Getting started with the School module in ChecKmate

The School module helps a basic school, prep school or training centre keep its records in one place. You can enrol students, set up classes, take daily attendance, track fees, enter grades and print report cards. Parents can also get their own link to check on their child.

Before you start

• The School Management module is part of the Enterprise plan. If the tile shows a lock, you will be asked to upgrade before it opens.
• On your Dashboard, find the Property & Services section. It starts folded up, so tap the heading to open it, or type in the Dashboard search box.
• Tap the School Management tile. If you can't see it, ask the business owner to give you access.

When the module opens, choose your campus under Select Campus. Across the top you will see these tabs: Dashboard, Students, Classes & Structure, Attendance, Timetable, Fees, Gradebook and Report Cards.

Step 1: Set up your school structure

Do this first. Classes need grade levels and an academic year before you can create them.

1. Open Classes & Structure.
2. Under Grade Levels, tap Add Grade and add each level, for example Grade 1 or Form 1. Use Display Order to keep them in order.
3. Under Academic Years, tap Add Year. Give it a name like 2025-2026 and a start and end date. Then tap Set as Current on the year you are in now.
4. Under Terms, tap Add Term, pick the year and set the dates.
5. Under Subjects, tap Add Subject. A Code like MATH101 is optional.
6. Under Teachers, tap Add Teacher and enter their name, contact details and Specialization.
7. Finally, under Classes, tap Add Class. Enter a Class Name (for example 3A), pick the Grade Level and Academic Year, and set a Capacity if you like.

Step 2: Enrol your students

1. Open Students and tap Enroll Student.
2. Enter the First Name and Last Name. These are the only required fields.
3. Add the Date of Birth, Gender and Class.
4. Pick a Parent/Guardian. If they are new, tap the small add-person button beside the list. Fill in their name, phone, email and Relationship (Parent, Guardian or Sponsor), then tap Add Parent.
5. Add the Emergency Contact, Emergency Phone, Address and any Medical Notes.
6. Tap Enroll Student.

The student list shows each student's ID, class, parent and status. You can search by name or ID and filter by Active, Suspended, Graduated or Withdrawn. To change a student's details, class or status, tap Edit on their row, then Save Changes.

Step 3: Take daily attendance

1. Open Attendance.
2. Pick the Class and the Date.
3. Tap Load / Reset. If the register was already taken that day, ChecKmate loads it. If not, everyone starts as present.
4. For each student, tap present, absent, late or excused. Add a note if you need to.
5. Tap Save Attendance.

Saving again for the same class and date replaces that day's register. Today's numbers show up on the Dashboard tab as Present Today, Absent Today and Late Today.

Step 4: Build the timetable

1. Open Timetable and pick a class.
2. Tap Add Slot. Choose the Day, Start Time, End Time, Subject and Teacher. Room is optional.
3. Tap Add Slot to save. Slots are grouped by day, and you can remove one with the bin button.

Step 5: Bill fees and record payments

1. Open Fees and tap Create Fee.
2. Pick the Student and the Fee Type: tuition, registration, exam, transport, lunch, uniform, books or other.
3. Enter the Amount and Due Date, plus a description if you like. Tap Create Fee.
4. When a parent pays, tap Pay on that fee. The balance is filled in for you, so change it if they paid part.
5. Choose the Payment Method (cash, card, bank transfer, mobile money or cheque) and tap Record Payment.

A fee shows as Pending until money comes in, then Partial, then Paid once it is fully cleared. The cards at the top show Total Fees, Collected and Outstanding.

Step 6: Enter grades and print report cards

1. Open Gradebook. Pick the class, the subject and the term (Term 1, Term 2, Term 3 or Final).
2. Type each student's Score (%). ChecKmate fills in the letter grade for you: 90 and up is A, 80 is B, 70 is C, 60 is D, and below 60 is F.
3. Tap Save Grades.
4. Open Report Cards. Pick the class, the student and the term. You will see each subject's score, grade and Pass or Fail (50% and up passes), plus the student's average.
5. Tap Print to print it or save it as a PDF.

Step 7: Share the parent portal

Each student who has a parent linked shows a link button in the Portal Link column of the Students tab. Tap it and the link is copied. Send it to the parent by WhatsApp or email. With it, the parent can see their child's Grades, Attendance and Fees without signing in.

Tips

• Set up grade levels and the academic year before anything else. Without them you can't create classes, and without classes you can't take attendance.
• Only Active students show up in attendance, fees and the gradebook. Put each student in a class when you enrol them.
• You can come back to the Gradebook any time. Saved scores load again when you pick the class, subject and term, and saving again updates them.
• School fees are tracked inside this module. They don't create a sale at the till or an invoice in Customers & Invoicing.
• Treat the parent portal link like a key. Only send it to that child's parent.

Related

• Customers & Invoicing for billing anything outside of school fees.
• Employee Management and Payroll for your staff.
• Reports for your overall business figures.