Welcome to your introduction to SchoolCash Online!

On this web page, you'll be guided through the core steps for a successful SchoolCash Online launch. It should take between 15 and 20 minutes. Following these steps can make all the difference in getting off to a quick start in achieving a cashless school!

What type of information do you want to see?

Choose options below. We'll tailor the information on this page to be specific to your role and region.

What role best describes you?

District, Principal, Office, Teacher
Coach or Club Leader

Where is your district located?

USA
Canada

Take a few minutes to understand how online payments will save you time, reduce risk, and let you focus on the important aspects of your role.

Topics in this section:

    What is SchoolCash Online?

    Click through each of the following panels.

    In SchoolCash Online, schools can create an online catalog of athletic items, club fees, tickets, and other items.

    Key takeaways:

    • You no longer need to create, photocopy, and distribute flyers or paper-based announcements to send home with students.
    • Students can't lose or forget to pass on information to parents.

    The system promotes catalog items for you. When the school office staff creates a catalog item, they can attach the item to students as mandatory or optional. The staff can also set due dates for the items.

    Key takeaways:

    • The parents of these students receive automatic notification of item availability, and they receive automated reminders as deadlines approach.
    • SchoolCash Online has reports that make it easy to see who has paid and who hasn't.

    Optionally, school office staff can also make certain catalog items "public", meaning anyone can purchase these particular items: not just parents.

    Key takeaways:

    • Tickets, fundraiser items, and school clothing are great examples of public items! Grandparents, extended family, or members of the community can purchase these public items.

    Parents/family members can add items to their online cart and pay via the fully secure online payment platform. They can view their account history and receipts at any time. People can still pay by cash/check if they prefer.

    SchoolCash Online offers an optional add-on module for handling mobile point-of-sale (POS) payments at the gate or school gym and barcode scanning for pre-bought tickets. (Talk to your district lead to determine whether your district has purchased this add-on.)

    Key takeaways:

    • If parents pay online, you won't need to count cash, keep the cash safe, itemize payments, and arrange for deposits.
    • Parents can still pay with cash or check if they prefer, although you and/or your office staff will need to record those payments in the system.

    As a potential add-on to the base software, SchoolCash Online offers an optional online forms module. (Talk to your district lead to determine whether your district has purchased this add-on.)

    Key takeaways:

    • Permission forms and waivers can be handled digitally and tracked through the system.
    • Because the forms are connected to Catalog items, which in turn can be attached to students, parents can be automatically notified about form availability/deadlines.

    Did you know?

    • Over 22,000 schools in North America use KEV software. Over 2 million people use SchoolCash Online.
    • 92% of Canadians aged 25 to 44 shop online.
    • 89.7% of Canadian households own a hand-held device.
    • 79% of Americans are already paying for personal items online or are using Ecommerce to simplify their day-to-day purchases.
    • 89% of Americans aged 25 to 44 with children under the age of 18 own a hand-held device.

    The cost of cash versus online payments

    Click through each of the following panels.

    Studies from IHL Group, Square, and ACFE estimate that the cost of handling cash ranges between 4.7% and 15%.*

    • If we take the midpoint of this range, it costs your district $9,000 for every $100,000 in cash received
    • If this seems high to you, consider salary and expenses devoted to accepting cash, providing change, counting cash, preparing it for deposit, traveling to the bank for deposit, or paying for armored truck transport.
    • Consider liability risks, plus personal security concerns for staff members depositing a large amount of cash.

    *Estimates are from IHL Group Research (2018), Square (2020) and Square Bottom Line (2020), and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) – Occupational Fraud (2024)

    Counting cash takes hundreds of hours!

    • It takes 542 hours to process $100,000 in cash received.*
    • If at peak times in the year, a teacher or coach handles $1,000 in cash a month for fees/field trips/lunch program/etc, that's 5.42 hours: at least a half day per person per month.
    • Multiply the 5.42 hours per peak month by your number of teachers/coaches/librarians. Multiply again by the number of office staff members double-checking the counts. All of this time is NOT spent on teaching or on the student needs.

    *Estimates are from Square Bottom Line (2020)

    Liquidity of cash makes it more vulnerable to loss, theft or human error.

