Set up the foundations first: campuses, classes, sections and sessions. Then load students, build fee plans, and only after that switch on attendance, exams, payroll, bank collection and the apps.
Why does the order of setup matter?
Almost every screen in a school management system reads from the same few records: campuses, classes, sections, sessions and students. If those are wrong, fees, attendance and exams all inherit the mistake.
In EDUBase, enquiries, admissions, class capacity and bulk edits sit on the same screens the rest of the system reads from. So fees, attendance and exams always see the same child. Getting the base right once saves rework later.
Step 1: What is the school structure to set up first?
Start with School Setup & Multi-Campus. This is where you define the skeleton that everything else is built on. Set it once and it is reused everywhere.
- Campuses and cities, each with its own settings, SMS device and bank routing.
- Classes, sections and which classes run at which campus.
- Sessions, which are used on student records and reports.
- Reference lists such as gender, religion, nationality, guardian relations and student groups.
- Holiday Calendar, which fee automation uses later.
- Roll Number Series and Admission Capacity, if you want automatic roll numbers and seat limits.
- Academic Duration, an optional setting that warns or blocks attendance and exam entries outside the academic year.
Step 2: How should students and old dues be loaded?
Next, bring in your students. During onboarding the EDUBase team loads your student data from an Excel template that you fill in, including campus and fee details. The team confirms the upload with a screenshot and shares the login URL, institute code and admin credentials with a how-to video.
If you are moving from registers or another system, old dues and past payments can be loaded so the first challan is right. After go-live you can upload students, fee plans, first-time arrears and challan payments yourself, and large files run in the background.
Link siblings under one family number at this stage, because fee vouchers, payments and reminders can then work per family.
Step 3: When should fees, challans and bank collection be configured?
Once students exist, build fee plans from your own fee heads, such as tuition, transport, exam and admission. Then generate challans, test a small batch, and print vouchers with your branding and bank account details in challan settings.
Fee automation comes after you trust the manual routine. Every automation ships switched off and has a preview that shows which children would be affected before anything is charged. Bank fee collection is enabled per school and per bank, and EDUBase configures the routing, shares test vouchers and confirms the bank's inquiry and payment tests before vouchers go live.
Step 4: What comes next: staff, access, attendance and exams?
Create staff records, then give each person only the screens and actions they need through Users, Privileges & Activity Log. Restrict users to their own campuses and decide which payments, discounts, salary changes and admissions need a second person to approve.
After that, choose how attendance will be taken: class register, Teacher App, QR cards, biometric terminals or face gates. Set up subjects, test types and grading policies before the first exam, and set up salary plans before the first payroll month.
Step 5: When do the apps, messaging and training come in?
Roll out the Parents, Teachers and Owners apps once student and staff records are clean, because parents see fee, attendance and marks data straight from the portal. Decide your SMS route (the free SMS Sending App on your own SIM, or a branded gateway) and link your WhatsApp number if you use it.
For learning, EDUBase offers live online training sessions on request, module-wise YouTube playlists, an in-app Docs page and the AI assistant, which answers in English or Roman Urdu.
Recommended setup order and what each stage depends on
| Stage | What you set up | Depends on | Where it happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Structure | Campuses, classes, sections, sessions, holidays | Nothing; do this first | School Setup & Multi-Campus |
| 2. Students | Student records, family grouping, old dues | Stage 1 | Student Management & Admissions; Bulk Data Import |
| 3. Fees | Fee plans, challans, branding, bank routing | Stages 1 and 2 | Fee Management & Challans; Bank Fee Collection |
| 4. Access | Users, privileges, approvals | Stage 1 | Users, Privileges & Activity Log |
| 5. Staff | Employee records, shifts, salary plans | Stages 1 and 4 | Staff Management (HRM); Payroll & Salaries |
| 6. Attendance | Register, QR, biometric or face method | Stages 2 and 5 | Student Attendance; QR, Biometric & Geo Attendance |
| 7. Exams | Subjects, test types, grading policies | Stages 1 and 2 | Examinations & Results |
| 8. Automation and apps | Fee automation, SMS, Parents App | Stages 2 and 3 | Fee Automation; SMS, WhatsApp & Notifications |
Related modules
- School Setup & Multi-Campus — Campuses, classes, sections, sessions, academic year and reference lists, set once and reused everywhere.
- Student Management & Admissions — Every student record, from first enquiry to leaving certificate, in one place.
- Bulk Data Import & Onboarding Tools — Move from registers or another system by Excel: students, fee plans, old dues and past payments.
- Fee Management & Challans — Fee plans, monthly challans, discounts, family payments and receipts, without spreadsheets.
- Fee Automation — Let the system generate challans, apply late fees and chase defaulters on schedule.
- Bank Fee Collection — Parents pay at the bank, in their banking app or at a kiosk; EDUBase posts it automatically.
- Users, Privileges & Activity Log — Give each staff member exactly the screens and actions they need, and see who changed what.
- Staff Management (HRM) — Employee records, shifts, documents, letters, leave and the Teacher App login, in one place.
- Payroll & Salaries — Salary plans, allowances, deductions, approvals, payslips and salary sheets, posted to the ledger.
- Student Attendance — Mark attendance from the class register, the Teacher App, a QR scan or a gate device, and tell parents instantly.
- Examinations & Results — From subjects and grading policy to award lists, result cards and date sheets.
- Parents App Controls — See adoption, control what unpaid families see, and manage parent logins from the web portal.