Overview

The Multiple Discounts feature in the d6 School Management Finance portal allows schools to apply multiple discounts to a learner on the same payment option. This is ideal for schools with more complex fee structures, such as those that combine sibling discounts and staff discounts.

This guide explains how the feature works, how to set it up, and what to keep in mind when using multiple discounts.

What You Can Do with Multiple Discounts

• Apply more than one discount to a learner

• Combine percentage-based and fixed amount discounts

• Automatically assign discounts for common cases (e.g. siblings)

• Keep billing accurate across financial years

How Multiple Discounts Work 

1. Discounts are created once and managed centrally.

2. Discounts are linked to specific payment options (e.g. School Fees).

3. Learners are linked to one or more of those discounts.

4. All linked discounts are combined into a single total discount on the learner's monthly billing.

Step 1: Create and Manage Discounts

Navigation
Go to Finances > Debtors > Payment Options > Manage Discounts

Create a Discount

When adding a discount, complete the following:

• Discount Name – For example: Sibling Discount or Staff Discount

• Statement Description – This is what parents will see on statements

• Discount Type:

• Percentage, or

• Amount (fixed value)
  

• Default Discount Account – The General Ledger account where the discount is recorded

A discount must be linked to a GL account before it can be used.

Existing ("Old") Discounts

• Schools previously using the single-discount setup will see an “Old” discount.

• This discount cannot be deleted, as it is required for historical billing records.

Step 2: Enable Multiple Discounts on a Payment Option

When creating or editing a payment option (for example, School Fees):

1. Locate the sentence indicating:
   “Link discount separately to learners?”

2. Select Yes.

This enables multiple discounts for that payment option.

Step 3: Select Which Discounts Apply to the Payment Option

• A selection box will appear showing all available discounts.

• Move the relevant discounts to the selected list.

• Only selected discounts can be linked to learners for this payment option.

Step 4: Link Discounts to Learners

Bulk Linking (Recommended)

Bulk linking is ideal for structured rules such as sibling discounts.

Examples include:

• 2nd learner in school

• 3rd+ learners

This saves time and ensures consistency.

Manual Linking

Manual linking is used for specific cases, such as:

• Staff member discounts

Administrators manually select the learners who qualify and assign the discount.

 Staff-linked learners are not identified automatically and must be managed manually.

How Discounts Appear on Billing

• All discounts linked to a learner for a payment option are added together.

• The total discount is shown on the learner’s monthly billing.

Example

A learner qualifies for:

• 50% Staff Discount

• 15% Sibling Discount

Both discounts are applied, and the combined discount is reflected on the invoice.

Important Things to Know

Changing a Discount Value

• If you update a discount’s percentage or amount, the change does not automatically apply to learners already linked.

• Existing learner links retain the original value.

Tip: To link learners to an updated percentage or amount, please contact the School Management Support team via email and ask them to unlink all learners. Once this is done, you can re-link and it would update the percentage or amount. 

Deleting Discounts

• A discount cannot be deleted if it is linked to:

• A learner, or

• A payment option

This helps protect your financial records.

Year-End and Special Scenarios

New Financial Year

• Discount setups carry over into the new year.

• Any changes to discount values must be updated manually.

Staff Discounts

• The system does not automatically detect staff members’ children.

• Schools should review and update staff-linked learners annually.

Best Practice Tips

• Finalise discount values before linking learners

• Use bulk linking wherever possible

• Review discounts at year-end or before invoicing starts

• Test billing on one learner before applying discounts at scale

Troubleshooting & FAQs

1. My discount changes are not reflecting on existing learners

Why this happens: Discount values (amount or percentage) are stored when the learner is linked.

How to fix it:

• Review the learners linked to the discount

• Re-link the discount where necessary (Remember to ask the School Management Support team to do a bulk unlinking of learners, to enable you to do the relinking)

• Always test on one learner before applying changes broadly

2. I can't delete a discount

Why this happens: The discount is still linked to a learner or a payment option.

How to fix it:

• Remove the discount from all learners (Remember to ask the School Management Support team to do a bulk unlinking of learners, to enable you to do the relinking)

• Remove it from all payment options

• Once fully unlinked, the discount can be deleted

3. A learner should have multiple discounts, but only one is showing

Possible causes:

• The payment option is not set to “Link discount separately to learners”

• Not all required discounts were selected on the payment option

What to check:

• Edit the payment option

• Confirm multiple discount linking is enabled

• Ensure all relevant discounts are selected

4. Staff discounts are not being applied automatically

Why this happens: The system does not automatically identify staff-linked learners.

How to manage this:

• Manually select the learners who qualify for staff discounts

• Review staff-linked learners annually or when staff changes occur

5. Discounts look correct, but billing totals seem off

Recommended steps:

• Open the learner's Billing screen

• Confirm all discounts listed are expected

• Check whether discounts are percentage-based or fixed amounts

• Verify the total discount reflects the combined value

6. What happens to discounts at year-end?

• Discount configurations carry over into the new financial year

• Any value changes must be updated manually

• Existing learner links will keep their original values unless re-linked

If you need help setting up multiple discounts or have a complex scenario, please contact our School Management Support team.