    • If 5% of cash is lost, your district loses $5,000 for every $100,000 in collected funds.*
    • If we apply the 5% ACFE estimate to school fees, that means that your district loses $25,000 for every $500,000 in fees collected via cash. And this doesn't consider any legal and reputational costs you would also incur as a result which could run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
    • Cash is tempting & leads to easy misappropriation. Skimming is easier when payments are submitted via cash and when districts have manual procedures for collecting, counting & recording payments.

    *Estimates are from Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (2024)

    SchoolCash Online can greatly reduce the time and cost impact of cash because of how easy it is for parents to pay online.

    • The pandemic resulted in a significant shift toward comfort in paying online. A 2020 study by McKinsey & Co states, "We have vaulted five years forward in consumer digital adoption in a matter of 8 weeks. Fully 75 percent of people using digital channels for the first time indicate that they will continue to use them when things return to 'normal'."
    • With more and more people used to paying online following the pandemic, SchoolCash Online's ease of use for parents can be a compelling argument to shift to an online payment method.
    • The SchoolCash system can easily accommodate parents who still wish to pay in cash.

    Save time and reduce risk

    SchoolCash Online reduces the number of steps for promoting and collecting payment for an event from 10 steps down to 3!  Drag the school bus to see the difference between the "before" scenario and the "after".

    SchoolCash Online reduces the number of steps for promoting and collecting payment for an event from 10 steps down to 3!  Drag the red football to see the difference between the "before" scenario and the "after".

    Before
    1

    1. Staff creates a flyer, making multiple copies.

    2

    2. Student takes flyer home. Will parents see it?

    3

    3. Student gives flyer to parents for review/signature.

    4

    4. Parent finds exact change or writes a check (if they can find either!)

    5

    5. Student takes payment to school (if they don't lose it!)

    6

    6. Teacher collects and records payment, preps envelope.

    6. Coach collects and records payment, preps envelope.

    7

    7. Teacher delivers envelope to the office.

    7. Coach delivers envelope to the office.

    8

    8. Office staff recounts the cash.

    9

    9. Office staff prepares the bank deposit.

    10

    10. The deposit is driven to the bank.

    After
    1

    1. School staff creates items for purchase in an online catalog, and posts them for parents to see in SchoolCash Online.

    2

    2. Parents receive email notifications and purchase items online via SchoolCash Online.

    3

    3. Funds are moved electronically to the school's bank account. All payments are automatically posted to your KEV accounting solution.

    Designed by upklyak / Freepik

    Designed by upklyak / Freepik

    How do these benefits impact you?

    Benefits for school staff

    • Time Savings
    • Less cash and check counting
    • Automated deposits, receipts, and NSFs

    Benefits for teachers

    • Less photocopying
    • Less cash and check collection
    • More instructional time
    • Better communication with parents

    Benefits for parents

    • Convenience
    • Child not carrying cash
    • Automated notifications about item availability and deadlines

    How do these benefits impact you?

    Spend more time on what's important

    • Stop spending time distributing information about fees, uniforms, or items for purchase, or collecting and tracking payment.
    • Focus on the core part of your role: spending time with your group and preparing them for the next game, activity, tournament, or concert.

    Stay safe and secure

    • Stop collecting cash or checks on the field, in the gym, classroom or in the club facility.
    • When the school office is closed, you don’t need to hold onto cash or checks after hours.

    Broad support for common athletic and club item types

    • Just some examples include registration fees, club dues, activity supplies, uniforms, tickets.

    It's easy to use

    • SchoolCash Online gives you a centralized, online location to describe your fees and items.
    • When the items are "attached" to students in the system, their parents receive automated notification and reminders.
    • All you need to do is provide your office staff with the item description and the list of associated students. See the next section to learn how!

    Gain an understanding of the parent experience and the staff experience by walking through annotated screen captures that illustrate the end-to-end flow.

    Review how parents and members of the public will experience the online catalog and how you can submit item/fee details to the school office.

    Topics in this section:

      The parent experience, from start to finish

      Click through each of the following panels.

