Atelier Studio Help

For studios · Settings

Registration fee

Charge a registration fee and choose exactly which classes, memberships, and class packs bring it in.

Last updated 9 October 2026

A registration fee is a one-time or yearly charge your studio adds the first time a student pays. It’s your studio’s fee, paid to you, and it shows up as its own line on receipts. You set it up under Settings → Financial Controls.

Turning it on

In Financial Controls, switch on Charge a registration fee, then choose:

  • Fee amount: what you charge.
  • How often: One-time (new students), charged the first time a student ever pays, or Annual (every season), charged once per season. For annual, you also set the day the season starts.

Students already on your roster when you switch the fee on aren’t charged.

Which season a fee belongs to

If your fee is charged every season, the fee is for the season of the thing the student is buying, not the day they pay. A student who books a class on January 6 pays for the season that includes January 6, even if they book on December 15. This means a December sign-up for a January class pays the January fee, once, and is not charged again in January.

  • A class booking uses the date of the class.
  • A term uses the day the term starts. If someone joins in the middle of a term, they pay for the season they are in today.
  • A membership uses the start of the period being paid, so a renewal pays for the season the renewal starts in.
  • A class pack or anything without a date uses the day of the purchase.

One purchase never adds more than one registration fee.

What students see

At checkout the fee has its own line that names the season, for example Registration fee: Spring 2027 (from Jan 1). If you have not named your seasons, the line shows the start date instead. A one-time fee reads Registration fee (one time). When the class is in the next season, a short note explains it: “This covers Spring 2027, because their classes start Jan 6.” Staff see the same line when they register someone or check them in.

When the fee is collected

Atelier Studio adds the fee at the first thing the student pays for in a season. It also collects it for you in these cases, so you do not need to chase it:

  • At renewal. A member with a plan that charges the fee pays it with their next renewal.
  • At their next booking. A student who holds a pass or credit adds the fee when they next book.
  • At check-in. A student with a spot that is paid at the front desk pays the fee when you check them in and charge their card. If you take cash at the desk, record the fee yourself with Record as paid.

To see who still needs to pay, open the Registration fees report.

Choosing which classes charge the fee

The fee doesn’t have to apply to everything. Maybe kids’ classes charge it, but adult drop-in classes don’t. That’s controlled by class types.

The first time you turn the fee on, Atelier Studio asks Which classes should charge the registration fee? Each of your class types is on the list with a switch:

  • Switched on: booking a class of this type can bring in the fee.
  • Switched off: booking a class of this type never adds the fee.

Select all and Clear all change every type at once. Under New class types, pick what a class type you add later starts as: Charge the fee or Don’t charge the fee. Select Turn on registration fee to save your choices. You can change any of this later.

After that, the same list lives in Financial Controls as the Which classes charge the fee? card. Each switch saves as you flip it. The card also tells you:

  • how many memberships and class packs charge the fee, with a See which link that lists them, and
  • if every class type is switched off, a note that no classes charge this fee, so no one will be charged.

A single class can be different

A class normally does what its class type does. If one class needs to break from that, open it and change its Registration fee setting to Charge the fee or Don’t charge the fee. Same as class type goes back to following the type. The class type screen tells you how many of its classes are set differently. See Class types and levels and Classes.

Memberships and class packs

Buying a membership or a class pack can bring in the fee too. Each one has a Registration fee setting:

  • Automatic (the default): charges the fee when the plan covers at least one class type that charges it. A plan that covers “all classes” charges if any of your class types do. A plan that only covers adult classes won’t charge the fee if adult classes don’t.
  • Always charge: buying it always charges the fee.
  • Never charge: buying it never charges the fee.

Under the setting, a plain-English line tells you what buying it will do, for example “Buying this charges the registration fee, because it covers Kids Ballet.” Memberships that renew follow the same rule when they renew. See Memberships and Class packs.

Who can change these settings

Anything that changes whether the fee gets charged is limited to the owner and staff who manage customer billing. Other staff can still edit classes, class types, memberships, and class packs, but they’ll see the fee setting as read-only with a note asking someone who manages customer billing to change it.