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Hi fellow piano teachers,

I’m in the midst of starting a private piano studio in my home and was wondering what card readers you guys suggest and how they work? I was thinking of one that I can use on my iPhone or iPad. Is it easy to connect the reader to my bank? How safe is it?

I just don’t want to accept cash unless the parent needs to so that my business is more professional.

Thank you!

Look into the Square Reader, it’s very convenient for small businesses. I’m not a teacher, but I manage a small dance studio. You’ll need a MacBook, iPad and/or iPhone and an internet connection.

In the studio, we have a Square Reader Dock with a cash box. Plus a mini-swiper for external events, which literally fits in your pocket. I bought these both at Target. We sell everything from group classes, private lessons and merchandise. To keep it simple, we only offer receipts via email.

The POS software consolidates info in “the cloud”. For bookkeeping it neatly integrates with Quickbooks. You’ll have to customize and think through how to setup the accounting categories.

It has excellent online appointment/calendar feature (provided by Square). Students can access it online and request to make or re-schedule appointments, even after hours. You can confirm when you’re darn good and ready and they can pay online. It can also do automated appointment reminders and invoicing.

https://squareup.com

Thanks for the response! I saw this: https://squareup.com/help/ca/en/article/5068-what-are-square-s-fees

Seems as though the app requires a processing fee for each swipe, is this correct? How is this working out for you? I'd rather buy something one time, and have all the money be sent to me rather than having a small portion of it sent to somebody else.

Do you have any experience with one of those gray digital usb ones by any chance?

We factor the fees into our prices. The per swipe fee keeps it manageable - they get money only when we make money. I like Square, they’re easy to setup and the fees are clear and fairly competitive.

FYI - there are no “free credit card” processing services. They all charge a fee even if you own the equipment. Many bank or credit card processing services will charge additional monthly fees + rental for the equipment on top of the percentage of sales. You can find deals, but be prepared to shop around and negotiate or you’ll be paying more than you should.

Hi Ryan
You might want to reconsider your assumption that primarily using credi cards would make you look more professional and use checks/cash as your primary payment method. The credit card fees will eat into your income every month as each payment is a separate transaction fee. I take from several different teachers, and none use credit card payments.

If you want to add the credit card fee as an addition to your service fee, there are two considerations: First, it may not be legal in your state. Secondly, if your students have to pay more money to use a credit card they may want to pay cash or check.

Thanks for the information! I'm fresh out of college so I'm only beginning to learn how this works... glad I discovered this!

What payment methods do you suggest for a private in-home piano studio if I were to charge, say, monthly tuition? Cash, check, direct deposit? How would I go about implementing each? Of course many years later I may want to move my private business out-of-home which means my payment methods could change, but for now, any advice from experienced teachers is welcome!

Also, how should I account for these payments? I work at a teaching studio in my city and we do monthly auto payments where we scan cards. Accounting is done through QuickBooks. Should I adopt a similar method and ask my boss how exactly she handles payments?

I apologize if this is common knowledge to many teachers. I've only recently stepped my foot into the business world. Thank you.

Odd that you live in a place where checks are often used. I seem to live in a largely checkless society. Aside from my business which sometimes has to use checks (although even for my company, we mostly pay via wire or ACH, and always ask if we can do that), I myself last personally picked up a book of checks about 3 years ago and I think I've used maybe 5 in this time. If I personally had a piano teacher, or any vendor which wanted a check, I'd probably end up asking if I can send them a PayPal or wire/ACH them a payment. (Hey! Actually, that's what I actually did with my teacher! ) And if I really had to use a check, I'm not even sure if I could find my checkbook as I don't recall when I last saw it - I might actually need to buy a money order, get a cashiers check, or order myself another book of checks, all involving more effort on my part. [i](I live in the mid-Atlantic part of the US, so I realize some other areas of the US may be more traditional.)

Speaking of PayPal though, if you are going to go with just checks, being able to offer those checkless people like me the ability to make a payment by PayPal (where the person paying has to pay the fee) might be a good fallback. You might find those that are least likely to carry checks are most likely to have PayPal accounts.

Take a look at Venmo.

FWIW --

There an article in Forbes that reviews PayPal vs Square credit-card services, and some other options:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccu...mobile-credit-card-readers/#2abe6b246c29

I don't teach piano but I do have a business (a movie theatre), so I deal with a fair number of customers and suppliers.

Most business bank accounts cost more than a similar personal bank account. For example, there may be a fee for each deposit, plus a fee for each cheque included in the deposit, plus a percentage fee for any cash you deposit, and you may have to pay a fee for each cheque, withdrawal or direct payment that you make from your business account.