      1. The SchoolCash Online homepage

      Let's review the features on the SchoolCash Online homepage. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      2. Parent registration

      It's easy for parents or guardians to register. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      3. Adding a student

      Parents/guardians can add students that they're associated with. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      4. Viewing items by student name

      Parents/guardians can easily see which items are associated with their students. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      5. Filling a shopping cart

      Parents/guardians can purchase using the familiar shopping cart format. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      6. Paying for items

      Parents/guardians have multiple payment options, depending on how your district has configured the system. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      How the office staff creates items

      When a teacher or staff member has an idea for an item for the Catalog (e.g., a field trip, a fundraiser, etc.), they can provide details about the item to the office staff. (The next section below explains how the information can be submitted.)

      Click through each of the following panels to see examples of how the office staff can create an item.

      1. The basics for creating items

      Office staff can create items in the SchoolCash Catalog. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      2. Item Financials

      Each item has associated financial details. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      3. Item Availability

      Items can have different settings for availability. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      4. Options and Choices

      Items can have various options or extras. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      5. Previewing the item

      Office staff can preview the item to see how parents will see the item. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      6. Attaching items to students

      Items can be attached to students in multiple ways. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      7. Inventory control

      Staff can ensure that inventory controls are in place. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      SchoolCash Catalog overview

      Click through the three panels below to understand how parents/members of the public see available items, and who creates those items in the online catalog.

      Where do parents see available fees and items?

      • Any parent-facing item or fee can be created in the SchoolCash Catalog for parents to access.
      • Parents create a free online account in SchoolCash Online. They can see which items have been attached to their students.

      How do they pay?

      • Parents can add items to their Shopping Cart for checkout and online payment.
      • Parents still have the option of paying in cash or by check.
      • School staff can run reports to see which students have paid.

      Where do members of the public see tickets and other general school-related items for sale?

      • If an item is marked as "public" in the SchoolCash Online system, then grandparents, extended family members, and members of the public can see the items in the online catalog once they've created their free account.
      • If your district has the Receipt Redeemer module enabled, purchasers can pay for an item online and then have their receipts scanned and verified at the gate.

      How do they pay?

      • Members of the public can add items to their Shopping Cart in SchoolCash Online for checkout and online payment. (Cash/check payments are also supported.)
      • SchoolCash Online has an optional Gate Receipting module that allows for payment at the gate on mobile point-of-sale (POS) devices.

      Who creates the item?

      Item creation is typically the responsibility of the school office staff. They create the item in the SchoolCash Catalog and "attach" it to associated students. The system automatically notifies parents of those students about availability.

      What information do they need?

      Typically, the following core pieces of information are needed to ensure the item is clearly communicated to parents. Scroll down to learn about how to submit this information.

      1. Item name, description, dates, and purchase deadline (if applicable)
      2. Price and deposit accounting category for the item or fee
      3. Students or group of students to be "attached" to the item (if applicable; the item can also be made Public and not attached to specific students)
      4. Options and choices (if applicable)

      How item details are submitted to the office

      Talk to your district accounting contact and your office staff. Ask them about their preferred method for receiving descriptive details for athletic/club fees or items. The following two approaches are typical for most school districts.

      Talk to your district accounting contact and your office staff. Ask them about their preferred method for receiving descriptive details for field trips, fundraising items, or general school fees/items. The following two approaches are typical for most school districts.

      If your district prefers using a template for fees or items:

      KEV provides an Event Template Form, which is a fillable PDF (so that only the blue sections can be populated). If you already have a district or school/principal permission form, you may want to merge this document with your internal document so teachers only fill out one form.

      1. Download the Event and Activity Form (a fillable PDF) to your computer.
      2. For each athletic or club fee or item requiring parent payment, complete a copy of the form and send it to your school office staff.

      If your district uses SchoolCash Access:

      SchoolCash Access is an optional add-on module within the SchoolCash suite of products. Instead of typing information into a fillable PDF template and emailing it to the office (who would then need to copy/paste the information in the SchoolCash Catalog), you type the same information directly into a "draft item" in the SchoolCash Access module:

      1. Directly into the SchoolCash system, input the same information that you would need to type in the fillable PDF scenario.
      2. Click Submit to route the draft item to your office staff for approval, student attachment, and posting to the parent-facing catalog.
      3. Run reports from your desk for your specific items, so you can see instantly which students have paid and which have not.

