The person registering a team in a school esports league often isn't the one paying for it. A teacher signs the team up, while the school office handles the money through a process the teacher doesn't control. Make room for that handover from the start. A clear fee, a named billing contact and a reference that follows each entry through to its receipt can save plenty of chasing and those "are we actually in?" emails.

Who pays for a school esports entry?

Usually the school's finance office, even when the teacher has done all the registration. A teacher might be keen to enter a league without having authority to spend school money. In New Zealand, for example, the Ministry of Education's Financial Information for Schools Handbook explains how boards formally delegate financial authority to principals, staff or committees. That authority might not reach the teacher running the esports club.

Picture a teacher registering two teams on the last day of entries, then finding out the office needs a purchase order before it can pay. The person who raises those is away until next week. Nobody's done anything wrong, but the league has entries without a clear path to payment. That's why the finance handover needs to be part of registration, rather than something to sort out afterwards.

What's the difference between a purchase order, an invoice and a payment?

They're separate stages of school billing. Only the last means money has changed hands.

  • Purchase order (PO). A document the school sends a supplier requesting goods or services, as the Te Puni Kōkiri procurement glossary explains. A PO reference helps match the entry to the school's purchase request. Check the actual authorised order and the school's approval process; the number alone isn't proof that payment has been made.
  • Invoice. The league's statement of what the school owes. In Stripe Invoicing, finalising an invoice makes it "open" for payment. A successful or recorded payment can make it "paid"; credits or other adjustments can also affect that status (Stripe: How invoicing works).
  • Settled payment. Check the actual payment record rather than treating a PO or processing payment as settled. The School Esports guide to paid events and school billing notes that a processing payment may not show as settled straight away.

Keeping those stages separate might seem a bit fussy, but it stops you marking an entry paid when the school has only supplied a PO number. It also helps you tell a teacher exactly where things stand.

How do card and purchase order payments work on School Esports?

On schoolesports.org, a league organiser connects a Stripe account to bill schools for tournament entry fees. Schools can choose credit card or purchase order. The platform was built independently, drawing on national federation expertise.

The linked demo help guides treat billing as something to organise before entering a paid event. Teachers are asked to complete school billing setup before registering entries for paid tournaments. The school billing guide says incomplete setup or overdue invoices can block registration. Authorised school users can access School Billing where it's available.

According to School Esports' owner, schools that appoint student coordinators can let them handle routine team admin, such as roster changes and approving teams that have no billing requirements, within the permissions they've been given and the event's eligibility rules. Billing details and approval of entries with an entry fee stay with teachers. A teacher's role on the platform sits alongside the school's own financial delegations, so approving one of those entries still needs whatever sign-off the school requires.

When should a league invoice schools for their entries?

Pick a fixed point. The registration deadline is a sensible one: once entries close and are approved, you know which teams you're billing for. If a school enters several teams across different games, billing them together can make things easier for the finance office when matching the invoice to its PO. Whether you bill per team or per school is your call. Sort that out before registration opens.

After the deadline, changes become deliberate decisions. Late additions, withdrawals, credits and refunds need consistent rules agreed in advance. Promises made in one-off emails can be hard to honour fairly across schools. The School Esports billing guide makes clear that withdrawing a team doesn't automatically refund its fee. Refunds and credits depend on the event's terms and the organiser's decision, so put those terms in writing.

What should schools know before they register?

Enough to take the entry to the finance office without another round of questions. Before registration opens, publish:

  • the entry fee and what it covers, in a form the teacher can pass on as a quote
  • who handles your league's billing questions and how to contact them
  • whether a PO is needed and which reference the school should use
  • when invoices are issued and due, and the payment options available
  • how payment is confirmed and what the receipt shows
  • your rules for late entries, withdrawals, credits and refunds

Ask schools to include the invoice reference, tournament and school name in payment queries, and never to send full card details. Match payments to their invoices and PO references as they arrive. When a teacher asks whether their team is sorted, you'll have a clear answer.

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