Flute Lesson Invoices for 5/26-6/30

Good afternoon!

Summer lessons are always a challenge for billing purposes, and since my husband and I are working together on this, and we are trying to take into account the many scenarios that come up with summer lessons with the system we are developing, it has taken us a little longer this month to get the invoices together. You will also see that the invoice for this month looks a little different.  Here's what you need to know:

• The May invoice only included lessons through 5/21.  If you received a lesson the following week, you will be charged for it on this invoice.
• We have included any payments we have received up through today so that you know where you stand at this time.  So if you paid ahead for June, that payment is included.
• Please double check for any mistakes on our part.  I have included the payment type to help you.
• CH is a personal check followed by the check number
• BP is a BillPay check followed by the last 4 digits of the check number. 
• PP is a PayPal payment followed by the date it was sent.
• V  is a Venmo payment followed by the date it was sent.

As we usually do, please follow any payment arrangements we already have in place.  And please send an email or text if you have any questions or find any errors.  If you have any questions about how to make payments, please read this post and then contact me if you have any more questions.

And, as always, thanks for letting my share my love of music and flute with your child!

Summer Lesson Scheduling and Billing information

Good evening!

I'm setting up my schedule for June and July lessons at this time, and in order for it all to work efficiently, I need to hear from you if you are interested in having your child take any lessons in that time frame.  I was hoping, as I'm sure you all were as well, that we might have the opportunity to meet in person at the schools if they opened up.  If that does happen, we will adjust accordingly, but for now we will continue video lessons as we have been.

I had a much stronger response for lessons last week than I anticipated, and I even heard from a few of you that had paused lessons when the stay-at-home orders took effect.  I can't tell you how happy I am to hear from those students!  This means that I will be keeping my schedule more open for the first couple of weeks until I know who is and isn't taking lessons for the summer.

My plan is to have full days teaching on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, using Thursdays for those that I can't fit in, and avoiding Mondays and Fridays except when there is just not another day that we can make work. I will try to keep the 12:30 - 1:30 hour free so I can have lunch with my family.

If possible, I would like for you to look at your schedule for at least June, July too if you can, and let me know what weeks you would like to have lessons, and what days and time-ranges will work for you.  It doesn't have to be the same day each week; you can switch it to accommodate your schedule as needed.  If your not sure of your plans and would prefer to schedule weekly, that will be fine too.  And, of your plans change, that's not a problem, just let me know.  The nice thing about doing online lessons is that, if you wanted to, we could even have lessons while you are out of town as long as you have a device and internet access where you are.

Once I hear from you, I will begin billing for lessons according to the schedule we set up with the information you provide.  If you took lessons last week, I will include those in the June invoice.  If you are unable to make a schedule and want to set up lessons week to week, your invoicing will happen a little differently, and I'll communicate that with you when I hear form you.

If you are stopping lessons for the summer, please know that I will miss you, and I hope you are safe, well, and happy!

I look forward to hearing form you.  And, as always, thanks for letting me share my love of flute and music with your child,

Flute lessons for May and Summer - and Venmo, maybe?

Hello Parents and Students!

It's hard to believe it already May!  And it's also hard to believe that we've been apart for so long.  Video lessons are not something that I ever expected to be doing, but I'm glad that we have this technology to keep us connected.  I know that the time I have spent with my students online has helped me through this difficult time, and I'm sure many of them feel the same way.

Before I discuss May's lesson schedule, I wanted to let everyone know that I am available for lessons over the summer.  My schedule will be fairly flexible, and I can accommodate your plans for vacations, etc.  We can have a set time every week, or we can just schedule a lesson whenever it's convenient for you.  I am going to try to keep my lessons to one or two days a week, but I will be glad to schedule on different days if that works best for you.  The nice thing about doing video lessons this summer is that we don't have to work around when the school buildings are open.  Please let me know if you plan on taking summer lessons, and I will be in touch to start setting that up later this month.

Right now, I plan to keep our current schedule through Thursday May 21 as that is the last day of school for most of you.  If you are currently taking lessons, and have already told me otherwise, your invoice for May will reflect that.  I WILL be available starting May 26 for lessons, but we will include those in the "Summer" category and will bill for those separately.

