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Combined Transactions

Combined Transactions allows you to merge multiple invoices from the same payer, due date, and location into a single transaction. This saves you money on processing fees and makes payment reconciliation easier for your families.

Last updated: July 6, 2026
Applies to: Owner / Manager
Plan: All

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. How Combined Transactions Work
  3. Who is Eligible
  4. What to Expect
  5. FAQ
  6. Related Articles

Overview

Combined transactions let Opus1 charge a payer once when they have multiple open invoices ready for automatic payment (autopay) at the same time—instead of running a separate card or bank charge for every invoice. Each invoice is still updated individually inside Opus1, but the family sees one transaction on their statement and one combined receipt email when two or more invoices are charged together.

When Enable combined payments is turned on for your school, Opus1 groups eligible autopay invoices so a family with multiple students or subscriptions due on the same day at the same location receives one charge instead of several separate charges on their bank or credit card statement. This benefits both schools and families by reducing payment processing fees, minimizing confusion on bank statements, and sending one consolidated receipt email instead of a burst of separate payment notices.

This article explains what the feature does, who is eligible, what families and schools should expect, and how to request enablement.

🗒️ Note: Combined transactions are not enabled automatically when you activate Opus1 Payments. Contact support@opus1.io to request enablement. The feature is only available for schools on Opus1 Payments.

ℹ️ Note: Combined transactions apply to automatic payments (autopay) only. Manual checkout, customer portal "Pay invoice" payments, and terminal payments are not combined—they continue to process as separate transactions.

How Combined Transactions Work

What it does

When auto-pay runs, Opus1 finds all open invoices that are eligible for automatic payment for a given payer. Invoices that share the same primary payer, due date, and location are grouped. If two or more invoices qualify, Opus1 submits one payment to Opus1 Payments for that payer's total across those invoices. 

If only one invoice is due for a payer on that auto-pay run, behavior matches the current flow: one charge and one normal payment receipt; nothing is labeled as "combined." 

Each invoice still receives its own payment record inside Opus1, linked by a shared batch ID. 

Why You'd Use It
Combined transactions reduce the number of individual charges appearing on a family's bank or credit card statement. This makes it easier for families to track their payments and reduces the likelihood of confusion over multiple small charges on the same morning.
 
For schools, combined transactions are a meaningful cost saver. When several invoices batch into a single charge, you pay one set of processing fees instead of one per invoice—and your team has one transaction to reconcile, not a stack of them on the same billing date.
 
How It Works 
  1. On a scheduled auto-pay run, Opus1 identifies all open invoices eligible for auto-pay for your school
  2. Eligible invoices are grouped by primary payer, due date, and location
  3. When a group contains two or more invoices, one combined charge is processed for that payer's total
  4. Each invoice is updated individually inside Opus1; the family receives one combined receipt email listing line items from every invoice in the batch 
What is Not Combined
  • Manual payments - admin-forced payments, customers manually paying their invoice inside their account, admin partial payments, etc.
  • Invoices at different locations - even for the same family and due date
  • Secondary payers on split-payment subscriptions - each payer is charged separately for their portion

💡 Note: The combined invoice will itemize each subscription included in the transaction, so families can still see exactly what they are being charged for.

Who Is Eligible

Eligibility Criteria

Combined transactions apply when all of the following are true at the time of auto-pay:

  • Two or more open invoices are eligible for auto-pay for the same payer
  • Invoices share the same primary payer
  • Invoices share the same due date
  • Invoices are at the same location

Common scenarios that qualify: 

  • Families with more than one student enrolled in subscription-based services, all billed on the same date at the same location
  • Clients with multiple active subscriptions for a single student, all due on the same date at the same location
  • Any combination of the above
Requirements

Your school must meet all of the following before combined transactions can run:

  • The school must be using Opus1 Payments as their payment processor
  • Combined transactions are turned on for your business
  • Auto-pay is enabled for your school
  • Subscriptions have auto-pay enabled and payers have a saved, chargeable payment method on file 

Until the feature is enabled, auto-pay continues to run one charge per invoice.

What to Expect

How Combined Transactions Appear
  • On invoices: each invoice remains a separate record in Opus1 with its own line items, status, and payment history. Combining affects the processor charge and receipt, not the invoice records themselves:

    Screenshot_2026-04-06_at_5.50.26_PM
  • On receipts: Families receive one email listing line items from every invoice in the batch, plus one combined total:

    Screenshot 2026-07-07 at 2.58.37 PM

  • In reporting: the Transactions Report will show each invoice in its own row. Rows that were a part of a combine charge show a layered icon with "This payment was combined." The CSV export includes "Is Combined," "Batch ID," and "Combined Amount" columns when combined payments are enabled:

    Screenshot 2026-07-07 at 9.33.47 PM
Impact on Reporting

When viewing invoice history or running reports, combined transactions appear as one line item. They are linked by a shared batch ID and combined-amount. Yearly statements and some financial exports may group batched invoices. 

Refunds

If you need to refund only one invoice within a combined batch, process the refund from that invoice's payment details. Refunds are handled per invoice/payment item, not as a single refund against the batch total. 

FAQs

Q: Does combined transactions affect how auto-pay works?
A: No. Auto-pay continues to function as expected. The only difference is that families with multiple subscriptions will see a single charge instead of multiple charges on their scheduled billing date.

Q: What happens if one of my subscriptions is on hold?
A: Subscriptions that are paused or on hold are not included in the combined transaction. Only active subscriptions with matching billing dates are grouped together. The held subscription will resume normal billing once reactivated.

Q: Do I need to enable this feature for my school?
A: Yes. Combined transactions are opt-in. Email support@opus1.io to request enablement. 

Q: Will this affect my existing invoices?
A: Already-completed payments will not be retroactively combined. Once the feature is enabled, open invoices that are eligible for auto-pay on the next run may be combined if they match the grouping criteria. 

Q: What if a family has children at different locations?
A: Invoices at different locations are not combined, even if they share the same payer and due date. Each location's invoices are charged separately. 

Q: What if a subscription uses split payment (primary and secondary payer)? 
A: Each payer is charged separately for their portion. Combined receipts are sent to the primary payer for their invoices only - the secondary payer does not receive a combined receipt that includes the primary payer's invoices. 

Q: Can families opt out of combined billing?
A: Combined billing is a system-level feature and cannot be disabled on a per-family basis. However, if a family prefers separate charges, you could adjust their billing dates so subscriptions process on different days.

Q: How do I see which subscriptions are included in a combined transaction?
A: Navigate to your Transactions Report and look for rows with the combined payment icon, or check the batch ID in a CSV report. You can also open each individual invoice to view its payment history and line items. 

Q: Are there reasons my school might not want to enable combined payments?
A: Combined payments is opt-in because it involves tradeoffs worth considering:

  • Payment failures: When a combined charge fails, none of the invoices in that batch are paid for that autopay run. Without combined payments, autopay attempts each invoice separately — so in some cases partial collection is possible when a payer’s card cannot cover the full total. Schools with a high rate of failed auto-pay may want to weigh this before enabling. Individual invoices can still be run manually by an administrator. 
  • Third-party or grant reporting: Each invoice remains separate inside Opus1 with full line-item detail, and combined receipt emails list every invoice. However, the processor charge appears as one transaction on the payer’s bank or card statement. If a scholarship, grant, or funder requires separate payment documentation per student or enrollment at the processor level, combined payments may not fit that workflow.

If neither applies to your school, combined payments is usually a strong fit — especially for families with multiple subscriptions billing on the same date.

Q: Is this available for Clover Connect?
A: No. Combined transactions are only available for Opus1 Payments. 

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