student hours your instructors have taught within a specific timeframe.

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Leads

The Studio Director allows you to keep leads at no cost. A lead is a family with no students that has been tagged as a Lead. To create a lead, do the following.

  • Make sure you have a tag called Lead. You can add tags on the Admin tab, under Family/Student Administration, Enter Tag Descriptions.
  • Go to the family, and delete any students that are part of the family. Use the tags drop down to add the Lead tag to the family.

To e-mail all your leads, do the following.

  • Go to the Reports tab, Letters section, E-mail to a Group.
  • Set Family or Student Tag to Lead.
  • Click Run Report

To create mailing labels for your leads, do the following.

  • Go to the Reports tab, Letters section, Mailing Labels (one per family).
  • Set the Family or Student Tag to Lead.
  • Click Print Labels.

Many other reports can be generated using the Lead tag as well.

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