Fixing school fee collection with Smart QRs

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Collecting school fees should be simple. But for most school admins, it’s one of the most time-consuming, error-prone tasks they deal with every day.

From manually tracking payments and issuing receipts to matching vague bank statements with specific students , fee collection quickly becomes an operational nightmare that eats up hours of admin time.

At Jodo, we've seen this problem across hundreds of schools. So we built a fix: a smart QR. A simple, powerful tool that brings structure, speed, and peace of mind to the entire fee collection process.

Let's look at why traditional methods are broken — and how smart QRs make things better.

Why traditional QR does not work for school fee collection

Most schools still rely on static bank account transfers or basic UPI QRs linked to their school account. On the surface, these seem convenient enough.

But here's what really happens behind the scenes:

1. Reconciliation becomes a nightmare

Payments arrive with no references or vague tags like “Rohit Fees” or “Class 5 payment”. Finance teams can’t link them to specific students without digging through records. Often they get notified either after manually checking bank statements or after any parent informs them — leading to delays that stretch for days.

2. Multiple accounts = Multiple QRs

Schools often collect different fee heads (e.g., tuition, transport, hostel) into separate bank accounts, requiring multiple QRs to be printed, shared, and managed — adding confusion for both staff and parents.

3. Receipt generation is completely manual

Parents keep calling for receipts. Schools have to generate and email them one by one, eating up valuable admin time.

4. Errors pile up fast

Excel sheets, missed entries, payments for incorrect amounts by parents, miscommunication between departments — every mistake slows the entire process down.

This approach isn't scalable. And it definitely isn't sustainable as schools grow.

Enter Smart QR

Jodo’s Smart QR is a fee collection system designed specifically for schools and their unique needs.

What makes it fundamentally better:

1. Fully Customizable

Institutes can configure the QR to allow:

Full fee payment
Partial or component-wise payment
Custom amount payment from total pending fee

2. Smart routing to multiple accounts

Schools can route each part of the parent’s payment (like tuition, bus fee, hostel) to different bank accounts, based on the fee head — with a single transaction from the parent. No more maintaining and printing multiple QRs.

3. Instant receipts

Receipts are sent automatically to parents the moment payment is completed. No follow-ups needed.

4. Auto reconciliation and live tracking

Every payment is automatically tagged with student name, class, and purpose. Instant receipts are sent to the parent and school with relevant details.

Real-time dashboard shows admins exactly who has paid, what is pending, and can track the payment status by class, component, or student — all in one place.

How it helps schools streamline operations

With Jodo’s smart QR, schools can:

Replace static bank QRs without changing their existing systems
Get real-time visibility into collections across all fee types
Eliminate manual reconciliation and receipt work completely
Offer a smoother, more professional experience for parents

The bottom line

UPI QRs were built for corner shops and small vendors. Not educational institutions with complex fee structures and hundreds of students.

Jodo's smart QR is purpose-built for education. It brings structure, accuracy, and automation to fee collection — so your admin team can focus on what really matters: running a great school.

If your school is still struggling with vague UTRs, delayed payments, and Excel-based tracking — it's time to make the switch.

Book a 15-min demo to see how it works for your school.

For more insight into how Jodo can help collect your institute’s fees effectively, connect with Shruthi Sureshkumar on LinkedIn.