It pays to shop around when setting up a business account. Just because making a deposit is free for your personal account, don't assume that it's also free to deposit money into your business account.

By and large, credit unions tend to charge less for their services than banks do.

My Ping Pong coach's club is happy with Square.

You can get around laws against charging extra to recover CC fees by being explicit that your prices are discounted for cash. Here in Californian there are many gas stations that have cash and credit prices. Of course, check laws and statutes where you live.

OTOH, There's a restaurant near me, popular with the people who work on the Sony Pictures lot that doesn't accept CASH. You have to pay with a card or apple pay, venmo et. al. This seemed weird to this 60 year old because our money says "This note is valid for all debts public and private." but a quick google search showed that at least here in California, it's legal to have a business that is cashless. There's a martial arts studio near me that ONLY accepts, monthly auto-debit for payment for lesson although you can use cash or credit card for extras like pads, training materials or paying for private lessons. He says it's the single most profitable thing he's ever done since he no longer devotes hours to processing, accounting for check payments and even worse chasing people for late payments and bad checks. The few people he loses because they refuse auto-debit is more than made-up for by the increase in productivity and less non-payment for services rendered.

Ryan, as a piano student going on my 5th year, the studio I go to only takes checks or cash. The nail salon I go to charges 50 cents extra to use a credit card. I used to pay my property taxes with a credit card to rack up on Amazon points, but now there is a charge for using a credit card of 2% of the tax. The studio I go to charges by the month, and the students put the payment in an envelope and places it in a locked box inside the studio. For summer session, the student has to pay for the entire summer. She offers 10 weeks and to enroll you have to take a minimum of 8 weeks. I never actually hand the owner (who is not my teacher) money. My instructors and I never discuss payment. Personally, unless the person hands you cash, I would be worried about someone placing it in an envelop and it was not verified. However, she has continued like this since I started there. I have been paying by check since I started. Where I have a storage unit, I had to use auto-debit to my credit card or could not get a unit. I agree, auto debit there is no late payment, but with a credit card you will lose some of your income, I thought someone told me is is 3%. However, you are not chasing people for payments. If your business is in your home, make sure you talk with your insurance agent to see if you need additional liability insurance since you are operating a business out of your home.

Zoning may also be an issue, and you may need a municipal business license. You may need to register to collect sales taxes, and if you're going to operate under anything but your own name (including adding any words before or after your name) you'll have to register your business name before you'll be able to get a bank account and will be able to accept cheques in the name of your business. The bank will need to see a copy of your business name registration in that case.

Check with your friendly local city hall about the zoning and business licensing requirements.

The most important thing you should understand is that you should not use credit funds for the aorta. When planning a budget, you should rely only on your strength, so try not to take microloans that beckon with promises to "help out before paycheck." If you can't do without loans, choose the best deals and make monthly payments on time.It is best to get acquainted with the recommendations of the site youngandthrifty.ca for your work not only to please you but also for you to take it; it brings you a substantial income.

Whatever you choose, keep it limited.

Even in communication with parents- choose email or text

or Facebook and Chat, or whatever.

The more avenues you use, the more you have to keep up with.

Financially, I use checks and Venmo. While checks are full money, it does take time to write and give the receipts and make deposits. And YES, keep copies of the receipts.

Venmo keeps on-line records (for both parties) that are very easy to access for tax purposes. I use a business acount instead of a fried account for piano. Yes, they take a cut, but I want to be professional.

Also, set yourself up with a simple spread sheet-
student name month tuition pd? note how (ck number or Venmo date)

I also have a credit union account just for piano. I use it to buy books and items for my studio.

Set yourself up simply.

Oh, I give a discount in August and January if they pay up front for the full semester. ten percent off. I also charge a one time only registration fee.

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with cash it's easier because you can dodge the tax. in this case it might not matter because you won't have enough of a trail that it'd suddenly put you in a higher tax bracket, but what the irs doesn't know always benefits YOU, since it gives you flexibility on what you claim.

That's true, but incomplete.

When you want to borrow money -- f or a house, for a car, etc -- the lender will want some evidence that you earn enough to pay it back. That's tough to supply, unless you 've been declaring and paying taxes on your income.

When you get old, and want to collect a government pension (Social Security in the US), the amount you collect may depend on the amount you contributed, over your working life. If you've run an all-cash, no-tax business, be ready to self-fund your retirement.

at charles, but the genz is telling me, they'll never be able to retire, and, there probably won't be any social security net for anyone.

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