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Presenting MuBuS and the ppp service to your Students
Q: How do I present MuBuS and the ppp service to my students?
A: MuBuS recommends you follow the three 'Be's in presenting the ppp service
to your students. Namely: Be Confident, Be Positive, and Be Brief.
1. Be Confident. MuBuS will improve the professionalism of your studio and accordingly
will improve the effectiveness of your teaching. The introduction letter that MuBuS
sends you to give to your students will be enough information for most students
and parents. Your conviction to run your studio in the most professional manner
and confidence that MuBuS will positively affect all members of your studio will
set an appropriately firm tone, and in turn will inspire your students.
2. Be Positive. The application fee for all MuBuS events and services are included
in the student fee, in the same way professional teachers include many activities
in their tuition rate Emphasize the aspects of MuBuS that your students will appreciate:
ease and convenience (no more payments to remember, one less check to write), studio
calendar and policy information online, student competitions and performance opportunities,
frequent flyer miles...
3. Be Brief. Take as little lesson time as possible talking about MuBuS. If your
students have questions after reading the letter refer them to the website or have
them call or email us. Remember, running a professional and effective private studio
is not a democracy. Students will be excited about the change to using MuBuS if
you are firm in your leadership role as their teacher and are excited about the
change yourself.
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Receiving Payment
Q: How will I receive payment?
A: Teachers are paid via direct deposit into the account of their choice.
Payments are distributed on the 15th of each month. Teachers receive the monthly
payout amount they enter.
Q: When will I start receiving payments?
A: MuBuS will begin to collect from your students on the first day of
the month following their registration. Payments are distributed to teachers on
the 15th of each month.
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Q:How do I begin using MuBuS when my current semester ends in the
middle of the MuBuS quarter and my students have already paid me for the current
semester?
A: You have two options:
- You may enter a credit to cover lessons your students have already paid for so they
won’t be double billed. For example: My semester runs from January thru April.
I want to start using MuBuS in March. My old semester fee is $800 (4 months), the
MuBuS quarterly fee is $600 (three months). Because my students had already paid
thru April (1 overlapping month) I issued each student a credit for $200. As a result
their first bill from MuBuS will be for $400 instead of $600 and will cover lessons
thru May.
- You may complete your current semester and start using MuBuS in the middle of the
next MuBuS quarter. MuBuS automatically pro-rates the first bill when a student
begins using MuBuS in the middle of a quarter.
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Q: What information about my account with MuBuS is available
online?
A: Online you may view pending charges and credits, payment history,
and your expected monthly disbursement in the ‘Teacher Account’ section
of ppp.
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Q: Will I ever receive a paper statement from MuBuS?
A: No. But you will recieve the pertinant tax information such as a 1099
or W2 that you will need for filing your tax return.
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Collecting Payment from Students
Q: What if my student doesn’t pay MuBuS?
A: If MuBuS is unable to collect from a student we will give both the teacher
and the student notification via email and/or telephone call that payment has not
been made. The student then has 10 days to complete payment. If the student fails
to rectify his account the teacher and the student will be notified via email and
the student will be dropped from the service.
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Q: Can I use ppp for competition and festival fees?
A: Yes. ppp gives teachers the option of entering miscellaneous fees
and credits. The student will be charged on the 1st day of the month following submission.
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Q: Can I use ppp to charge my students for materials that I
buy for them?
A: Absolutely. ppp gives teachers the option of entering miscellaneous
fees and credits. The student will be charged on the 1st day of the month following
submission.
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Q: I like to give family discounts. How do I do this using
ppp?
A: Giving family discounts, scholarships or any other sort of price break
is easy with ppp. ppp allows teachers to enter miscellaneous fees and credits along
with a description. The credit will show up on the student’s next billing cycle.
If the discount is recurring, as in the case of a scholarship, enter the scholarship
(custom) rate in the Rates section of ppp and assign the rate to the applicable
student. You can choose to show special rates on your policy or keep them private.
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Setup
Q: What information do I need to register with MuBuS?
A: To register you need your personal information (address, phone number,
email) and the routing and account numbers for the account in which you will be
receiving payment. To begin using MuBuS, you will need to enter the name, address,
phone number, and email address (optional) for each of your students.
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Q: How long will it take to set up my studio to use ppp?
A: Setup is designed to be simple and quick. It takes about a minute
or two per student (depending on how fast you type!), and 5-10 minutes to enter
your policy information and tuition rates.
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Q: In the policy template, what does 'Student
Development' mean?
A: Student development includes activities such as choosing repertoire, researching
competitions, or other out-of-class time spent on behalf of the student.
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How MuBuS and ppp Work
Q: How will I know when my student has registered?
A: You can check your students’ registration status online in real
time. Students that have not registered will have an asterik by their name in your
student roster. MuBuS recommends that you check your student's registration status
often until all students have registered with MuBuS.
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Q: Why does MuBuS bill by the quarter?
A: MuBuS is committed to serving the music teacher. This entails following
industry trends and practices. It is becoming common practice among private teachers
to bill for periods of time longer than a lesson or month. Teachers are doing this
for a number of reasons:
- Increased student commitment
- Steady income
- More accurately reflects what the teacher is offering. A teacher’s time is
spent in numerous areas outside of a student’s lesson time: phone calls, research,
driving to music stores, practicing, writing up policies and recital programs, etc
etc. The way you bill should reflect this.
