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Overview

The Bills & Expenses system adds realistic financial obligations to your classroom economy. Just like in the real world, students earn income through their roles and must manage expenses like rent, utilities, and taxes — teaching powerful lessons about budgeting, planning, and financial responsibility.
Bills are processed automatically on the same schedule as role payments. Students see their bills, income, and budget health on their personal dashboard.

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How It Works

1

Create Global Bills

Define bill templates (e.g., “Office Rent”, “Utilities”) in your account settings
2

Enable Per Classroom

Choose which bills apply to each classroom, with optional custom amounts
3

Assign to Students

Assign bills to individual students or bulk-assign to the entire class
4

Automatic Deductions

Bills are automatically deducted on schedule — just like role payments, but in reverse

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Creating Global Bills

1

Navigate to Global Bills

Go to Settings → Classroom → Global Bills
2

Click Add New Bill

Configure the bill details:
  • Name: Clear label (e.g., “Office Rent”, “Business Tax”, “Utilities Fee”)
  • Description: Optional context for students
  • Amount: How much is deducted each period
  • Type: Fixed amount or percentage-based
  • Frequency: Daily, Weekly, Bi-weekly, or Monthly
  • Category: Choose from housing 🏠, utilities 💡, taxes 💼, fees 📋, supplies 📦, or other 📌
  • Color: Pick a color for visual organization
3

Save Bill

The bill is now available to enable in any of your classrooms. Bills are always created as active — you control which classrooms they apply to using the per-classroom toggle.

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Bill Types

A set amount deducted each period regardless of the student’s income.Examples:
  • Office Rent: $50/week
  • Desk Fee: $10/daily
  • Monthly Tax: $100/month
Best for: Simple, predictable expenses that students can plan around.

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Bill Categories

CategoryIconExample Use
Housing🏠Desk rent, classroom space
Utilities💡Electricity, water, internet
Taxes💼Income tax, sales tax
Fees📋Service fees, late fees
Supplies📦Materials, equipment
Other📌Custom expenses

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Managing Bills Per Classroom

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Enabling Bills

1

Open Classroom Expenses

Navigate to your classroom → Expenses tab → Bill Settings
2

Toggle Bills On/Off

Enable or disable each global bill for this specific classroom. This is the single place to control whether a bill is active. When you disable a bill here, it immediately stops applying to all students in this classroom — no further deductions will occur.
3

Set Custom Amounts (Optional)

Override the default amount for this classroom if needed — useful for different grade levels or difficulty settings
When you disable a bill for a classroom, all student assignments for that bill are paused automatically. If you re-enable the bill later, the student assignments resume — no need to reassign.

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Assigning Bills to Students

1

Go to Student Assignments

Navigate to your classroom → Expenses tab → Student Assignments
2

Select a Bill

Click Manage on the bill you want to assign
3

Assign Students

Options:
  • Individual: Click the assign button next to each student’s name
  • Bulk: Click Assign to All Students to assign the entire class at once
  • Remove: Click the remove button to unassign individual students
  • Bulk Remove: Click Remove from All Students to clear all assignments
Use the search box in the assignment modal to quickly find specific students in large classes.

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Budget Overview

The Budget Overview tab gives you a bird’s-eye view of every student’s financial health:
ColumnWhat It Shows
StudentName and assigned roles
Monthly IncomeTotal from all role payments
Monthly ExpensesTotal from all assigned bills
Net IncomeIncome minus expenses
Balance & SavingsCurrent spending and savings balances
StatusBudget health indicator

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Budget Health Indicators

Healthy

30%+ surplus — Student’s income comfortably covers expenses with room to save.

Moderate

0-30% surplus — Student is covering expenses but has little room for saving.

Break Even

~0% surplus — Income roughly matches expenses. No savings growth.

At Risk

Negative — Expenses exceed income. Student’s balance will decrease over time.
Use the Export CSV button to download budget data for offline analysis or parent communication.

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Automatic Bill Processing

Bills are deducted automatically on the same schedule as role payments:
  • Daily bills: Processed at your configured daily payment hour
  • Weekly bills: Processed on your configured payment day and hour
  • Bi-weekly bills: Every 14 days based on your reference date
  • Monthly bills: On your configured day of the month
Bill automation uses the same timezone and payment schedule settings as role payments. Configure these in Settings → Classroom → Payment Schedule.
Students can go negative! Unlike shop purchases, bill deductions are processed regardless of the student’s balance. This is intentional — it teaches the real-world consequence of having expenses that exceed income.

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What Students See

Students can view their bills and budget from their personal dashboard:
  • Budget Dashboard: Shows spending balance, savings, monthly income, monthly bills, and a budget health indicator
  • My Bills: Lists all assigned bills with amounts, frequencies, and next due dates
  • Payment History: See past bill deductions with dates and amounts
Learn more about the Student Budget & Savings features →

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Best Practices

Begin with 1-2 low-cost bills (e.g., a small desk rent) so students adjust gradually. Add more bills over time as they learn to budget.
Make sure students with roles earn enough to cover their bills with some left over. Use the Budget Overview to verify no student is severely at risk.
Categorize bills to mirror real life — students start recognizing patterns like “housing is my biggest expense” that translate to real-world understanding.
Encourage students to use the Savings Account feature to set aside money before bills hit. This teaches the “pay yourself first” principle.
Check the Budget Overview tab regularly. If many students are “At Risk,” consider reducing bill amounts or increasing role pay rates.

Payment Schedules

Configure when bills and role payments process

Classroom Roles

Set up paid roles so students can earn income to cover bills

Student Budget & Savings

How students view and manage their bills and savings

Analytics

Track classroom-wide financial health and trends