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How do I increase prices at my school?

A tuition increase is a who pays the new rate decision. Update the payment plan on the service so the next family to enroll is quoted the new amount. Update subscriptions if current families should pay it too. Plan edits never move people who are already enrolled — that is grandfathering, and it is deliberate.

Last updated: September 14, 2026
Applies to: Owner / Manager (payment plans); Owner / Manager / Staff (subscriptions) PLUS Feature: No
Plan: All

Table of Contents

  1. Why you'd change prices this way
  2. If you're still deciding whether to raise prices
  3. Who can increase prices
  4. Before you start
  5. Pick the right door
  6. New enrollments: raise the payment plan
  7. Current families: raise their subscriptions
  8. One family
  9. What happens to invoices
  10. What these doors do not do
  11. FAQ
  12. Related Articles

Why you'd change prices

Fall is the usual moment for a tuition increase: new school year, new rate sheet, families already on the books and families not enrolled yet.

Opus1 keeps those two groups on two records so you can treat them differently.

Record What it is Who it bills
Payment plan on the service The template at checkout The next enrollment — self-booking, a trial conversion, a sibling you add in September
Subscription on the student A copy of that plan, taken at enrollment This family, until you change it

That split is the point. You can raise what the website quotes without touching loyal families. You can raise everyone. You can raise 60-minute lessons and leave 30-minute where they are.

The mistake this article exists to prevent: editing the plan, seeing the new number on the service, and assuming October invoices for current students will follow. They will not. See Will the price of my clients' subscriptions increase if I update the price of my services' payment plans?.

If you're still deciding whether to raise prices

This page is how to make the change in Opus1 once you have a rate sheet. If you are still deciding whether to raise prices, and how to talk to families about it, watch this first.

We’ve partnered with music school expert and entrepreneur David Martin on How to Raise Your Music School Prices (Without Losing Students).

When you are ready to change the numbers, pick a door below.

Who can increase prices

Payment plans live on the service. Subscriptions live on the student. Those are different permissions.

Persona Edit payment plans on a service Batch update payment plans Change one subscription Batch update subscriptions
Owner Yes Yes Yes Yes
Manager Yes Yes Yes Yes
Staff No No Yes Yes
Limited Staff No No No No

A fall increase that covers new and current students is an Owner or Manager job for the plan door, then Staff can help on subscriptions if you want the front desk in that pass.

Before you start

Decide the policy before you open batch update. The software will do whichever door you walk through. It will not infer “raise everyone in September.”

Write down:

  1. The new rates, by offering — 30 / 45 / 60-minute private lessons, group classes at the same price point, rentals, membership dues.
  2. Who pays them. New enrollments only, current families too, or a mix (for example new rate for 60-minute, grandfather 30-minute).
  3. When current families should see it. Open invoices can recalculate when you change a subscription. Closed invoices stay as they were when paid. If October is already billed and paid, the new rate shows on the next invoice you generate — see What happens to invoices below.
  4. Flat vs variable. Flat monthly plans have two money fields. If you change only the monthly amount, holds and partial months can still use the old per-visit rate.

You do not need a scheduled “price change date” in Opus1. There is not one. You run the update when you want the new number to apply.

Pick the right door

You want… Walk through Why that door
Self-booking and front-desk enrollments to quote the new amount Payment plans Checkout reads the plan. Current families are not on that template anymore.
Families already taking lessons to pay the new amount Subscriptions That is the record that writes invoices.
Both — a true school-wide increase Plans first, then subscriptions New people get the new quote. Current people get the new bill. Same numbers on both doors, or they drift.
One family who is an exception That subscription Do not batch a special case into a 200-row update.
A loyal-student grandfather, new families at the new rate Plans only Leave subscriptions alone. That is the design.

Do the plan door first whenever current families are in scope. If you raise subscriptions and forget the plan, the next self-booking still enrolls at last year's price.

New enrollments: raise the payment plan

Why this door: this is what the next family sees. Self-booking, a September trial that converts, a sibling you enroll at the desk. If the plan still says $140, Opus1 will keep selling $140.

Where: Settings → Services

Work in groups that share a price, not one service at a time unless you only have a handful.

Typical groups:

  • 30-minute private lessons
  • 45-minute private lessons
  • 60-minute private lessons
  • Group classes that bill the same amount
How to do it
  1. Filter the service list to one group — by name (for example 30) or by service tag (for example private lesson + guitar). Only services of the same type can be batched together (appointments with appointments, sessions with sessions).
  2. Optionally check individual rows in list view if the tag is broader than the group you meant.
  3. Click Batch Update.
  4. Under Attribute(s) to batch update, choose Payment plans.
  5. Under Payment plan settings to batch update, choose How much should be charged?
  6. Use Price update patterns: From the current amount, To the new amount. Add another From/To row if that group has more than one current price (for example $140 and $145 both becoming $155).
  7. Optional: Payment plan name filter if the service has several plans and only the monthly membership should move.
  8. Confirm the preview of what will change, then Batch Update.

Flat-rate monthly plans: also batch How much should be charged per visit for partial months? to the new per-lesson equivalent. New enrollments that start mid-month, and later holds, use that field. Leaving it at last year's per-visit amount undercharges those windows.