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Supports another common practice among music teachers: no make-ups for student cancellations.
If students pay quarterly they are more inclined to stop counting the number of
lessons they receive and realize they are paying for a membership in a learning
environment with a weekly time slot set aside specifically for them rather than
a set number of lessons.
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Q: How long is a quarter?
A: A quarter is three months long.
Fall quarter: September-November
Winter quarter: December-February
Spring quarter: March-May
Summer quarter: June-August
If you are currently running on a semester or yearly system, you can keep your system
as is. The way MuBuS bills will not affect your current system
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Q: What if I don’t teach for two months in the summer?
Will my students continue to be billed?
A: MuBuS will only bill your students according to what information you
enter. If you plan on taking time off or miss lessons for any reason that you would
rather not get paid for instead of making up, simply submit a credit and amount
in the ‘fees and credits’ section of ppp. A credit will then be issued
to the student accordingly. You may also choose to enter a summer tuition rate that
is different than your regular tuition rate to use during the summer quarter (June-August).
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Q: What if a student drops from the studio?
A: When a student drops from the studio it is their responsibility to cancel
their service with us. Teachers may also remove their student's by removing students
from their roster. Student's are billed through the end of the month in which the
cancellation is received. Teacher's will receive email notification upon student
cancellation. Upon removal from a teacher, student's will receive written and email
notification that they have been removed from the studio.
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Q: What if my student doesn’t agree with a service for
which they have been charged?
A: If a student is charged for something or for an amount that they don’t
understand or agree with, the student may submit a grievance to MuBuS through our
Process Integrity Program (pip). Upon receipt of the grievance MuBuS will notify
the teacher via email and phone. If the grievance pertains to something other than
a data entry error, MuBuS will credit the student the amount in question. Three
grievances from a student will result in a termination of services with MuBuS. Grievances
against a teacher over three within an 18 month period, will result in a $25 fee
to the teacher per grievance.
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Q: Can I use ppp for just a few students to try it out before
I switch my whole studio over?
A: You may register as many or as few students as you would like. It’s
entirely up to you.
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Cost
Q: How much does it cost for teachers to use the ppp service?
A: The fee for using ppp is only $2 per month. This fee is withheld monthly
from your payment distribution so you won’t ever need to send in a payment.
And remember, the fee is completely tax deductible!
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Q: Why is the amount listed in
the rate table different than the Monthly Payout amount I entered?
A: The amount shown is the quarterly amount your students will pay. It includes
tuition for three months and the MuBuS student side membership fee which is 4% of
the Monthly Payout amount you enter. You will be paid the Monthly Payout amount
you entered each and every month regardless of how your student chooses to pay.
Your students have the option of paying once a quarter or once a month.
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Billing
Q: How will I be billed for lessons?
A: You have three billing options: credit or debit card and direct debit.
All are recurring charges. This means once you set up your account you never have
to worry about it again!
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Q: Can I view my billing statement online?
A: Yes. Students may view in real time the description and amount of
each upcoming charge, the date and amount of pending charges and credits, and their
payment history.
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Q: How are credits applied?
A: Credits are applied to your MuBuS account. The credit be applied on
the next billing cycle. For example, if you pay by quarter you will receive the
credit at the beginning of the next quarter when you are billed again.
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Q: How do I set up my account with MuBuS?
A: Once your teacher has submitted your name and address to MuBuS you
will receive your first bill and an informative letter from your teacher within
5-7 business days. This bill will contain all the information you need to set up
your account (username, password, etc). Simply go online and sign in. Once you have
signed in you can change your username and password to whatever you would like as
well as take advantages of the services MuBuS has to offer!
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Q: Do I have to enter my billing information online?
A: Students may use the ppp service without ever going online. Just return
your billing information with your first bill.
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Q: How do I cancel my account with MuBuS?
A: Sign in. Click on ‘Personal Info’. At the bottom of the
page you will see the option to remove yourself from the MuBuS service. This will
also send an email notification to your teacher that you are unsubscribing from
the service. You may also submit your cancellation request to MuBuS in writing (through
the mail).
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Q: What if I am charged for something I don’t agree with?
A: The Process Integrity Program ensures that
misunderstandings and errors are cleared up with a minimum of hassle. A student
can submit a grievance to MuBuS through its Process Integrity Program. This results
in a credit to the student account. Keep in mind that three student grievances with
a particular teacher in an 18 month period results in a termination of services
with MuBuS. MuBuS can not support a business relationship in which a teacher and
student consistently fail to be in agreement on the teacher’s fee structure/practices.
You will be able to use ppp with your next teacher.
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Studio changes and events
Q: What if I change teachers but still have a credit with MuBuS?
A: You may use your MuBuS credit with your next music teacher, or you
may request a chargeback onto your credit or debit card.
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Q: What if I switch teachers and I want my new teacher to use
MuBuS?
A: Tell them about us! Have them visit our website. Any teacher interested
in running a professional studio will be thrilled at the opportunity to out-source
essential business processes. Teachers who just love teaching will appreciate not
having to deal with business hassles. Your new teacher will love to learn about
MuBuS.
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Q: Can I view the events of my studio online?
A: Absolutely. One of the services MuBuS offers is online calendaring.
You will have access to your studio’s calendar upon login.
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Cost
Q: How much does it cost to use the ppp service?
A: MuBuS bills each quarter according to your teacher’s rates. If
you choose to pay in monthly installments, a service fee of 1% of tuition is added.
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