School MS – frequently asked questions
Answers about the software, fees, parent communication, bus tracking and getting started.
General
What is School MS?
School MS is school management software (a school ERP) for Indian schools. It covers admissions, fees, attendance, exams and report cards, parent communication on WhatsApp and SMS, school bus tracking, hostel, staff payroll, assets and reports – on the web and on a mobile app.
Who can use it?
The school office and admin, principals, teachers, accountants, drivers and other staff, as well as parents and students. Each person signs in with their own email and password and sees only what their role allows.
Is there a mobile app?
Yes – for Android and iPhone. Parents see attendance, homework, results, fees and the bus; teachers take attendance and enter marks; drivers run trips and share location.
Can we use our own logo and school name?
Yes. Your school name, logo, favicon, office phone, email, address and principal's name appear across the app, messages, receipts, ID cards and certificates.
Can we add our own fields to student records?
Yes. Add your own fields to students, parents and staff – they appear on the forms and profiles.
Is our data separate from other schools?
Yes. Every school has its own separate space, with its own users, WhatsApp number, branding and settings.
How do we get started?
Book a free demo. We'll set up your school, classes and fee structure with you, then you add students and staff and share the app.
For the full picture, see all School MS features or read the in-depth pages on fee management, parent communication, school bus tracking and attendance.
Fees
Can each student have a different fee plan?
Yes. At admission you choose to collect the full fee at once (with a due date) or a first payment followed by monthly instalments. The total can be changed for a concession.
How are instalment dates decided?
You enter the first payment date and the date of the second payment. Every later instalment falls on the same date of the following months; in shorter months it moves to the last day of that month.
A parent paid two instalments and now wants to spread the rest over more months. What do we do?
Open the student's Fees tab and choose Edit fee plan. The paid instalments stay as they are, and only the remaining balance is split into the new number of monthly instalments.
A parent wants to pay the next two months in advance.
At the fee counter tap “Next 2 instalments” (or type any amount). The extra amount settles the following instalments in order, and the next due date moves forward automatically.
Does the receipt follow the Indian format?
Yes – school letterhead with affiliation number, receipt number and date, student and parent details, particulars with due dates, amount in words in lakh and crore, payment mode with UPI / UTR / cheque reference, balance due, and cashier and authorised signatory. Parent and office copies print on one A4 sheet.
Is GST supported?
Yes. Switch on GST applicable in settings and enter your GSTIN and rate; receipts then show the taxable value, CGST and SGST. Core school tuition is usually exempt, so check with your accountant before turning it on.
Parent communication
Do parents need to message the school first?
No. With WhatsApp Business you send Meta-approved template messages, which reach parents even if they never messaged the school. Your own free text can be sent within 24 hours of a parent's message.
How long does Meta take to approve a template?
Utility templates are often approved within minutes and usually within a day. School MS shows each template's status – approved, pending, rejected or not submitted.
Which messages can go out automatically?
New student admitted (to the parent, and the student too if you choose), parent added, staff member added (a different template for each designation), sign-in created or password reset, fee payment received and student marked absent.
Can teachers message parents?
Yes – teachers can contact the parents of students in their own classes. Every message is saved in the family's history so the office sees the full picture.
What is an AI call?
You write what the call is about – for example a fee reminder or checking on an absence – and an AI voice agent phones the parent. The summary, transcript and recording appear in the parent's history.
Bus tracking
How does live bus tracking work?
The driver starts the trip in the School MS app on their phone. While the trip is running, the bus's location is shared and shown on Google Maps to the office and to parents of the children on that bus.
Do we need a GPS device in the bus?
No separate device is needed – the driver's smartphone with the School MS app shares the location during the trip.
Can parents see every bus?
No. Parents and students see only the bus their child is assigned to. The office sees all buses.
Can we record fuel and repair costs?
Yes. The vehicle log keeps fuel, service and repair bills for each bus, and they appear in the transport and finance reports.
Do we need to fit a GPS device in every bus?
No. The live location comes from the School MS app on the driver's phone while a trip is running, so there is no separate GPS hardware to buy or install.
How do parents get live bus tracking?
Parents open the School MS app and see their child's bus on the map with the time of the last update. They see only the bus their child travels on, not the other routes.
Attendance & exams
How do teachers take attendance?
Teachers open Attendance (or Take attendance in the app), choose the class and date, and tap present, absent, late or leave for each student – or “All present” first and change the few who are away. Parents of absent children can be alerted automatically.
Can students mark attendance with a QR code?
Yes. Student ID cards carry a QR code that can be scanned for attendance.
Can we print report cards?
Yes. Progress cards are printed from the marks entered for an exam, for a whole class or one student.
Do parents see results immediately?
Results appear to parents and students only after you publish the exam.
Is there an online attendance app for teachers?
Yes. Teachers mark attendance from the School MS app or the website, with everyone present by default so only absentees and late-comers need a tap. Absence alerts can go to parents automatically.
Can we see students with low attendance?
Yes. The attendance reports show attendance by class and date range, and the teacher dashboard lists students who are below the attendance level the school sets, so the class teacher can contact the family early.
Still have a question?
Talk to us – we'll answer it in a short call and show you the answer in the software.