Good news for those that have been asking: we have signed up for Venmo and should be able to start accepting those payments in a few days.  The last time we checked (which was years ago) we were not able to sign up for Venmo with our bank.  Supposedly that restriction is no longer there, so we're giving it a shot.  I will still accept payments from all of the usual sources, of course.  If you have any questions about those, please check out my previous post about payments here.  If you would like to use Venmo going forward, please let me know, and I will give you the needed information as soon as we have confirmed that it is working.

I hope everyone is doing well, and that you are staying happy, safe, and well in the exciting transition back to normal.

And, as always, thank you for letting me share my love of music and flute with your child!

Lesson Scheduling Going Forward

Good Evening!

I apologize that there was some confusion about the schedule this week as we did not send out reminders and I had a few students that did not expect to have lessons today.  From this point forward, I expect that we will keep the same lesson times each week unless you need to change for some reason.  I am always willing to do what I can to accommodate your schedule, and I realize that during this time that things may change from week to week.  So, unless you need to change, your child's lesson will be at the same time we originally planned for last week.  If you need to change, please let me know as soon as you can.  If you are scheduling lessons on a week to week basis, that will continue as we have discussed.

Also, please make sure your child is set up and ready for their lesson a few minutes early.  Since I have shortened up the time between lessons, and the technical difficulties are becoming less of an issue, it is important that we start very close to on time so that I don't run late for my next lesson.  Still, if I am running a little late, please be patient.  I will initiate the meeting as soon as I am done with the previous lesson.

While we all miss meeting in person, I'm glad to have this chance to work with my students, and the video part of it is fun.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon.

And thanks for allowing me to share my love of flute and music with your child.

Lessons for the Week of 4/5

Good afternoon!

For this week, I will try to keep lessons at the same time that we had them this past week.  However, there were some technical challenges, and some last minute time changes, so not all of the lessons ended up where we planned.  That was expected, but I'm sure for some of you it was not the most convenient.  My apologies for that.

Please double check the schedule I have sent you to make sure that it works for you.  If you need a different time for any reason, please let me know as soon as you can and I will work it out.  Please remember: BE FLEXIBLE.  😊

Also, I have put up a newsletter on my website with information about how to pay for lessons for those who may have questions or running onto issues.
https://www.hudsonmusicstudio.com/2020/04/how-to-pay-for-lessons-in-remote.html

And, as always, thanks for letting me share my love of music and flute with your child.

How to Pay for Lessons in a Remote Learning Environment

Good afternoon!

Since I'm not getting to see your child in person for the time being, I know that this has caused some concern about how to pay for your lessons.  This post will contain the most pertinent and recent information, and details about PayPal payments of which you should be aware.  I will not, however, since this site is viewable to thee whole world, be giving any of my personal info that you may need to complete some of the payments.  I will provide that to you personally if you need it.

If you have already been able to send me payments without issue, then you probably don't need to read this, but if issues do come up, you may refer to this if needed.

Personal Checks

This is still our preferred method of accepting payments, but it will require you to send the check to me with your child to the lesson, or in the mail.  Just let me know if you would like to mail a check to me, and I will send you my mailing address.

Bill Pay from your bank

Most banks offer a BillPay service that will withdraw the amount form your checking account, print the check, and send it postage free.  Most of the time, all you need is to give them my name and mailing address, which I will provide to you.  Recently I was asked to give a phone number and email address, and for those you can use the number and address from which you receive notifications from me.  If they ask for bank names or routing numbers, I'm going to have to pass, though.  I hope you understand.

Venmo

I do accept Venmo now. See your invoice for my Venmo username.  Please be sure to include your child's full name on the payment info. 

Zelle

I do accept Zelle now.  See your invoice for my Zelle email address.  Please be sure to include your child's full name on the payment info. 

Don't Send Cash in the Mail

I'm sure that doesn't need explanation.  Just don't do it.  If you are sending cash with your child for me, please put it in an envelope with their name and the amount enclosed written on the outside.

More PayPal Information Than You Probably Want

Below is information that I have sent in the past to those that were using PayPal at the time.  It's long, but it explains clearly my reasons for accepting PayPal the way I do.  The important points for using PayPal are:

• You can avoid fees by using the "Friends and Family/Pay a Person" option
• Use your PayPal balance or a bank account to fund the transaction if you can
• Using a credit card always carries a fee
• Any fees that we incur on our end of the transaction will be charged to you on your next invoice
• Include your child's full name on the transaction

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good Evening!

