---
title: "Reconciling payments (for schools) - NexPay"
description: "For school finance teams — how to match incoming payments to students, trace a payment through to settlement, handle refunds and wrong payments, and keep your receiving account current."
lastModified: "2026-06-02"
lang: "en"
url: https://nexpay.com.au/training/commissions-and-settlements/reconciling-payments-for-schools
---
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# Reconciling payments (for schools) - NexPay

## At a glance

- **Intended for:** School & provider finance teams
- **Reading time:** 5 minutes
- **Last updated:** 1st June 2026

**TL;DR:** For school finance teams: each payment carries the student it's for and a reference, and once paid you can download a remittance advice per recipient to match it to a student account. A payment reaching Paid is followed by a settlement to your organisation, which you track on the Settlements page. Refunds and corrections to a wrong or over-payment are initiated by the paying side, not by you — so for those, and to change your receiving account, contact your NexPay team.

{/* New article for the school/recipient reconciliation viewpoint, grounded in verified facts; routes non-self-service items to support honestly */}

## Reconciliation, from the receiving end

Most of this training is written for the people *sending* tuition. This article is for the people *receiving* it — a school or provider finance team matching incoming money to student accounts and closing the books. Your day looks different from an agent's: you're reconciling, not paying out. Here's how to do that with NexPay, and — just as importantly — where the platform hands off to your NexPay team for things only they can action.

> **For school finance teams:** The honest shape of this is: matching and proof are self-service; refunds and account changes go through your NexPay team. Knowing which is which up front saves you hunting for a button that isn't there.

## Matching a payment to a student

Every payment carries two things that help you reconcile it:

- **The student it's for** — captured when the payment was created
- **A reference** — usually an invoice number or student ID the payer was asked to enter

Once a payment is **paid**, you can download its **remittance advice** — one per recipient — which confirms exactly what was received. Between the student details, the reference, and the remittance advice, you can match most payments to the right account quickly. The mechanics of downloading are in [receipts and remittance advice](/training/payments/receipts-and-remittance.md).

> **Quick tip:** Encourage the agents who pay you to fill in the reference field with your invoice or student ID. When they do, matching is instant. The reference is the single biggest lever on how smoothly your reconciliation goes.

### When the details don't match

Sometimes a payer enters the wrong student name or a missing reference, and you're left with money you can't immediately place. Correcting the attribution isn't something you do from the school side — it's handled by the paying side. Note the **payment number** and contact your NexPay team; they can trace it and help sort the attribution. Flagging it early, with the payment number, is the fastest path.

## From payment to settlement

It helps to hold two ideas separately:

- A **payment** is an individual transaction. It moves through its stages and reaches **Paid**.
- A **settlement** is the money landing with your organisation. Settlements appear on the **Settlements** page.

So a paid payment is followed by a settlement to you. You reconcile by matching the remittance advice and the dates across the two. The settlement statuses (Queued, Submitted, Generated, **Paid**, Cancelled, Failed) and how to download settlement documents are covered in [settlements](/training/commissions-and-settlements/settlements.md).

If the totals between what you expected and what settled don't line up, that's a moment to contact your NexPay team with the specific payment and settlement details rather than trying to force a match.

> **Worth knowing:** A settlement marked **Failed** doesn't mean the money is gone — it means that payout didn't complete and needs a look. Your NexPay team can explain what happened and what's next.

## Refunds and wrong payments

This is the part where the platform deliberately hands off, so it's worth being clear:

**Refunds are initiated by the side that paid** — the agent or the paying organisation — not by the receiving school in the dashboard. There's no self-service "send it back" button on a received payment. That's by design: the refund goes back through the original payer via the proper flow.

So if a student needs a refund, or a payment arrived wrong or over the amount, the steps are:

1. Keep the **payment number**.
2. Contact your **NexPay team** (or the agent who arranged the payment) as soon as you notice.
3. They action the refund or correction through the right channel.

The sooner you flag it, the cleaner the fix. For how a refund works on the paying side, see [reissue, cancel and replace a payment](/training/payments/reissue-cancel-and-replace.md) — useful context even though you're not the one initiating it.

## Your receiving bank account

NexPay holds your institution's **verified bank account** on file. This was set up with your NexPay team — not typed in by an agent — which is exactly why agents never need (and shouldn't be given) your account number to pay you.