One service, not a group: open it with Update, go to the Payment tab, edit the plan, change How much should be charged?, save the plan, then Update Service.

Click-by-click for the batch modal, including attributes that are not price, is in How do I update multiple services at the same time?. Payment-plan batching is the Payment plans attribute on that same modal.

After this door: new enrollments quote the new rate. Current subscriptions are unchanged. That is correct.

Current families: raise their subscriptions

Why this door: invoices come from the subscription, not from later edits to the plan. If current families should pay the new rate, you have to change their copy.

Where: Reporting → Subscriptions

Batch update sets one new amount on every subscription currently displayed. It does not map From $140 To $155 the way payment plans do. If $140 and $160 rows are both on the screen and you enter $155, both become $155.

That is why you filter tightly, click Load Everything, and work highest price to lowest:

  • 60-minute lessons at the current 60-minute rate
  • then 45-minute
  • then 30-minute
  • then group classes at a shared price point

Highest first keeps a $160 row from sitting in a $140 batch.

How to do it
  1. Go to Reporting → Subscriptions.
  2. Filter to one group. Useful filters for a price increase: status (Active — and Pending if you have enrollments that have not started), payment plan name, base price (the amount before discounts), location.
  3. Click Load Everything. If you skip this, only the first page (100 subscriptions) is updated. The rest stay on the old rate.
  4. Spot-check the list. Export CSV if you want a before-picture.
  5. Click Batch Update.
  6. Choose How much should be charged? Enter the new amount.
  7. For flat-rate subscriptions, also choose How much should be charged per visit for partial months? and enter the new per-visit amount. Holds that return mid-month, and other partial-month math, use this field. If you skip it, the monthly rate goes up and the hold window can still bill last year's lesson price.
  8. Confirm. Batch update is not reversible. Only Active and Pending subscriptions in the list are updated. Ended and on-hold rows are skipped.

Recurring discounts on a subscription stay. You are changing the base price; a 10% sibling or scholarship discount still applies to the new base. See How do I add a recurring discount to a subscription?.

Full attribute list, warnings, and the video walkthrough: How do I batch update my clients' subscriptions?. Filters: Reporting: Subscriptions.

After this door: those families' subscriptions show the new amount. Open invoices that can be recalculated will be. The payment plan on the service is still whatever you left it. If you skipped the plan door, the next new enrollment is still last year's price.

One family

Why this door: a single exception — a teacher’s child, a family you promised last year's rate, someone who should move early. Do not put them in the school-wide batch.

Where: the client's profile → Subscriptions

  1. Click Update on that subscription.
  2. In the plan section, change How much should be charged?
  3. For flat rate, change How much should be charged per visit for partial months? as well.
  4. Update at the bottom of the subscription.

Open invoices for that subscription recalculate when they can. Same rule as batch.

What happens to invoices

Changing a payment plan does not rewrite invoices. Those families were never going to bill from that template again.

Changing a subscription (one person or batch):

Invoice What happens
Open (not yet paid, or not fully paid) Recalculated to the new subscription amount when Opus1 can do it
Closed (already paid) Unchanged. You do not rewrite history
Not created yet The next invoice is generated from the new subscription amount

There is no separate “generate invoices for the new rate” step. The subscription writes the next invoice when the cycle advances — usually when the current invoice is paid. See How are invoices generated from subscriptions?.

If September is already paid and you raise prices on September 15, families see the new amount on October's invoice, not as a surprise rewrite of September.

What these doors do not do

  • Move current families when you only edit the plan. That is grandfathering. Use the subscription door if that was not the intent.
  • Schedule a raise for September 1. You run the update when you want the new number. There is no future-dated price.
  • Map From/To on subscriptions. Payment-plan batching can say “$140 becomes $155.” Subscription batching sets one new amount for everyone on the screen. Filter first.
  • Update ended or on-hold subscriptions in a batch. Only Active and Pending.
  • Clear discounts. Base price changes; recurring discounts remain.
  • Rewrite paid invoices.
  • Change teacher pay. Staff rates are a different setting. This article is what families are charged.
  • Replace a prepaid pack that was already sold. A one-time pack that already charged is not an ongoing subscription. Updating the plan changes the next pack you sell.

FAQ

I updated the service. Why are current families still at the old rate? The plan is a template for new enrollments. Current billing is the subscription. Walk the Current families: raise their subscriptions door below, or see Will the price of my clients' subscriptions increase if I update the price of my services' payment plans?.

Should I grandfather current students at their old tuition? That is a school policy, not a software setting. To grandfather: update payment plans only. To raise everyone: plans, then subscriptions.

Why did only some subscriptions change? Usually Load Everything was not clicked, so only the first 100 updated. Or the list mixed statuses — ended and on-hold are skipped.

Do I have to change the per-visit field on a flat-rate plan? If you use visit-based first-month proration or subscription holds, yes. That field is the partial-month rate. Raise the monthly amount and leave per-visit alone, and holds can still bill last year's lesson price.

Does the family get an automatic “your rate is going up” email? Not from this update. Tell them how you usually tell them — email, terms, a front-desk conversation. David Martin’s How to Raise Your Music School Prices (Without Losing Students) covers how to say it. If you are also rewriting terms, that is a different pair of batch updates: How do I update terms and conditions and prompt clients to re-accept?.

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