In this guide · 8 sections
- 01Term billing vs monthly billing for lessons
- 02Make-up lessons, notice periods and refunds
- 03Collecting exam entry fees and recital costs
- 04Recital photos and videos of children under the PDPA
- 05Does a music or dance school need MOE or SSG registration?
- 06What the website needs: pages and a booking flow
- 07Do it yourself or get help?
- 08Frequently asked questions
Short answer
Bill by term with an upfront invoice or monthly by card or GIRO, publish make-up and refund rules before parents pay, collect exam fees as a separate payment, and get written parental consent for recital photos of children under 13. Check MOE's rule if you teach 10 or more students.
Term billing vs monthly billing for lessons
Most Singapore music and dance schools bill either per term (often aligned to school terms) or per month. Both work online; the choice affects cash flow, admin and how easily parents can leave.
Term billing
- One invoice per term, paid before the first lesson
- Fits fixed-length courses, group classes and exam preparation
- Larger amount, so more parents pay by PayNow or bank transfer
- Mid-term withdrawals need a clear refund rule
Best for: Group classes and courses with a set number of lessons.
Monthly billing
- Smaller automatic charge on card or GIRO
- Smoother cash flow and fewer reminders
- Parents can stop with a month's notice
- Months with 4 or 5 lessons need a stated rule
Best for: Ongoing private lessons and open-ended programmes.
Online, term billing is usually an invoice or payment link sent before each term. Monthly billing is a subscription: Stripe Billing, for example, charges the saved card each month, retries failed payments and gives parents a portal to update their card. Our subscription billing set-up guide walks through it, and if parents prefer GIRO, our preschool fee collection guide compares GIRO with card and PayNow.
Settle the 4-or-5-lessons question once: decide whether a monthly fee covers four lessons or the lessons actually held that month, and say so on the fee page. A flat monthly fee on a published yearly calendar is simplest, as long as parents see the calendar before they sign up.
Make-up lessons, notice periods and refunds
Make-up rules are where goodwill is won or lost. Write them down before you enrol anyone, put them on the website and in the enrolment form, and use a booking system that applies them automatically so teachers are not negotiating by WhatsApp.
| Rule | Common options | What the system needs |
|---|---|---|
| Notice to qualify for a make-up | 24 or 48 hours before the lesson | Cancellation cut-off per lesson type |
| Make-up limit | Number per term, or only for medical reasons with a memo | A counter per student per term |
| Make-up expiry | Must be used within the same term | Credits that expire on a date |
| Teacher cancels | Always replaced or refunded | Bulk reschedule and parent notification |
| Withdrawal mid-term | Refund of unused lessons minus a stated fee, or no refund | Pro-rated refund calculation |
| Public holidays | No lesson and fee adjusted, or a replacement lesson | Holiday calendar loaded for the year |
No Singapore rule fixes these numbers, but the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act treats misleading customers about their rights or the terms of a deal as an unfair practice. Rules shown before payment, and applied the same way to everyone, are your best protection. The yoga and Pilates class-pack guide covers credit expiry and late-cancel fees in more depth.
Collecting exam entry fees and recital costs
If you enter students for graded music or dance exams, the exam board sets the fee and the entry deadline, and you usually pay the board for all your candidates in one go. Chasing 30 parents for a fee by cash or bank transfer, then matching each payment, is where most schools lose a weekend.
Create one product per exam grade
Each grade has its own fee, so set it up as a separate one-off product or payment link, not as an extra on the term invoice.
Set your own deadline before the board's
Ask parents to pay a week or two before the board's entry closing date so you have time to chase and submit.
Send personal payment links
Send each family a link for their child's grade by email or WhatsApp. PayNow and card through Stripe or HitPay mark the payment against the right student automatically.
Export the paid list
Download the list of paid entries and submit it to the board. Anyone not on the list hasn't paid.
State the refund rule for exams
Exam boards often do not refund after entries close, so tell parents that the exam fee is non-refundable once submitted, if that's the board's rule.
Recital costume, venue or ticket fees work the same way. If you sell recital tickets to the public, a ticketing page or payment link with a fixed number of seats saves you counting cash at the door. Our guide to payment links for PayNow and invoices explains the options.
Recital photos and videos of children under the PDPA
Recitals produce the photos and videos you most want to share, and they show children. The PDPC's Advisory Guidelines on the PDPA for Selected Topics say that where a minor is below 13, consent must come from a parent or guardian. Treat each use as a separate choice parents can say yes or no to.
Photo consent checklist
Our guide to child photos and parent apps covers consent registers and WhatsApp groups in more detail; most of it applies to music and dance schools as well.
Does a music or dance school need MOE or SSG registration?
MOE's page on registering a private school says you need to register the school, its courses and its teachers if you offer education to 10 or more persons, and gives tuition and enrichment centres as examples. The same page says you register with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) instead if you offer diploma or degree courses, full-time preparatory courses for external examinations, or full-time international-curriculum schooling.
A school running part-time lessons and exam preparation is not in the SSG list, but whether MOE registration applies depends on what and how you teach. Ask MOE in writing and keep the reply. If you are registered, MOE says to describe it only as "Registered with the Ministry of Education", not as approved or accredited, and new teachers and courses need an amendment application, so keep website teacher profiles in step with your registration.
What the website needs: pages and a booking flow
Parents compare schools on their phones, often late at night. They want to see what is taught, at which level, when, by whom and for how much, then book a trial without calling.
- Programme pages by instrument or dance style and age, with levels and exam pathways
- Timetable and term calendar, including holidays and recital dates
- Fee page with term or monthly fees, registration fee, deposit and exam fees
- Make-up, withdrawal and refund rules on their own page, linked from the fee page
- Teacher profiles with qualifications
- Trial lesson booking with a calendar and reminders
- Privacy notice and a short photo policy
Send trial bookings straight into a booking tool rather than a contact form, so the slot is held and a reminder goes out automatically.
Do it yourself or get help?
A small studio can run on a website builder, a booking tool and Stripe or HitPay set up over a few weekends. The parts that most often go wrong are rules that live only in teachers' heads, exam fees chased by hand, and recital photos posted without checking consent.
Our Business Website package (S$1,490) builds the programme, fee and timetable pages. Subscriptions & Recurring Billing (S$490) sets up monthly or termly charging with a customer portal and failed-payment reminders, and Online Booking System (S$390) handles trial lessons and make-ups with reminders.
Frequently asked questions
Term billing suits group classes and fixed-length courses and gets cash in upfront, but larger invoices are paid more slowly and mid-term withdrawals need a clear rule. Monthly billing on card or GIRO smooths cash flow and cuts reminders, and works well for ongoing private lessons. Whichever you choose, publish the calendar and refund rules first.
There is no legal number. Many schools allow make-ups only with 24 or 48 hours' notice, cap them per term, and require them to be used within the same term. What matters is that the rule is written, shown before payment and applied the same way to everyone, ideally by a booking system rather than by individual teachers.
Only with consent. PDPC guidance says that for children under 13, consent must come from a parent or guardian. Ask separately for private family galleries and for public website or social media use, record each answer, and remove a child from future posts if a parent withdraws consent. Share full recital videos through a private link.
MOE says private schools offering education to 10 or more persons must register the school, courses and teachers, with tuition and enrichment centres as examples. Schools offering diplomas, full-time exam preparation or full-time international curricula register with SkillsFuture Singapore instead. Confirm with MOE for your own programmes and keep the written reply.
Create a separate product or payment link for each exam grade and send each family a personal link with your own deadline set a week or two before the exam board's closing date. Payments through Stripe or HitPay are matched to the student automatically, so you can export the paid list and submit entries in one go.