Choosing How Often a Fee Bills (Per Term, Once a Session, or Once Only)
Billing frequency controls whether a fee comes back automatically in future terms, or stays a one-off. Getting it right up front saves you from either a fee silently disappearing next term, or a one-off charge accidentally billing every term.
The three options
- Every term (internally per_term) — bills every single term, no exceptions. The right default for recurring fees like tuition.
- Once a session (internally once_a_session) — only bills in the session's first term, then comes back on its own at the next year-end rollover rather than every term within the same session. Good for an annual fee like a development levy.
- This term only (internally this_term_only) — bills exactly once, for this term only, and never carries forward at all, even to the next term in the same session. Good for a genuinely one-off charge, like a specific event fee.
Setting it
When adding or editing a fee item under Fees → Structure, choose one of the three options under "When" — Every term, Once a session, or This term only.
Save.
How this interacts with term rollover
When a new term opens, per_term fees copy forward automatically from the immediately-prior term. once_a_session fees only copy forward on an actual year boundary (not every term), and are sourced from anywhere in the departing session — duplicates are avoided by matching on name, class, and required/optional status. this_term_only fees never copy forward at all.