Hi Carol,I recently found your website and have found it very useful. I am waiting for your book Paying Workers in a Homeschool Organization to be delivered this week to me.
We are trying to figure out how to invoice families for their student’s classes. I collect the checks each month from the families and then disperse them to the teachers. I started using QuickBooks to send invoices, but since the money goes to the teachers, I don’t enter any money received which throws off our accounting records. Is there a way to make QuickBooks work for this?I did find where you suggested to have the teacher’s collect the money themselves, but is there a way we can still do the invoicing?
Thank you,Kari
Kari,
I hope the Paying Workers book is helpful.
Since your organization is sending out the invoices and your organization collects the money from the parents, then the money belongs to your organization and needs to be recorded as revenues in QuickBooks (use the Customers>Receive Payments). When the teachers get paid, it is recorded as an expense in QuickBooks probably using an expense account such as Contract Labor or Wages.
By the way, you need to determine if your teachers are employees or independent contractors. I can help you decide.
You asked, “I did find where you suggested to have the teacher’s collect the money themselves, but is there a way we can still do the invoicing?”
Nope. If your organization sends the invoice, that means that your organization, not the teacher, expects to be paid the money.
If your organization wants the teachers to be paid directly by the parents, then your homeschool group has to stay out of the relationship.
You group should not invoice the parents, tell the teacher what she can charge, and not collect the checks from the parents.
The teacher must handle the money collection from parents all by herself. She is in business for herself and your homeschool organization should stay out of the money she collects from the parents.
I hope that helps,
