The parents of one of my pupils have just asked me not to pay in 3 or 4 of their weekly cheques all at once, as it comes to too much on their bank statement. I don't want to pay in every week, as this is a waste of my time, and the way I see it is, if you've had the service, and have paid, then the money is gone. Is it considered rude to pay in a few at once? (Obviously it would be if I held on to them for months and then cashed them all together, but I wouldn't do that). Does anyone have any views on this as I haven't come across this one before!

Why not ask them to set up a weekly direct debit.

If they get paid weekly themselves thay may not have the money all at once. That would mean they pay weekly and you don't have to keep running to the bank.

Seems a bit odd. Sounds like they need to remember to keep track of when they've written cheques.
Maybe you could suggest they bring cash if they can't keep track?

I have a pupil who pays by weekly standing order. Once it was set up and running, they now visit the bank once at the end of each term to suspend it and give the new start date so it doesn't carry on through the holidays.

In another case, I invoice half termly and allow them to split the payment into two so they don't have to pay the whole amount in one go. I get two cheques at the same time, one forward dated.

Just to be clear, standing order is the correct term. It's a 'push' transaction, where a person tells their bank to send money somewhere, whereas a direct debit is a 'pull' one, in which a business tells a bank to give it money. (The scary potential of the latter is why the Direct Debit Guarantee exists!)

It's possible to set one up to pay weekly up until a date of one's choosing, so it shouldn't even be necessary for them to remember to cancel it for holidays.

I agree but for this particular situation it doesn't work very well and in fact I now put dates on the invoice to tell them when to start/stop the weekly payments. It runs through half term so the last payment of the term is the week of the last lesson in the term. I often text before the last lesson of the term to remind them to stop and restart for the new term. It saves me having to adjust for over payments if they forget - that's more hassle!

I think I meant direct debit, so that the teacher takes payment when due, rather than waiting for the pupil to send payment.

If standing orders/direct debits, don't work, could you accept monthly payment ?

Weekly cheques is a bit of a pain. For them and for you (and no I wouldn't go to the bank once a week to pay a weekly cheque which. presumably, is a smallish amount of money).

Bill them a month in advance, or take a cheque for 4 weeks lessons at the end, if they pay regularly on time.

That doesn't help them if they are paid weekly and don't have a month's money in one go.

You can't do it as an individual, only companies and other organisations can do so.

My understanding of what a cheque actually means is "a promise to pay the bearer on demand" so if you want to pay them all in at once then you could but it's probably a touch rude if they have asked you not to do that. Maybe they could write one cheque monthly in advance?

Thanks very much for all your helpful suggestions folks - much appreciated!

Sorry if I'm being thick here, but I can't see what difference it makes, whether 4 x ?20 cheques are presented or one ?80 cheque each month. The same amount is still going to come out of the bank each month. I'd bank it at my convenience - it isn't easy for me to get to the bank, and if the fee has been paid then it's due and it's yours! I think it's rather rude for them to make such a request! If they are paid weekly, then paying fees weekly shouldn't be a problem. If they are paid monthly, they need to budget for fees. If cheques are a problem, maybe they could pay in cash.

I wonder if the OP has been running something blurred between a weekly payment (as this family clearly would prefer) and a monthly up front payment? For example, taking payment weekly, but only cashing cheques every few weeks (i.e. when monthly bills are looming!)

Possibly, but once a cheque is written, the parent should regard that money as gone, regardless of when it is presented to the bank. I have just written a substantial cheque for music books. As far as I am concerned, that money is spent, and deducted from my balance. I can't spend it again!

Well, I take a cheque for each lesson I give on the day of the lesson in question, and bank them later, every 3-4 weeks (so they have my money for longer and could actually get the interest on it). I can't see the difference between 4 x ?20 and 1 x ?80 either! I might well go down the pay by cash on the day route (I'm a bit low tech and old fashioned!)

So from their point of view it really shouldn't make a difference if you bank one cheque each week or accumulate four or five in a month.

I think I get it.?

They probably try to budget their money for the month or week, and constantly check their balance to see how much is left until they get paid. If their balance shows , say ?200 and they are having to think twice whether there are any cheques outstanding, they can't keep 'proper' tabs on their money.

If I were you Norway, I would explain that you can't just go to the bank every week as it's too inconvenient. Perhaps you could work out a better way.

Personally I would suggest to them they pay cash every week in this situation. Then they know exactly where they are in regards to their bank account balance.

BTW I'm assuming they pay weekly and you have always been happy with this?

Yes I'm happy with it. They are a really nice reliable family and the cash method may suit. This kind of issue may crop up increasingly now as family budgets are getting squeezed. Thanks so much everyone for your help!