Adult Language School — Groups, Individual Lessons, and Corporate Clients
This guide is for you if
- You run language courses for adults — group classes, individual lessons, or both
- Some clients are private individuals; others are companies paying for their employees
- You run fixed-term courses (e.g. one semester) and/or ongoing individual sessions sold in packages
- You need to issue invoices — either to individuals or to companies with full billing details
- Examples: language schools, corporate language training providers, private language tutors scaling to a team of instructors
The three client types you will encounter
Most language schools serve a mix of these:
| Client type | How they book | How they pay | Invoice to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private individual | Registers online, pays by card | Card (Stripe) or bank transfer | Their personal details |
| Corporate — employee pays | Employee registers online | Card or bank transfer | Company details (employee provides them at booking) |
| Corporate — company pays | You create the booking manually | Invoice sent to the company | Company: name, address, VAT/Tax ID |
Each type needs a slightly different setup. The good news: Zooza handles all three from the same Programme.
Programme structure for a language school
Group courses — term model
A group course runs for a fixed term (e.g. September–January, 16 weeks). Each level is a Programme. Each specific group — a particular day, time, and level — is a Class.
- Programme: "Intermediate English — Autumn 2026"
- Classes: "Monday 18:00 group", "Wednesday 19:30 group"
Set the Programme type to Booking for the full programme duration. Use Term payment with a Unit price per session — this gives you automatic pro-rata for students who join mid-term.
If your groups run continuously without a defined end date, use Membership price type with a monthly fee instead. See Monthly subscription model — the setup is identical for adults.
Individual lessons — package model
Private clients buy a package of sessions (e.g. 10 lessons). The setup is the same as for any individual lesson provider.
Set the Programme type to Booking for the full programme duration, target audience 1-to-1 classes. Sell packages using One-off payment for the full package, or Term payment split into two instalments for longer engagements.
See Individual lessons for the full setup.
Corporate clients — enabling company invoices
When a company pays for their employee's lessons, the invoice must go to the company, not the individual.
Enable Business booking on the Programme:
- Go to Programme → Extra fields
- Enable at least one of: Company name, Business address, Business ID, Tax ID, VAT number
- On the booking form, the client sees an option to enrol as a company — they click it and fill in the company details
Any booking with company details filled in is automatically flagged as a Business Booking in the system. When you generate an invoice, it uses the company details as the billing address instead of the individual's details.
See Business booking.
When the company books and pays directly (not the employee)
For larger corporate contracts — where the HR or training manager registers multiple employees and receives one invoice for all of them — create the bookings manually:
- Create a booking for each employee from the admin panel
- Link all bookings together so they share a single payment (one invoice, one bank transfer reference)
- Send the invoice to the company
Use Linked bookings to bundle multiple employee registrations under one payment. The company receives one invoice covering all employees, with one payment reference. See Linked bookings.
Invoicing
Language schools almost always need to issue invoices — especially for corporate clients. Make sure your invoicing is configured before you go live.
Key steps:
- Fill in your billing profile in Settings → Invoice profiles — your company name, address, and Tax/VAT ID
- Connect Xero if you use it for accounting (Settings → Integrations) — invoices sync automatically
- For corporate bookings, the invoice pulls the company details the client entered at booking
If a corporate client needs the invoice in a specific format (e.g. with a purchase order number), use the extra fields to collect that at booking and include it in the invoice template.
Placement tests and level assessment
Zooza does not have a built-in placement test. The common approach:
- Use a trial session or lead collection class to register interest before the term starts
- Run your placement test outside Zooza (Google Form, email, in person)
- Once you know the student's level, assign them to the correct group manually
If you want to collect basic self-assessment information at registration, add a custom extra field (e.g. a dropdown: Beginner / Elementary / Intermediate / Advanced). This is visible on the booking record and in exports.
Managing a group of corporate employees
When a company sends 6 employees to the same group course:
- Each employee registers individually (or you create bookings manually for all of them)
- Link all 6 bookings together — one master booking receives the total payment
- Issue one invoice to the company for the full amount
- Attendance and progress are tracked per individual booking — you can see who attended which session
If an employee leaves mid-course and is replaced by a new one, transfer the original booking to the new employee. See Transfer and copy bookings.
What Zooza does not support (for this model)
| Limitation | Workaround |
|---|---|
| Built-in placement tests or level assessment | Collect self-assessment via extra fields; run tests externally |
| Automatic invoicing directly to a company email without employee involvement | Create the booking manually and send the invoice from admin |
| Progress tracking or lesson notes visible to the corporate client | Use the Documents feature to attach notes or progress reports to a booking |
Common mistakes
- Not enabling Business booking fields before launch — if a corporate client tries to register and there is no company field on the form, they cannot provide their billing details. Enable it before you open registrations.
- Creating a separate Programme for each corporate client — one Programme per course level, regardless of who pays. The corporate vs individual distinction is handled at the booking level, not the Programme level.
- Forgetting to link employee bookings — if 6 employees book separately, you end up with 6 separate invoices and 6 separate payment references. Link the bookings before you issue the invoice.
- Issuing invoices before the billing profile is complete — invoices generated without your company's VAT or Tax ID may not be legally valid in your jurisdiction. Fill in the billing profile first.