      How to collect cash/check payments

      If parents pay online, then you don't have to do any collection at all; the funds are routed automatically to your school's bank account. SchoolCash Online does allow parents to pay by cash/check as well.

      If your district prefers to use a template for recording fee collection:

      Talk to your office staff about their preferred method for recording the cash/check amounts that you collect from your athletes. The office staff will record the payments in the SchoolCash Register and create bank deposit statements. The SchoolCash Register ensures that payments are properly associated with students, and their parents can see receipts and payment history in their online account.

      If your district uses SchoolCash Access:

      SchoolCash Access is an optional add-on module within the SchoolCash suite of products. Instead of manually recording cash/check payments, you can input the payment amounts directly into the SchoolCash Access module, which saves a step for the school office staff.

      Also, SchoolCash Access allows you to print/email a receipt for the payment immediately, and it establishes a clear audit trail for the payment.

      Collecting cash or checks using SchoolCash Register

      Some parents will still pay for items with cash or checks. The SchoolCash Register module allows your office staff to collect and account for physical funds.

      Click through each of the following panels.

      1. Group collection

      The Group Collection module eases the process for large-scale collections. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      2. Onsite Parent/Student Payments

      The SchoolCash Register allows for onsite payments. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      3. Print Receipts and Statements

      Receipts can be generated for any transaction. Click a number to learn more. 0 out of 0 complete!

      4. Generating reports

      The SchoolCash Catalog module provides a number of reports. To view these reports, from the SchoolCash Accounting main menu, click SchoolCash Catalog and then click the Reports tab.

      • Item Attachment Report: Perfect for when you need a list of payments by item.
      • Item Order Report: Perfect for when you want to know who bought what if the item has choices.
      • Item Option Report: Perfect for when you want a summary of what choices have been purchased.
      • Category Report: Perfect for when you want to know total revenue collected in a specific category.
      • Student Balance Report: Perfect for when you want to know the total revenue collected in a specific category.
      • Batch Report: Perfect for tracking online payment deposits and reconciliation.
      • Permission Form Report: Perfect for tracking online permission form signatures (if the Permission Form feature has been enabled by your district.)
      • Payment Schedule Report: Perfect for tracking items that allow multiple (installment) payments.
      • Donation Report: Perfect for tracking donations.

      Now that you know how SchoolCash Online makes your life easier, reduces risk, and offers advantages to the parents, use this section to review some suggestions about how to encourage online payments.

      Topics in this section:

        (Optional) Personalize messaging to be district-specific

        The sections below provide copy/paste-able examples of messaging you can provide to staff and parents. To make the examples specific to your district, optionally type your district name and SchoolCash Online site URL into the boxes below. The examples below will then update automatically, so that the district references in the text transform from generic placeholders (which you will need to replace) to ready-to-go specifics.

        Example: XYZ School Board

        Example: https://xyz.schoolcashonline.com   How do I find my URL?

        Currently, examples below contain placeholders for both District Name and SchoolCash Online hyperlink

        How to inform school staff

        To ensure that the launch of SchoolCash Online is a district-wide success, all school staff should know what SchoolCash Online is and how it benefits for both schools and parents. This section contains some helpful resources for spreading the message.

        Resources for staff

        As a general resource page, see visit www.kevclientsuccess.com/tips for quick actions you can take to maximize the benefits of online payments. For specific resources, use the following:

        • SchoolCash Online video for staff
        • How to find the link to your SchoolCash Online site to share with parents
        • Download images you can use to enhance item descriptions
        • Staff announcement email from principal to staff
        • Event Template Form for teachers, coaches, and club leaders
        • Benefits Poster for staff room
        • Contactless Mandate Poster for staff room

        Tips for sharing information with colleagues

        • Make this an important initiative. Resist the temptation to send home notices asking for cash and checks.
        • Have flyers on your desk at parent teacher interviews, notes in newsletters and agendas, and registration info for SchoolCash Online on the back of trip permission forms
        • Explain to your students why this is important, and set a classroom registration goal.
        • Be consistent with your language. For example, don't ask for cash or checks in the item description, so you don't confuse parents about the preferred payment method.
        • Do you have a child at a school in your district? Register yourself and share your experience with other teachers and parents.

