The prepaid tutoring package policy worksheet

Stage one: define the package you sell

• Set the session count and length for each package you offerWrite out every block you will sell this year, such as four, ten, and twenty sessions at sixty or ninety minutes. Good practice is three options at most, because a fourth one mostly generates questions rather than sales.
• Name the subject and level each package coversState whether credits are subject neutral or tied to a specific course. A block bought for algebra that gets spent on college essays in October is fine if you intended it, and a problem if you did not.
• Price the block and the single session side by sideWrite both numbers on the same line so the discount is visible. If the per session difference is under five percent, the block is not buying you commitment and the discount is just lost margin.
• Decide whether credits belong to the student or the householdHousehold credits let siblings share a block, which parents love and which complicates your record keeping. Pick one, write it down, and make sure the answer matches how you set up students in the system.
• Write the expiration window in weeks, not in vague termsSomething like ninety days for a ten session block, or the end of the semester for a school year package. A date beats a phrase, because a phrase gets reinterpreted every time a family goes on vacation.

Stage two: write the credit rules

• Define exactly what consumes a creditThe usual rule is that a session delivered, a no-show, or a cancellation inside the notice window all burn one credit. Say it in one sentence so a parent reading it quickly cannot misread it.
• Set the cancellation notice window and put a clock on itTwenty four hours before the start time is the common standard for tutoring. Name the channel too, because a text at midnight to a phone you do not check is not notice by anyone honest standard.
• Decide how make-up sessions are offered and how long they lastState how many make-ups a block allows, who proposes times, and whether a make-up can push past the expiration date. Most practices allow one per ten session block and require it within two weeks.
• Rule on late arrivals and shortened sessionsThe workable standard is that the session ends at its scheduled time regardless of when the student arrives, and the full credit is used. Tutors who quietly extend into the next slot create a scheduling debt that never gets repaid.
• Say whether credits transfer between siblings or to another familySibling transfer is usually a yes and generates goodwill at no cost. Transfer to an unrelated family is usually a no, because it turns your package into a gift card you did not price for.
• Set the low balance threshold that triggers the renewal conversationTwo sessions remaining is early enough for a parent to decide without pressure and late enough that they have seen results. Put the alert in the system rather than trusting yourself to notice on a Thursday.

Stage three: settle the money terms

• State the refund policy in plain numbersDecide whether unused credits are refundable, refundable minus a fee, or credit only toward a future block. Whatever you choose, write the arithmetic, since a policy a parent cannot calculate is a policy you will end up negotiating.
• Choose accepted payment methods and who absorbs the processing feeIf you offer a bank transfer discount on larger blocks, name the block size and the discount. Do not add a card surcharge without checking what your state and your processor allow.
• Decide whether large packages can be paid in installmentsA twenty session block split into two payments closes more sales than one big charge. If you allow it, state that credits are released as each payment clears, or you carry the risk of teaching ahead of payment.
• Write what happens if the assigned tutor leaves mid packageThe family should be offered a named replacement or the remaining balance back. Deciding this in advance turns a resignation from a crisis into an email you already have the wording for.
• Set your annual rate review date and how you honor existing blocksThe clean rule is that packages already bought are honored at the old rate until they expire. Pick a month, usually June, and tell families in advance rather than in the same message as the increase.

Stage four: put it in front of the family

• Get the agreement signed before the first session, not afterSend it with the invoice for the block. A parent who has already paid and started sessions has far less reason to read the make-up policy, and that is precisely when it matters.
• Print the remaining balance on every progress noteThe balance in the same message as the update means the renewal conversation starts with evidence of progress. It also means nobody has to ask, which is the whole point.
• Confirm expiration dates in writing at the halfway pointWhen a ten session block hits five remaining, send the date. A family that knows in March will use the sessions, and a family that finds out in June will ask you for an extension.
• Keep one canonical record of sessions usedWhether the family checks a portal or you send the count, only one system may be treated as correct. Two sources of truth guarantee an argument in front of a parent you wanted to renew.
• Review this worksheet every June before the summer packages go on saleSummer blocks have different expiration pressure than school year blocks, and last year rules rarely fit. Twenty minutes in June saves a month of case by case exceptions in August.