Invoicing a term in advance is the single biggest improvement most private teachers can make to their cash flow. You are paid before you teach, there is one invoice a term instead of ten, and cancellations stop costing you money. The letter below does the explaining; the invoice underneath it does the asking.
When to send it
Send the letter two to three weeks before the first lesson of the term, with the invoice attached or linked. That gives parents a payday between receiving it and the due date. If you send reminders, the sequence that works is 14 days before the term, 7 days before, and the day before; My Studio Tracker's default term reminders are exactly that.
For September, aim to send it in the last week of August. For January, before the schools break up in December, because nobody reads an invoice on Boxing Day.
The letter
Subject: Autumn term lessons for [Student] – dates and fees Dear [Parent's name], I hope you've had a good summer. Here are the details for [Student]'s lessons this term. Lessons: [Day] at [time], [length] minutes, starting [first lesson date] Number of lessons this term: [10] Fee per lesson: £[30.00] Term fee: £[300.00] The term fee is due before the first lesson, on [due date]. You can pay by card using the link on the invoice, or by bank transfer to the account details shown on it. Part payments are fine as long as the balance is cleared before the first lesson. Please let me know as soon as possible about any dates you already know [Student] cannot make, such as school trips or holidays, so I can plan around them. My cancellation policy is on the invoice: lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice are charged, illness notified by the morning of the lesson is excused, and excused lessons are made up later in the term. Looking forward to seeing [Student] on [first lesson date]. Best wishes, [Your name] [Phone] · [Email]
The term invoice
The invoice is the document, the letter is the cover note. Keep the invoice plain and complete:
INVOICE Invoice number: INV-0042 Date: 25 August 2026 Due: 6 September 2026 (before the first lesson) From: [Your name or business name] [Your address] [Email] · [Phone] To: [Parent's name] For: [Student's name] Description Amount Autumn term 2026: 10 x 30-minute piano lessons Mondays 16:30, 7 September to 30 November £300.00 Total due £300.00 How to pay Card: [pay link] Bank transfer: [Account name], sort code [00-00-00], account [00000000], reference INV-0042 Cancellation policy Term fees are payable in full before the first lesson of the term; part payments are welcome. Lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice are forfeit. Absence through illness or an unexpected school commitment, notified by the morning of the lesson, is excused and a make-up lesson will be arranged later in the term.
The lesson dates on the invoice matter more than they look. Listing the first and last date, and the day and time, means a parent can put the whole term in their diary from one document, and it settles later arguments about whether a particular week was included.
Part payments and late starters
Allow part payments. Some families cannot pay £300 in one go at the start of September, and "pay half now and half by the second lesson" costs you nothing. Say so in the letter, and keep the due date for the balance firm.
A student who joins mid-term is invoiced for the lessons left in the term at the same per-lesson price, due before their first lesson. Do not wait for the next term to start charging properly.
Sending it once and never chasing by hand
My Studio Tracker does the whole sequence for you. Set a student to termly billing, start a term from their page, and it claims the next ten scheduled lessons, raises the invoice with the dates on it, emails it (or texts the pay link), reminds the parent 14, 7 and 1 days before the term, and pauses the reminders when a bank transfer is reported. Every lesson that happens uses a credit; cancellations follow your policy; the make-ups you owe are listed until they are booked. When the credits are used up it asks you to start the next term.