School fees, answered.
We built SchoolPurse in 2026 after watching Zimbabwean schools lose money to cash receipt books and untracked arrears. This page answers the questions school heads and bursars ask us most — and the questions people search for when they want to move school fees off paper.
By the SchoolPurse team · Founder: Kudzai Moyo · Last updated June 2026
The short version
- SchoolPurse is school fee management software for African schools — web and Android.
- It invoices term fees, records payments (cash, bank transfer, mobile money), issues numbered receipts, and tracks arrears in real time.
- Pricing starts at 35 USD per month for up to 50 students (Starter); 50 USD per month for up to 250 students (Pro). The AI tier is custom-priced for unlimited students.
- Each school's data is isolated with row-level security; access is role-based for heads, bursars and teachers.
How do schools in Zimbabwe manage student fees?
Many schools still track fees on paper or in a spreadsheet, writing cash payments into a receipt book. SchoolPurse replaces that with a digital system: it invoices each student for the term's fee items, records every payment by cash, bank transfer or mobile money, issues a numbered receipt, and shows exactly who still owes. The bursar always sees the school's true cash position instead of reconciling a notebook at the end of term.
What is the best software to track school fees in Africa?
The right tool depends on school size and budget, but most options are built for Western schools and assume card payments and online portals. SchoolPurse is purpose-built for African schools: it supports USD, mobile-money methods like EcoCash and OneMoney, term-based fee structures, and runs on low-end Android phones and any browser. Plans start at 35 USD per month for up to 50 students.
How can a school generate fee receipts automatically?
In SchoolPurse, recording a payment automatically creates a sequential, school-branded receipt — for example TSJS-2026-000412 — that can be printed or emailed to the parent. The student's outstanding balance updates instantly, so there is no separate step to issue a receipt or recalculate what is owed.
How do schools know which parents have not paid fees?
SchoolPurse has an Arrears view that lists every student with an outstanding balance, largest first, with their class and the amount owed. The dashboard also shows the term's overall fee-collection rate, so a head can see at a glance how much of the term's fees have actually come in.
Does SchoolPurse support mobile money like EcoCash?
Yes. SchoolPurse is a tracking tool, not a payment gateway, so parents keep paying the way they already do — cash at the office, bank transfer, or mobile money such as EcoCash, OneMoney or InnBucks. You record which method was used, and the receipt and ledger reflect how the parent actually paid.
How much does SchoolPurse cost?
SchoolPurse Starter is 35 USD per month for up to 50 students, and Pro is 50 USD per month for up to 250 students. The AI tier — unlimited students, plus the AI finance assistant and automated WhatsApp fee reminders — is custom-priced. Billing is monthly, and there is no setup fee.
Is SchoolPurse secure for school financial data?
Yes. SchoolPurse runs over HTTPS and gives every school its own isolated workspace using database row-level security, so one school can never see another's data. Access is role-based: a bursar sees finance but not settings, and a teacher sees only students — never the school's payment records.
How do I set up my school on SchoolPurse?
After signing up you add your school's name and branding, turn on your school levels (which automatically creates your class list), add your fee items, then import students and generate the term's invoices. Most schools are fully set up in under 30 minutes.