Overview
Online Student Invoicing (OSI) is a feature that allows schools to create and manage invoices for student debts, obligations, and fees in bulk. OSI works in conjunction with Online School Payments (OSP) and Online Teacher Receipting (OTR) systems.
Key Points:
OSI cannot be used independently - it requires either OSP or OTR
Designed for mass invoice assignment (hundreds or thousands of students at once)
Bookkeepers must be familiar with OSP and/or OTR operations
Getting Started
Prerequisites
Access Requirements
Premium Feature: OSI is only available to districts with premium access
Free Version Users: If using the standard free version of OSP, you likely cannot use OSI
OTR Users: Should have access to OSI by default
Required Knowledge
Before using OSI, you should understand:
How to create products in OSP
How to generate sales reports
How to process refunds
School Activity Fund (SAF) deposit procedures
District policies for student debts and obligations
Login Process
Navigate to your site or visit osmsinc.com/login
Enter your Username and Password
Select your school from the dropdown
System Configuration
Product Setup Requirements
Creating OSP Products
OSI requires OSP Products to function as "Obligation Types." Follow these steps:
Go to Transactions → OSP Products → Edit/Add New → Required Fields tab
Fill out required information
Important: Set Price Type to "Obligation"
Do not use optional features from other tabs
Best Practices
Create one OSP Product per invoice type or category
Use generic product names (e.g., "Student Fees" instead of "12th Grade Student Fees for Honors Students Only")
One OSP Product can handle hundreds or thousands of invoices
Creating Invoices
Invoice Generation Methods
1. Manual Creation
Path: Students → Student Detailed Obligation → Add New
Use Case: Small tests or 1-3 school pilots only
Not recommended for large deployments
2. Import Spreadsheet (Recommended)
Path: Import/Export → Import Detailed Obligations
Requirements: Must use official Excel template saved as .XLS file
Best Practice: Export data from your Student Information System (SIS) and modify to match template
Critical: Template must be used EXACTLY as written
3. Daily FTP Spreadsheet
Central office sends district-wide invoice list
OSMS uploads directly
4. Automated (Online Automated Invoicing)
OSMS creates invoices automatically based on triggers
Example: Chemistry students automatically get Lab Fee invoices
Requires premium license and additional setup
5. District-Specific Implementations
Contact OSMS Support or Central Office for custom implementations
Processing Payments
How Parents Access Invoices
OSP Store
Parents log in (top right corner)
Navigate to "Your Account Page"
System displays outstanding invoice message with link to "Pay Obligation" page
OSP App
Parents log in
Select state, district, school category, and school
Invoices display directly under student's name
Payment Options
For Parents
OSP Store/App: Must pay in full via credit card only
Automatic notification of outstanding invoices upon login
For School Staff
OTR Cashier Screen: Can process full or partial payments
Payment methods: cash, check, or credit card
System automatically updates remaining balance
Payment Verification
To confirm invoices are payable:
Go to Transactions → Teacher Receipting-New
Select a student with an invoice
Invoice details should appear in "Student Detailed Obligations" section
Managing Invoices
Adjusting Invoices
Write-Off Process
Use when waiving fees or marking invoices as completed without payment:
Navigate to Students → Student Detailed Obligation
Search and filter as needed
Click magnifying glass to search
Edit the specific Detailed Obligation
Go to Write-Off Section
Enter Write-Off Amount
If payment was made outside OSMS, enter amount in External Amount field
Enter Write-Off Reason
Click Update to save
Deleting Invoices
Manual/Import Users: Delete via Students → Student Detailed Obligation → Delete
Integration Users: Upload new Excel file (overwrites existing invoices)
Automated/FTP Users: No deletion needed (invoices created daily through feeds)
Reporting
Invoice-Specific Reports
Access via Reports → Additional Reports → Obligation Reports:
Obligation Balance by Sponsor/Teacher: Unpaid vs. paid invoices sorted by sponsor/teacher and date/student
Detailed Obligations Outstanding: Unpaid invoices with sorting options
Obligations Due By School Student Attends: View unpaid district invoices for your school only
Detailed Obligation Balance: Unpaid vs. paid invoices with grade filtering
Obligation Invoice: Printable letter for parents (compatible with business #10 window envelopes)
Transaction Reports
Updated every 12 hours (3am and 3pm EDT):
Simple Reports: Reports → Sponsor/Teacher Activities OR Activity Date Range
Detailed Reports: Reports → Additional Reports → Transaction Reports
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Invoice Not Visible in OSP/OTR
Cause: Obligation Type doesn't match Product Name (case sensitive) or OSP Product is inactive Solution: Check exact spelling and case, verify date range and active status
Import Sheet Not Uploading
Check these requirements:
Excel file saved as .xls format (97-2003)
No extra sheets in workbook
Sheet must be labeled "Sheet1"
Header row cannot be removed
No extra columns added
No duplicate Obligation IDs
Student information must match system records exactly
Student ID Issues
If Student ID begins with zero, add apostrophe (') at beginning
Use "Text" number format in Excel to prevent leading zero removal
School ID Mismatch
Find your School ID: Transactions → OSP Products → Activity Number column
School ID is characters before the hyphen (e.g., ZY995-123 = School ID ZY995)
Excel Template Requirements
Mandatory Columns
Obligation ID
Student ID
Last Name
First Name
School ID
School Name
Obligation Date
Obligation Type
Obligation Amount
Obligation Description
User Def 1, 2, 3 (optional custom fields)
File Preparation Tips
Remove blank rows after last student entry
Remove blank columns after last mandatory column
Save as CSV to check for extra commas indicating blank rows/columns
Quick Reference Checklist
Setup Process
✅ Create OSP Product (Price Type = Obligation)
✅ Create invoices (manual, import, or automated)
✅ Inform parents (automatic via OSP store/app)
✅ Process payments (OSP store/app or OTR)
✅ Complete deposits (credit card via ACH, cash/check manually)
✅ Post funds in SAF system (EPES, SFO, etc.)
Key Reminders
OSI requires either OSP or OTR to function
One OSP Product can handle multiple invoice types
Excel templates must be used exactly as provided
Obligation Types are case-sensitive
Students can have invoices follow them between schools, but payments must be made at originating school