If you have not and do not plan on ever sending payments through PayPal, you may disregard this message.

I want to say up front how much I appreciate all of you, and love teaching your children.  It's hard for me to send an email like this, so know that I'm not at all upset or even worried, but I do have some important requests to make.  I'll give the short version first, and then explain more after for those who need it.

1. When you send money for lessons through PayPal, please use the Friends and Family (Personal) option.

2. Please be sure to put your child's full name in the "Notes" section.

I know that some of you who are making PayPal payments have done this right every time so far.  But, I have had some that did it right for a while, and then did it incorrectly all of the sudden and vice versa.  So that is why I'm sending this to everyone.  If you don't need further explanation, feel free to stop reading now. =)

Number 2 is the easy one, so let me start with that: If you don't put your child's name in the notes, it can be very difficult for my husband (who is helping me with my billing this year) to credit the payment properly on our spreadsheet, especially if the email address that you are paying from is different than the email address or phone number to which we send your invoice, or if the parent's name is different from the child's.  I have a lot of students this year.  I'm sure you can imagine his confusion since he doesn't know your child like I do, and doesn't always communicate directly with you like I do.

Now to Number 1: When you send the payment using the "Pay a Bill" (Business) option, I get charged a fee, and don't receive the full amount.  The fee is small, and I don't worry about it at all, but since I didn't receive the full amount from you, I am putting that amount on your balance forward for the next month.  So, if you are wondering, "Why did you only credit $X amount when I paid $Y?" this is probably why.  If you pay that to me the next time, I really appreciate it.  If not, I'm not going to make a big deal about it, but it will remain on your invoices.  

I can see where this may be confusing, because, yes, I am sending you a bill, and technically I am in business.  However, unlike other businesses, I do not set the rate at which I am paid for teaching lessons.  The school district or school where your child attends sets the private lesson payment rate, and when I teach lessons, that is the amount I should receive.  I'm sure you agree that it's not right if I teach Sally a lesson and receive $20, but only receive $18.80 from Billy, even though Billy paid the same.

Also, I only offer PayPal a payment option for your convenience in a world where electronic payments are the norm. Our bank is not compatible with Venmo Zelle or many of the other common payments services, so PayPal is our only real option do accommodate this.  It's not a choice that we are completely comfortable with as we have had some unfavorable experiences with PayPal in the past, and we did not do any business through PayPal for several years as a result.  We're not at a point of making any similar decisions right now, but I hope you can understand my reasoning.

If you have any questions or concerns about this at all, please email me back.  Either my husband or I will gladly answer.  We want you to feel comfortable with using PayPal for lesson payments just as much as we want to as well.

I apologize for the very long email.  I hope that it was helpful.

-Lynne and Paul

Flute Lesson Info for April

Good Evening!

Whew!  What an eventful 3 weeks!  I have enjoyed getting to work with so many students through video conferencing.  It's been an interesting learning experience to say the least.

You should have received, along with this notice, your invoice for April.  Right now, I'm planning on keeping the same schedule throughout the month, and keeping everyone on the same days and times as much as possible.  I'm certain that there will be changes along the way, so I really appreciate your continued flexibility.

Finances and Economics-

I know that for some families the current crisis has caused some financial hardship, and I want all of you to know that I completely understand.  It is more important to me that I keep your child in lessons than it is that I get paid right away.  I have always made it my policy to be flexible, both with my schedule, and with payment arrangements with my students. I can make any sort of arrangements with you to help: every-other week lessons, schedule week-to-week lessons as your finances allow, make another arrangement based upon your circumstances.  If you are in such a circumstance, please let me know right away.  I will teach your child as long as I know that we have agreed to a payment arrangement.

Payments-

Since I am not coming to the schools and seeing your child in person, it has caused some issues for those who like to pay with a personal check.  You may pay me by one of these methods:

• Personal Check sent by mail

• BillPay check sent to me by your bank

• PayPal to my flauta email address.  If you use PayPal, please be sure to use the Friends-and-Family option so I do not get charged a fee on my end. I will carry over any charges I receive to your next invoice.

• Let me know if you need any of my information to use one of these services.

• Sorry, my bank is not compatible with other quick-pay apps (like Zelle or Venmo.) I don't know why that is, and, sorry, I'm not going to change banks at this time. 

I look forward to seeing everyone in video lessons!

And, as always, thanks for letting me share my love of music and flute with your child!