        Spreading the word to parents

        To ensure SchoolCash Online becomes your district's preferred method of payment, you will need parents to understand what SchoolCash Online is, its benefits, how to register, and how to get support when needed. In a nutshell, have a consistent message: "SchoolCash Online is our district's preferred method of payment".

        This section provides resources you can use to introduce SchoolCash to your parents.

        Initial SchoolCash Online launch

        • Website text for district/school websites
        • Press Release template

        Ongoing resources for promoting to parents

        • Email from principal to parents
        • Newsletter text for sending home with students or including in newsletter
        • QR Code Generator for your SchoolCash Online site or for specific to fee postings
        • Social Media Examples for Twitter and Facebook
        • Auto-dialer script if you have an automated call system

        Parent Help resources

        • Frequently Asked Questions and Help information for SchoolCash Online

        Next steps

        • Inform your parent groups: Let your Parent Council or parent groups know what SchoolCash Online is all about. For new families who speak English as a second language, parent volunteers are often willing to walk new families through registration in their first language.
        • What do you currently collect cash for? Put these items online. Create items throughout the year: Be sure you have items online for parents to purchase throughout the school year.
        • Have public items: Make some items available to the public (tickets to school concerts for grandparents, school clothing for alumni).
        • Kindergarten Packages: Include the "Step-by-Step Registration Flyer" information (obtained from your district/board office) in your Kindergarten Packages.
        • District and School websites: On District and School websites have a link to your SchoolCash Online site AND link to the Freqently Asked Questions page in the SchoolCash Online help center. Your district/board office can provide this material.
        • Consider families with English as a second language: Google Translate is built into your SchoolCash Online site; when parents make purchases, ALL the item information is translated in up to 102 languages. We also have a variety of materials (posters, website buttons, flyers) available in a variety of languages.

        Give incentives to pay online

        • Offer online incentives: Buy slice of pizza and get a juice box free.
        • Make some items available online only OR online early: Students can pay activity fees online and pick up their timetables early (no line up).
        • Be Seasonal: Consider seasonal items as school fundraisers (gift baskets or cookie dough sales in November/December, candy grams or flowers in February, frozen yogurt in the warmer months).
        • Discount online purchases: For example, online dance tickets are a dollar off.
        • Promote the item online: Promote the item online for purchase instead of just sending the standard notice home.
        • Encourage teachers: Encourage your teachers to use SchoolCash Online for school clothing and school lunches when available.
        • Onsite devices: Bring those tablets to school sporting events so everyone can purchase school clothing on the spot. They will be ready for the next big game!

        Ensure your items are in the Catalog and promote to parents

        To realize the many benefits of SchoolCash Online, simply ensure that your athletic and club items are posted to the SchoolCash Catalog, and use a simple message for parents: "SchoolCash Online is our preferred method of payment." Click through the two panels below for some tips.

        Post your athletic and club items to the online catalog

        • What athletic and club items do you currently collect cash for? Put these items online. If it is a complicated item, let us know and we can help you create it.
        • Create items throughout the year: Be sure you have items online for parents to purchase throughout the school year.
        • Be Seasonal: Consider seasonal items as school fundraisers (gift baskets or cookie dough sales in November/December, candy grams or flowers in February, frozen yogurt in the warmer months).
        • Have public items: Make some items available to the public (tickets to school concerts for grandparents, school clothing for alumni).

        Give incentives to pay online

        • Offer online incentives: To get cash off the sidelines and out of the schools, consider reducing the price of items slightly if parents pay online.
        • Make some items available online only OR online early: Students can pay activity fees online and pick up their items early (no line up).
        • Promote the item online: Direct parents toward the online catalog instead of just sending the standard notice home.

        You're done! There's just one last step.

        Now that you've reviewed the content in the previous steps, please register your completion with the form below. Name, Email Address, and Board/District are mandatory fields, and the rest are optional.