Why your teaching total does not match your bank balance

You finish a month of teaching, add up your classes, then open your bank statement. The numbers differ. Before looking for a missing payment, check whether you are comparing the same thing.

A class has a teaching date. An invoice has an issue date. A payment has an arrival date. Those dates can fall in different months, even when the studio pays exactly as agreed.

For a teacher working across several studios, one monthly “income” column can hide that distinction. Here is a small reconciliation you can do on paper or in a spreadsheet, without replacing your existing invoice system.

Give each total a question

Keep these three views separate:

• Taught: What fees did the classes I actually taught in this month earn?
• Issued: What amounts did I put on invoices dated this month?
• Received: What invoice payments actually arrived this month?

Do not add the three totals together. They describe different stages of the same work, not three sources of income. These are practical tracking labels, not instructions for tax reporting.

A worked example across a month boundary

The studios, dates and amounts below are fictional. Assume a flat fee of €40 per class, with no attendance extras, adjustments or partial payments.

Work	Teaching dates	Invoice issued	Payment received
Studio Cedar: two classes, €80 total	24 and 28 September	30 September	5 October
Studio Cedar: three classes, €120 total	2, 9 and 16 October	19 October	Not yet received
Studio Willow: two classes, €80 total	6 and 13 October	Not yet issued	Not yet received

At a review on 23 October, the October views are:

• Taught: €200. Five October classes at €40 each.
• Issued: €120. The Cedar invoice dated 19 October. The September invoice belongs in September's issued view.
• Received: €80. The payment on 5 October, although the teaching happened in September.

There is also €80 of October work not yet invoiced at Willow and €120 on an unpaid invoice at Cedar. Those need different next actions: prepare the Willow invoice according to the agreed billing period; check the Cedar invoice's due date before deciding whether a reminder is appropriate.

The €120 difference between October's taught and received totals is not, by itself, a missing payment. Some work has not been invoiced, some is awaiting payment, and the money received relates to earlier teaching.

Keep a class list and an invoice list

For the class list, record the studio, actual teaching date, agreed fee and invoice reference once included. Keep planned or cancelled classes separate from classes actually taught. If your rate changes, retain the fee agreed for the earlier class instead of recalculating your history at the new rate.

For the invoice list, record the studio, invoice reference, issue date, due date, amount, payment date and current status. Mark a payment received only after checking the actual transaction. If one transfer covers several invoices, match its reference and amount to the relevant documents before marking them paid. Leave anything ambiguous unresolved rather than guessing a date.

You do not need student names or bank-account details in this reconciliation sheet. Keep supporting invoices and payment evidence in your existing secure records, not in a shared example document.

Use this month-end checklist

1. Choose the question and period. Are you reviewing October's teaching, October's invoices or October's receipts? Write the label above the total.
2. Reconcile the classes. Compare the class list with what you actually taught at each studio. Resolve skipped sessions and substitute classes before billing.
3. Find unbilled work. Check for classes with no invoice reference, including earlier months. Follow each studio's agreed billing period rather than assuming every studio closes on the same date.
4. Match received payments. Use the actual arrival date and invoice reference. A saved PDF or a sent message is not evidence of payment.
5. Review what remains unpaid. Check the due date and any agreed arrangements. Unpaid does not necessarily mean overdue.
6. Write down exceptions. Keep an unmatched transfer or disputed amount visible for follow-up. Do not force the totals to agree by changing historical dates.

The aim is not to make all three totals equal. It is to explain the differences and identify the next action for each class or invoice.

How Still approaches the same distinction

Still is a teaching ledger in development for independent yoga teachers. Its current implementation separates earned fees by class date, issued amounts by invoice issue date and received amounts by recorded payment date. The Income & exports view can filter those figures by period and studio; current unpaid totals are separate from the period's activity.

Payment recording is manual and covers the full invoice amount. Still does not connect to your bank, collect payments or automatically chase a studio. If a payment date is unknown, it is kept out of dated received totals rather than guessed. Partial-payment tracking is outside the current scope.

That separation is the product connection: keep the class, invoice and payment related without pretending they happened on the same day. You can use the checklist now in your existing records. If this is a workflow you would like to try in Still, the early-access link below opens an email enquiry; it is not an app download or an automatic signup. Public download links and pricing have not been announced.