> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.edustream.ng/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Payment Receipts, Master Ledger & Financial Records
> Understand how Edustream auto-generates receipts, navigate the immutable master ledger, search transaction history, and export financial records.
Every payment processed through Edustream leaves a permanent, tamper-proof trail. The moment a parent completes a payment — whether online or recorded manually by a finance officer — the system generates a serialised receipt and writes an entry to the master ledger. These two features work together to give your school an accurate, always-current record of all financial activity that satisfies audit requirements and makes end-of-term reconciliation straightforward. This page explains how receipts are generated and accessed, how to read and search the master ledger, and how to export records for external reporting.
Receipts and the Master Ledger are available on the **Core plan and above**. All plans that include fee invoicing automatically include these features.
***
## Automatic Receipt Generation
Edustream generates a receipt for every completed payment without any manual action from school staff. Understanding when and how receipts are created helps you handle parent queries confidently.
When a parent completes a card or bank transfer payment on the parent portal, the gateway webhook signals Edustream in real time. A serialised receipt is generated within seconds, the invoice status updates, and the receipt PDF is emailed to the parent's registered address automatically.
When a finance officer records a cash or cheque payment via **Finance → Record Payment**, the system generates a receipt at the moment the officer clicks **Confirm Payment**. The receipt number is shown on-screen and the PDF is available for printing immediately.
Every wallet top-up completed through the parent portal generates its own receipt, separate from fee invoice receipts. The receipt reference indicates it is a wallet credit rather than an invoice payment.
Each instalment on a partially paid invoice generates its own receipt at the time of payment. All receipts for the same invoice share the same invoice reference number, making it easy to see the full payment history at a glance.
### Receipt Numbering
Receipts are serialised sequentially within your school account (e.g., *RCP-2024-000451*). Serial numbers are never reused — even voided transactions retain their original receipt number in the ledger, with a *Void* annotation. This unbroken sequence makes it straightforward to detect gaps during an audit.
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## Accessing and Printing Receipts
In the left navigation, go to **Finance → Receipts**. The screen displays all receipts in reverse chronological order.
Use the search bar to find a receipt by student name, receipt number, invoice reference, or payment date. You can also filter by class, term, payment method, or date range.
Click any receipt in the list to open the full receipt detail view. It shows the school name and logo, student name, class, fee items paid, amount, payment method, date, and the serialised receipt number.
Click **Download PDF** to save a printable copy, or **Print** to send it directly to your printer. The PDF is formatted as a clean, branded receipt ready to hand to a parent.
The parent logs into the parent portal and clicks **Receipts** in the navigation bar. All receipts for their child (or children) are listed here.
Click the receipt for the relevant payment. The detail view shows the same information available to school staff.
Click **Download PDF** to save the receipt. Parents can use this as proof of payment without contacting the school.
If a parent claims they did not receive their emailed receipt, open the receipt in the Finance dashboard and click **Resend to Parent**. Edustream will re-dispatch the PDF to the parent's registered email immediately.
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## The Master Ledger
The master ledger is a complete, immutable record of every financial transaction that has occurred in your school's Edustream account. Entries are written automatically and cannot be edited or deleted — this guarantees the integrity of your financial records. Finance officers can search and filter the ledger but cannot modify its contents.
### Understanding Ledger Entries
Each row in the master ledger represents a single financial event. The columns included are:
| Field | Description |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Receipt Number** | The unique serialised receipt ID for this transaction. |
| **Date & Time** | The exact timestamp when the payment was confirmed. |
| **Student Name** | The full name of the student whose account was affected. |
| **Student ID** | The school-assigned student ID for unambiguous identification. |
| **Class** | The student's current class at the time of the transaction. |
| **Fee Item** | The specific charge being paid (e.g., Tuition, Library Fee). |
| **Invoice Reference** | The invoice this payment is applied to. Multiple ledger entries sharing the same reference are instalments on the same invoice. |
| **Amount Paid** | The amount received in this specific transaction. |
| **Payment Method** | Card, Bank Transfer, Cash, Cheque, or Wallet Deduction. |
| **Processed By** | The gateway name (for online payments) or the staff member who recorded a manual payment. |
| **Outstanding Balance** | The remaining balance on the invoice after this payment was applied. |
### Split Payment Entries
When a parent pays an invoice in two or more instalments, each instalment appears as a separate row in the ledger. Both rows carry the same **Invoice Reference**, making it simple to reconstruct the full payment history for any invoice by filtering on that reference.
***
## Searching and Filtering the Ledger
Go to **Finance → Master Ledger**. The ledger loads with the most recent transactions at the top.
Type a student name, receipt number, or invoice reference into the search bar. The ledger filters in real time to show only matching rows.
Use the filter panel on the left to narrow results by one or more of the following:
* **Date range** — set a start and end date to view a specific period (e.g., a single term).
* **Class or grade** — view all transactions for a particular class cohort.
* **Payment method** — isolate online payments, cash collections, or wallet deductions.
* **Fee item** — filter to see all payments against a specific charge such as Tuition or Development Levy.
* **Invoice status** — show only entries linked to invoices that are still partially paid or fully cleared.
The summary bar at the top of the filtered results shows the total amount collected for the current filter set and the number of transactions displayed. This is useful for quick reconciliation — for example, *total cash collected in Term 1 for JSS 2*.
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## Exporting Ledger Data
Edustream allows you to export any filtered view of the ledger to Excel or CSV format for use in external accounting tools, board reports, or audits.
Set the date range, class, and any other filters to scope the data you want to export. The export will contain exactly the rows currently visible in the filtered ledger view.
Click the **Export** button in the top-right corner of the ledger screen. Choose either **Excel (.xlsx)** or **CSV** from the dropdown.
Edustream prepares the file and triggers an automatic download. For large exports (thousands of rows), a brief processing delay of a few seconds is normal. The file will include all visible columns exactly as they appear in the ledger.
Exported ledger files contain sensitive financial data. Store them securely and share them only with authorised personnel. Do not email ledger exports to unverified addresses. Edustream does not control what happens to data once it leaves the platform.
***
## Real-Time Outstanding Balances
The master ledger drives the outstanding balance calculation for every student in real time. As soon as a payment entry is written, the student's balance updates — there is no end-of-day reconciliation batch or manual refresh required.
You can view an individual student's current outstanding balance at any time from **Students → \[Student Name] → Finance Profile**. This screen shows all active invoices, the amount paid against each, and the total balance owed — pulling directly from the master ledger.