Net tuition is the number that runs the school
Gross tuition is a press release; net tuition, after bursaries, sibling discounts and staff-child rates, is the budget. We build the enrolment model so the head and the board see net tuition per student by grade, the school's overall discount level, and how both move as classes fill. Section economics do the heavy lifting: a class of nine and a class of seventeen cost the same teacher, so the last few seats in an existing section are close to pure contribution, while opening a new section for three more students is the most expensive decision on the table.
Re-enrolment season in late winter is the year's most important revenue event, and it deserves forecasting, not hope: deposits in by grade, attrition by exit point, and the waitlist mapped against the sections you actually intend to run. Bursary awards are decided in the same window, so the model shows what each committed dollar of assistance does to net tuition before any letters go out. Independent schools across Mississauga and the GTA compete hard for the same families; the ones that thrive know their retention numbers first.
A cash calendar with a fat autumn and a thin summer
Deferred revenue makes the income statement look serene while the bank account swings wildly, so we run the school on a rolling 13-week cash forecast against a calendar like this:
| Season | Cash coming in | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| August–September | The year's tuition and care fees, heavily | The whole year's fuel; do not read it as profit |
| October–December | Instalment plans, program fees | Instalment defaults surface here; chase early |
| January–March | Re-enrolment deposits for next year | Next year's money; hold it apart from this year's spending |
| April–June | Final instalments taper off | Year-end costs land while inflows fade |
| July–August | Very little | Spread teacher pay continues; the reserve carries the school |
The summer trough is where under-managed schools get hurt: spread payroll keeps paying, rent and insurance never pause, and no meaningful cash arrives for eight weeks. We set a board-level reserve target, expressed in months of payroll and reviewed annually, so July is a season instead of an emergency. When the reserve is not there yet, the forecast shows the gap in October, while a line of credit can still be arranged calmly.
Pricing tuition when every cost carries unrecoverable HST
An exempt school budgets gross: the 13% inside rent, cleaning, IT and equipment leases never comes back as input tax credits, so cost inflation must be measured with the tax in, and tuition increases must clear that fully loaded number. We model fee-setting both ways: small annual increases, or a held rate followed by one larger reset. Each is tested against retention risk, the bursary budget the increase has to fund, and what nearby schools charge. Before- and after-care is priced on its own staffing math as a program with its own margin, not as a rounding error on tuition. The capital side of the no-ITC problem, from CCA classes to buildout timing, lives with Tax Planning & Advisory and feeds this model.
International students are a program, not a windfall
International fees can carry a school's growth plan, but only measured honestly. The fee is still HST-exempt, and what the school keeps is the fee net of agent commissions, homestay and custodianship arrangements, and the extra administration each file carries — so we track net revenue per international student, not the headline rate. Deposits arrive far ahead of arrival, and the refund policy is a real liability when a study permit is refused, so the model holds refund exposure as its own line. Payments to recruiting agents can raise non-resident withholding questions depending on where the work is performed; that flag is worth professional attention before the contract is signed, not after.
What the board sees, and what the bank sees
The monthly package from Fractional CFO work stays short: enrolment against budget, net tuition, the 13-week cash position, reserve status and capital spending against plan. Those are the five numbers a head or a volunteer board can actually govern with, and we re-run the full-year forecast each quarter so a January enrolment dip shows up in February's plan rather than in August's bank balance. When the plan includes a building, Walla's banking background shapes the file lenders want to see, with Business Financing Advisory running the mortgage conversation and Compilation & Review Engagements producing the statements behind it.
