Getting paid

Invoices & payments

TutorStudio generates a proper PDF invoice every time a lesson is confirmed — sent under your name, paid online by the parent, and reconciled back to your dashboard. You should never have to think about this screen.

How an invoice gets made#

Every confirmed lesson is a line on an invoice. When the lesson's end time passes and the lesson is confirmed (automatically or by you), TutorStudio assembles a PDF and emails it to the parent in seconds.

Lesson

Maths · GCSE

Mon 4 May · 16:00–17:00

Confirmed

Invoice

INV-0024

Maths · 1h£40.00

Total£40.00

Sent to parent

From a confirmed lesson to an invoice in the parent’s inbox — automatic and atomic.

Numbering & prefix#

Invoices need to be sequentially numbered for HMRC. From Settings → Invoicing you choose a prefix and a starting number, and TutorStudio increments from there. INV-0001, INV-0002, and so on.

Prefix: Free text, up to 8 characters (e.g. KHN, JS-, 2026-).
Pad width: Zero-pads numbers to 4 digits by default.
First number: Set once, then locked. Pick something you can grow into.
Year reset: Off by default. Turn on if you want INV-2026-0001 every January.

Branded under your name#

PDFs go out with your name, not TutorStudio's. The parent sees you as the supplier; we never appear in the From line, the PDF header, or the customer-facing email subject. You upload your logo once and we put it on every invoice from then on.

Accepting online payments#

Each invoice email contains a Pay now button. The parent goes straight to a Stripe-hosted checkout, pays by card or Apple Pay, and the invoice flips to Paid in your dashboard within seconds. To enable this you need to:

Open Settings → Payouts.
Click Connect Stripe — a short Stripe-hosted onboarding (5 minutes; sort code, account number, ID check).
Wait for “Charges enabled” status — usually instant.

One-off / manual invoices#

Need to bill something that isn't a lesson — materials, exam fees, travel? From Invoices → New invoice you can create an ad-hoc invoice with custom line items. It uses the same numbering sequence, the same PDF design, and the same Pay-online button.

Invoice statuses#

Draft: You’re still editing — not visible to the parent.
Open: Finalized and emailed — parent has the pay link, awaiting payment.
Paid: Settled in full, either via Stripe or marked paid manually.
Partially refunded: One or more partial refunds issued; still partly paid.
Voided: Cancelled — replaced by a credit note, never to be reissued.

Refunding an invoice#

If a lesson was charged in error, open the invoice and click Refund. You choose full or partial and confirm. A Stripe refund goes back to the parent's card and the invoice status switches to Partially refunded (for a partial refund) or Voided (for a full refund — a fully refunded invoice is no longer a live receivable).