Financial Admin is where everything your camp charges for lives — tuition, discounts, additional options, and more.
Before you start configuring anything, it helps to see how the pieces connect. The system is built in layers, and each layer depends on the one before it.
Getting the sequence right from the start means cleaner reports and less rework.
Complete your Session Setup in Admin > Camper Setup > Season Settings before starting here — line items connect to sessions, so sessions need to exist first.
In this article:
How the five layers of Financial Admin fit together
The correct build sequence
Where each layer lives in the system
Video Walkthrough
Key Financial Terms
Term | What it means |
Financial Category | A reporting bucket that groups related charges — for example, Tuition, Transportation, or Discounts. Internal only; families don't see category names. |
Line Item | A specific charge or credit defined for your camp — like Full Summer Tuition or Early Enrollment Discount. Line items are what appear on a family's invoice. |
Debit | A charge — money owed to your camp. Tuition, fees, and activity charges are all debits. Appears as a positive number on the ledger. |
Credit | A discount or reduction — money applied to a family's balance. Sibling discounts and promotional codes are credits. Appears as a negative number on the ledger. |
Invoice | The billing document sent to a family showing charges, credits, and the balance due. Creating an invoice updates the family's billing cycle and record. |
Statement | Similar to an invoice, but does not update the billing cycle or push the family's record forward. Useful for sharing a snapshot without triggering billing actions. |
Billing | The process of generating and sending invoices or statements to families — by email, letter, or both. |
The Financial Setup Sequence
The financial system is built in layers. Each layer depends on the one before it — build them in this order.
1. Financial Categories
Navigate to Admin > Financial Admin > Definitions > Financial Categories.
Categories are the broadest layer — the reporting buckets that group your charges. Common categories: Tuition, Transportation, Additional Options, and Discounts. You build these first because every line item you create needs one.
💡 Tip: If you work with an accountant or export transactions to outside financial software, involve them before you finalize your categories. The structure you set here drives your reports and any data exports.
2. Definitions
Navigate to Admin > Financial Admin > Definitions.
The Definitions menu holds a set of non-seasonal configurations — billing groups, billing preferences, pricing identifiers, pricing packages, additional options categories, and discount percentage order. You fill these in before building your line items.
📋 Note: These definitions are non-seasonal. Set them up once — they carry forward automatically each season. If you're opening a new season, confirm that nothing new is needed rather than recreating from scratch.
📖 Related: Financial Admin: Additional Definitions — a full walkthrough of each item in the Definitions menu
3. Non-Seasonal Line Items
Navigate to Admin > Financial Admin > Line Items.
Line items are the specific charges and credits that appear on a family's invoice — things like Full Summer Tuition, Bus Fee Round Trip, or Early Enrollment Discount. You define them once here as non-seasonal items, then activate and price them each season.
There are two tabs: Debits (charges) and Credits (discounts and credits).
4. Seasonal Activation
Navigate to your current season > Seasonal Line Items.
Each season, you choose which line items are active and set their prices for that year. The line item definition stays the same — only the seasonal amount changes. Tuition might be $4,800 one year and $5,200 the next without touching the original definition.
5. Discounts
Navigate to your current season > Discounts.
Discounts — sibling, multi-session, promotional codes, and pay-in-full — layer on top once your credits are activated. You configure the rules here to tell Campminder how to apply them automatically.
6. Pricing Table
The Pricing Table is where line items connect to your actual sessions. It tells Campminder: when a camper enrolls in Session 1, apply this tuition.
📋 Note: Don't set up the Pricing Table until your line items, seasonal activation, and discounts are complete. The table is the final step before billing is live.
🎯 Try it now: Navigate to Admin > Financial Admin and look at the menu. Locate the Definitions dropdown, the Line Items link, and your current season in the top navigation. Get familiar with where each layer lives before you start building. Come back when you've done it.
🏕️Camps in Action
A new director sat down to configure her camp's first season in Campminder and tried to set up tuition before creating her financial categories.
The system prompted her to assign a category — and she didn't have one yet. Starting with categories first removed that blocker. By the time she got to line items, the categories were waiting for her.
Before you move on, check yourself:
Can you name the five layers of the financial setup sequence in order?
Do you know where Financial Categories, Line Items, and the Discounts tab each live in the system?
Have you confirmed your Season Settings are complete before starting Financial Admin setup?
Ready for the next step?
Financial Admin: Define Financial Categories — create the reporting categories your line items will belong to
Financial Admin: Additional Definitions — tour the full Definitions menu before you start building line items