← All posts

Sunday School Software for Islamic Schools: A Buyer's Checklist

Software 30 October 2026 · Hidayah

Before a weekend Islamic school signs up to any software, the board should have written answers to twelve questions: four about money, four about the week itself, three about people and records, and one about the contract. The table is the short version to take into a board meeting. Prices and rules are for the United States as of October 2026, and this is general information, not legal or tax advice.

The checklist on one page

QuestionWhat a good answer looks like
1. Can families pay by ACH as well as card?Both, in US dollars, into the school's own bank account.
2. What does each payment cost, and who pays?Processor rate, any platform fee, and who pays each.
3. Does tuition collect itself after one authorization?Yes, each month, with a receipt every time.
4. What happens when a payment bounces?Office and family both told, and the fee shown.
5. Can cash and checks go on the same ledger?Yes, against the child's invoice, in seconds.
6. Can a teacher take the register on a phone?Present, late or absent per child, late minutes kept.
7. What can a parent see without calling?Balance, payments, attendance and progress per child, nothing else.
8. Are reminders sent before and after the due date?Yes, with a link to pay, stopping once paid.
9. Who can see what?A role per job, with a change log.
10. Who owns the data, and can we export it?The school. Everything exports to a file you can open.
11. How is children's data protected?Encrypted, card numbers with the processor, schools kept apart.
12. What does it cost in total, and how do we leave?One flat monthly price, no lock-in, export first.

1. Can families pay by ACH bank debit as well as card?

Ask for both. Bank debit is cheaper for a payment that repeats monthly. Stripe's published US price for ACH Direct Debit, as of October 2026, is 0.8% per successful payment with a $5.00 cap. A domestic card on Stripe's standard US pricing costs 2.9% plus 30 cents per successful transaction. On an illustrative $50 monthly tuition, those rates come to 40 cents by ACH and $1.75 by card. Ask where the money settles. Hidayah collects ACH and card payments in US dollars through Stripe and pays them into the school's own bank account, as the Sunday school software for US Islamic schools page sets out.

2. What does each payment cost, and who pays it?

The processor's rate is only part of the answer. Some vendors add a platform fee to each online payment, some charge per student. Get the full list in writing, then ask who pays. If families pay the fee, they should see the amount before they confirm. Hidayah adds a 0.3% platform fee to online payments and nothing on cash or checks recorded in it.

3. Does tuition collect itself after one authorization?

Chasing families for payment each month is the job most volunteer treasurers want to lose first. Stripe's documentation says the customer must authorize the payment terms. After that, Stripe describes ACH Direct Debit as a reusable payment method, so the same account can be charged each month. Ask to see the screen a parent would use, and check that a receipt goes out for each payment without anyone in the office pressing a button.

4. What happens when a payment bounces or is disputed?

Find out how the office learns of it, what the family is told, and what it costs. Stripe's US price list shows a $4.00 fee for each rejected ACH payment and $15.00 for each disputed one. A family can generally dispute an ACH payment through their bank for up to 60 calendar days after a debit on a personal account. The software should show both sides the same invoice and payment history, so that a question from a parent becomes a conversation, not a dispute.

5. Can cash and checks go on the same ledger?

Plenty of weekend schools still take cash or checks at the door. Ask the vendor to record a cash payment against a child's invoice while you watch, then ask for the report that lists everything owed and paid across all methods. If offline payments live in a separate spreadsheet, the treasurer is back to reconciling two lists by hand.

6. Can a teacher take the register on a phone, in class?

The register has to fit in the few minutes between the children arriving and the lesson starting. Ask to see it on a phone, not a laptop: tap present, late or absent for each child, with late minutes kept. Then look for the same-day list of who was missing, so that someone can call home.

7. What can a parent see without calling the office?

Most calls to a Sunday school office ask one of a handful of questions: how much do we owe, did my payment go through, was my child in class, how are they getting on. Log in as a parent during the demo and check each one. Then check the opposite: a parent should see their own children and nothing about any other family.

8. Does it send reminders before and after the due date?

Both should go out, and both should stay polite, because the same families will be back next year. Find out when they are sent, whether the message carries a link to pay, and whether the office can see what went to whom. A family that paid on Saturday and was chased on Monday will not trust the next message.

9. Who can see what?

A weekend school is run by volunteers, so each person should get the access their role needs and no more. Ask for the list of roles: a principal who sees everything academic, a treasurer who sees payments but not teaching notes, office staff who handle enrollment without the financial reports, and teachers who see only their own classes. Check whether changes to records are logged, by whom and when.

10. Who owns the data, and can we take all of it with us?

The answer should be the school, in writing, and the export should be something a volunteer can run. Records outlive software. The IRS says an exempt organization must keep books and records needed to show that it complies with the tax rules. The Form 990 instructions add that records supporting an item of income usually have to be kept for a minimum of 3 years from the date the return is due or filed, whichever is later. Whether this applies depends on how your school is set up.

So ask for a full export of students, families, invoices, payments and attendance to a spreadsheet file, and run it during the trial. Hidayah exports every report to CSV or PDF and returns or deletes a school's data on request. The fee collection and attendance reports section of the features page shows what comes out.

11. How is children's data protected?

You are handing over names, dates of birth, medical notes and emergency contacts for other people's children. Ask where the data is stored, who at the vendor can see it, whether connections are encrypted, and whether card numbers stay with the payment processor or touch the vendor's own servers. A vendor who cannot answer in plain words on the first call is not ready to hold a school's records.

12. What does it cost in total, and how do we leave?

Add up the subscription, any per-student charge, the setup fee and the platform fee on payments. Ask for the notice period, and whether leaving means losing the history the same day. For comparison, Hidayah is $49 a month for up to 99 students or $79 a month for up to 300, every feature in both plans, with no setup fee or per-student charge, and a school can cancel any time.

Before the demo, not after

Email the twelve questions to each vendor before anyone sees a screen, and ask for the answers in writing. A demo shows the best parts. Written answers show the gaps. Shortlist the vendors with the fewest blanks, then book the demos, and bring a volunteer teacher and the treasurer to each one.

Questions boards ask about Sunday school software

What should Islamic Sunday school software include?

Enrollment, a register teachers take on a phone, tuition by ACH and card with cash and checks recorded alongside, reminders, a parent portal, roles for volunteers, reports for the board, and an export of everything.

Is ACH cheaper than a card for tuition?

Per successful payment, yes, on Stripe's published US prices: 0.8% capped at $5.00 for ACH against 2.9% plus 30 cents for a domestic card. A rejected ACH payment carries its own fee, so the saving depends on payments going through.

Who should own the data in a school management system?

The school. Get it in writing and run a full export yourself during the trial. The records are needed long after any contract ends.

Can volunteer teachers use it without training?

They should be able to take a register on a phone after one short walkthrough. If the demo needs a laptop and a manual, expect the same on Sunday morning.

What does Hidayah cost for a US Sunday school?

$49 a month for up to 99 students, or $79 a month for up to 300, with every feature in both plans. Stripe's standard payment fees and a 0.3% Hidayah platform fee apply to online payments, and there is no Hidayah fee on cash or checks.

Sources