Automate Flight School Billing
If your billing process involves copying Hobbs times from a logbook to a spreadsheet to an invoice, you're losing money at every step. Here's how to build a billing pipeline that captures every flight and bills it correctly, automatically.
5-10%
Revenue leakage from manual billing at the average flight school
80%
Reduction in billing admin time with automation
15+ days
Faster payment collection with online billing vs. paper invoices
The Problem
Flight school billing is deceptively complex. Different rates per aircraft, per instructor, per student. Block-hour deductions, package pricing, fuel surcharges, landing fees. When billing is manual, errors compound: a forgotten flight here, a wrong rate there, an invoice sent two weeks late. Industry estimates suggest manual billing costs the average flight school 5-10% of potential revenue — money that was earned but never collected.
The Solution — Step by Step
Capture Hobbs Time Digitally at the Aircraft
The billing chain starts at the aircraft. If Hobbs times are written on paper and transcribed later, errors begin immediately. Instructors should enter Hobbs start and end times digitally — ideally from their phone at the aircraft — right after each flight.
Aviatize's mobile app lets instructors log Hobbs times directly from the aircraft. Start and end times are captured digitally, eliminating transcription errors and creating an immediate billing record.
Configure Rate Tables, Not Manual Calculations
Set up rate tables that automatically apply the correct rate per aircraft type, per operation type (dual, solo, rental), and per pricing tier. When a flight is logged, billing should be calculated automatically without anyone looking up rates in a spreadsheet.
Aviatize rate tables define pricing per aircraft, per booking type, and per customer. When Hobbs time is logged, the system calculates charges automatically using the correct rates — no manual lookup needed.
Automate Invoice Generation
Invoices should generate automatically on a schedule (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) or per-flight. Every logged flight should appear on the next invoice without someone manually creating it. Set it and forget it.
Aviatize generates invoices automatically based on your billing schedule. Every logged flight, ground instruction hour, and fee is included. Invoices are sent to students via email with online payment links.
Enable Online Payments
If students have to mail a check or visit the office to pay, you're adding friction and delay. Online payments via credit card or bank transfer get money in your account faster and reduce accounts receivable aging.
Aviatize integrates with Stripe for online payment processing. Students pay directly from their invoice email or mobile app. Payments are automatically reconciled with the correct invoice.
Sync to Your Accounting System
Your billing system should feed directly into your accounting software. Manual re-entry into QuickBooks or Xero creates yet another opportunity for errors and delays. An automated sync keeps your books up to date.
Aviatize syncs invoices, payments, and customer data to Exact Online, Sage Intacct, and QuickBooks Online automatically. No double entry — your books are always current.
Frequently Asked Questions
Industry estimates suggest 5-10% of potential revenue is lost through unbilled flights, incorrect rates, and late invoicing. For a school billing $500K annually, that's $25K-$50K in revenue that was earned but never collected.
Yes. Aviatize supports per-hour rates, block-hour accounts with automatic deductions, course-based package pricing, fuel surcharges, and custom pricing per student or contract. All billing is calculated automatically.
Absolutely. Rate tables in Aviatize define pricing per aircraft, per booking type, and per customer or pricing tier. A flight in N12345 at solo rate is billed differently from the same aircraft at dual instruction rate — all automatically.
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