Can I use Blackbaud Tuition Management as a Subledger?

The short answer: yes.

To provide more context, Blackbaud Tuition Management^TM supports an accrual accounting process by serving as a subsidiary account receivable ledger where the school's billing and payment data is stored. The school can run various reports (outlined below) to see what their cash and billing data looks like on a monthly basis.  

At each fiscal period's month-end closing, entries are made using the deferred revenue schedule and cash receipts journal. An AR (Accounts Receivable) Balance Report is then used to reconcile the accounts receivable balance in Blackbaud Tuition Management to the accounts receivable balance in the school’s general ledger control account.

Detailed billing data is obtained using the AR Billing Report, and detailed remittance data via the Remittance Report. Lastly, an In-School Payment Report is used to reconcile payments collected at the school and then subsequently posted into Blackbaud Tuition Management.

The following is an overview of each accrual report and its functionality within the system. 

Deferred Revenue Schedule

This customized schedule captures incremental billing data from each fiscal year period and is the basis for a billing entry made to respective balance sheet accounts. From the incremental billing activity, a revenue recognition entry is then calculated pursuant to the parameters dictated by the school.  

For example, tuition revenue is recognized on a ten-month period from September to June. 

The schedule also calculates the remaining amount of unearned revenue that will reconcile to the liability account(s) on the school’s balance sheet. 

Cash Receipts Journal

This journal lists all remittances made by Blackbaud Tuition Management to the school. It lists each remittance date and the corresponding accrual-based journal entry. The journal also reconciles the total accounts receivable credits made with each cash receipts entry to the total paid (settled) amount on the AR Balance Report. 

AR Balance Report

The AR Balance Report lists the annual accounts receivable balance on a family or student level. The main purpose of the report is to reconcile the accounts receivable balance per Tuition Management to the accounts receivable balance per the school’s general ledger. It's important that the proper as-of date is utilized when running the report, keeping in mind that the system designates the end of a day at 12:01 am of the following day. 

For example, to run an AR Balance Report to tie back to a general ledger account as of 6/30, you would enter an as-of date of 7/1. This is because the end of 6/30 in the system is defined as 7/1 at 12:01am. 

AR Billing Report

The AR Billing Report gives an incremental breakdown on a summary or detailed basis of all billing adjustments made during the inputted period. A user enters a starting and ending date, and the same methodology used when entering the as-of date on the AR Balance Report applies. 

For example, to see incremental billing activity during the month of August a user would enter a starting date of 8/1 and a closing date of 9/1. 

The AR Billing Report serves as the source data for the incremental billing activity section of the deferred revenue schedule. 

Remittance Report

The Remittance Report gives a detailed family or student breakout of each remittance that is transferred by Blackbaud Tuition Management to a school’s bank account. This can be run for one specific date or a range of dates. The data contained in the report serves as the source data for the Cash Receipts Journal. 

In-school Payment Report

The in-school payment report is run via the Payments Center dashboard in Blackbaud Tuition Management. It will list payments that were collected at the school and then subsequently posted in our tuition management system. These should be reconciled each month to the payments posted in the school’s general ledger. 

Visit our Blackbaud Tuition Management resource hub to learn more.