Ask Maxi · Bookkeeping
How should I track private lesson income?
Private lessons come in every shape: weekly students, prepaid packages, makeup lessons, no-shows, a parent who Venmos you for three kids at once. Here is how to keep it clean.
- Record income when it is received, not when the lesson happens. A package paid in December is December income, even if the lessons are in January.
- Keep one list of students with how each one pays.
- Use one payment method if you can. Fewer apps means fewer places for money to hide.
- Label every payment app transaction with the student's name. Payment apps send 1099-Ks once you cross their reporting threshold, and you want to recognize every line.
- Count no-show fees and late-cancel fees as income too.
- Track your lesson costs: method books you buy for students, studio rent, a share of your phone and internet, mileage to students' homes.
With Cadence on Maestro, each student can be a customer: invoices, payments and what they've paid this year in one place.
Clean lesson records make tax time faster, and they also show which students and which lesson lengths actually pay best.
Want us to handle this for you? Bookkeeping + Tax →