Administrative & Business

Cloud Service Consolidates School Payments

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 08/09/18

A new cloud-based payment platform is intended to help schools and community groups accept and process payments from multiple systems and have them accessed through one interface. Families can pay directly through the school's website, and payments are tracked through a single dashboard on the school side of the transaction.

Using a turnkey application programming interface, ConnexPoint from Connexeo can integrate and reconcile the payment functionality of myriad software platforms — the student information system, food service, music programs, childcare and afterschool, athletic services and others. The payments will be processed through a single merchant account within 10 minutes, the company reported, and funded within 48 hours.

According to the company, the online service will reduce accounting work, expedite consolidation and speed up funds collection. It's intended particularly for smaller organizations that may not have a sophisticated web store front or that lack the staff to manage multiple payment mechanisms. Set-up with ConnexPoint has no start-up or maintenance fees and no minimums.

Boulder Valley School District in Colorado has tried out the system. According to Accounting Services Director, Justin Petrone, streamlining and automating the accounting function "is paramount for every entity, especially schools." As he explained in a press release, "We believe a cashless system improves internal controls, speeds reconciliation and ensures accuracy."