In the dashboard, your organisation's bank details are shown for reference under your organisation settings, but they aren't self-edited. **To change where your settlements land, contact your NexPay team** so the new account can be verified before any payout uses it. This verification step is a safeguard: it's what stops a payout ever going to an unverified account. For the rest of your organisation settings, see [profile and organisation settings](/training/team-and-account/profile-and-organisation-settings.md).

## Who can see settlements

Settlements are available to **management users of an agent or provider organisation**. If a colleague can't see the Settlements page, it's usually because they aren't a management user, or settlements aren't enabled for your organisation. Access is decided at the role and organisation level rather than by a single toggle — your admin or the support team can sort it. See [roles and what you can see](/training/getting-started/roles-and-what-you-can-see.md).

## Your next step

- **Downloading proof for a payment?** See [receipts and remittance advice](/training/payments/receipts-and-remittance.md).
- **Tracking money settled to you?** See [settlements](/training/commissions-and-settlements/settlements.md).
- **Need a CSV for the books?** See [reports and exports](/training/team-and-account/reports-and-exports.md).
- **A refund or correction is needed?** Contact your NexPay team with the payment number; background is in [reissue, cancel and replace](/training/payments/reissue-cancel-and-replace.md).

## Checkpoint

After reading this, you should be able to:

- Match an incoming payment to a student using its student details, reference, and remittance advice
- Explain the difference between a payment (the transaction) and a settlement (money landing with you)
- Know that refunds and wrong-payment corrections are actioned by the paying side or your NexPay team, not self-service from the school
- Understand that your receiving account is verified and changed via your NexPay team, not edited in-app
- Know who can access Settlements and what to do if a colleague can't

## Frequently asked questions

### A payment arrived but I can't tell which student it's for. How do I match it?

Each payment records the student it's for and usually a reference (an invoice or student ID the payer entered). Once the payment is paid, download its remittance advice from the payment, which confirms what was received for that recipient — use it alongside the student and reference details to match it to the right account. If a payer entered the wrong student name or reference, that's a correction the paying side handles; contact your NexPay team with the payment number and they'll help trace it.

### How do incoming payments relate to the settlements we receive?

A payment moves through its stages and reaches Paid; the money settling to your organisation then appears on the Settlements page as a settlement. Think of the payment as the individual transaction and the settlement as the money landing with you. Match using the remittance advice and the dates. If totals don't line up, contact your NexPay team with the specifics.

### How do we issue a refund to a student?

Refunds are initiated by the side that paid (the agent or the paying organisation), not by the receiving school in the dashboard. If a student needs a refund — including an overpayment — contact your NexPay team or the agent who arranged the payment, with the payment number. They can action the refund back to the payer through the proper flow.

### A payment came in wrong or for the wrong amount. Can we send it back ourselves?

Not from the school side — there's no self-service "send it back" for a received payment. Keep the payment number and contact your NexPay team as soon as you spot it. They can advise on the correction or refund. The sooner you flag it, the cleaner the fix.

### How was our bank account set up, and how do we change it?

NexPay holds your institution's verified bank account on file, set up with your NexPay team rather than typed in by agents. In the dashboard your organisation's bank details are shown for reference but aren't self-edited. To change where your settlements land, contact your NexPay team so the new account can be verified before any payouts use it.

### Why can't I see the Settlements page?

Settlements are available to management users of an agent or provider organisation. If you can't see it, your account may not be a management user, or settlements aren't enabled for your organisation. Ask your admin or contact the support team. See roles and what you can see.

## More on NexPay

**Platform**

- [For students & parents](/for-students-and-parents.md)
- [For ed. agents](/for-education-agents.md)
- [For universities](/for-universities.md)
- [For schools](/for-schools.md)
- [For accommodation](/for-accommodation.md)
- [AI automation](/payments-ai-automation.md)
- [Pricing](/pricing.md)

**Help & resources**

- [Training](/training.md)
- [Contact](/contact-us.md)
- [Developers](/api.md)
- [Zapier integration](/zapier.md)
- [Claude & ChatGPT](/mcp.md) — Claude & ChatGPT integration

**Company**

- [About](/about.md) — About NexPay
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## NexPay

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