Sending Invoice Emails to Parents

Last Updated: 2026-05-27 | Applies to: IK v1.2+

Email Sending System

InstitutionKit uses a batched email system to avoid server overload:

For 10 or fewer invoices:

All emails sent immediately
Shows: "✅ X of Y emails sent successfully!"

For more than 10 invoices:

First 10 sent immediately
Remaining queued for cron job
Shows: "✅ First batch: 10 emails sent. 📋 50 remaining queued for cron (10 every 4 minutes)"

How to Send Invoice Emails

Go to 💰 Fee Management → 🧾 Invoices
Select a class from dropdown
Click "📧 Send Invoice Emails"
Confirm the prompt
System processes and shows results

Email Queue System

How the queue works:

Step 1: User clicks "Send Invoice Emails"Step 2: First 10 invoices → Sent immediatelyStep 3: Remaining invoices → Stored in wp_options as 'ik_pending_invoice_emails'Step 4: Cron job runs every 4 minutes → Sends next 10Step 5: Repeats until queue is empty

Checking Email Status

Click "📊 Check Status" button to see:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐│  📊 Email Queue Status                      │├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤│  📧 INVOICE EMAILS                          ││  Pending: 45 | Sent Today: 25               ││  Processing at 10 emails every 4 minutes    │├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤│  🔔 PAYMENT REMINDERS                       ││  Pending: 12 | Sent Today: 8                ││  Processing at 10 reminders every 4 minutes │├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤│  📋 RECENT SENT EMAILS                      ││  Type      │ Recipient       │ Student │ Time││  📧 Invoice│ [email protected] │ John Doe│ 9:30││  🔔 Remind │ [email protected]    │ Jane S. │ 9:34│└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Email Logging

All sent emails are logged in institutionkit_email_log:

Column	Description
`email_type`	`invoice_email` or `payment_reminder`
`recipient_email`	Parent's email address
`student_id`	Linked student
`invoice_id`	Linked invoice (for invoice emails)
`subject`	Email subject line
`status`	`sent` or `failed`
`sent_at`	Timestamp

Parent Email Lookup Order

The system checks multiple sources for parent email:

Student meta: _ik_email
Student meta: _ik_guardian_email
Student meta: _ik_parent_email
Linked parent user account email

Important Notes

⚠️ DO NOT click "Send" multiple times for the same class. The cron job handles the queue. Multiple clicks create duplicate queue entries.

⚠️ Large classes (100+ students) will take time. The system processes 10 emails every 4 minutes. A class of 100 students takes ~40 minutes to complete.

Quick Apprentice Addition Guide

Now paste into your Thrive Apprentice course:

Chapter: Fee & Invoice System

Lesson 3: "Generating Invoices - Automatic & Manual Methods" (Article 19) ✓ NEW
Lesson 4: "Recording Payments and Managing Transactions" (Article 20) ✓ NEW
Lesson 5: "Generating Professional PDF Invoices" (Article 21) ✓ NEW
Lesson 6: "Sending Invoice Emails to Parents" (Article 22) ✓ NEW

Your Complete Fee Module Documentation:

Lesson #	Title	Status
Fee Lesson 1	Setting Up Fee Types	✅ Complete
Fee Lesson 2	Creating Fee Structures	✅ Complete (Article 18)
Fee Lesson 3	Generating Invoices	✅ NEW (Article 19)
Fee Lesson 4	Recording Payments	✅ NEW (Article 20)
Fee Lesson 5	PDF Invoice Generation	✅ NEW (Article 21)
Fee Lesson 6	Email Invoice System	✅ NEW (Article 22)

Complete Knowledgebase Progress:

Chapter	Lessons	Status
Getting Started	3 lessons	✅ Complete
Installation & License	2 lessons	✅ Complete
Multi-Campus Management	3 lessons	✅ Complete
Fee & Invoice System	6 lessons	✅ Complete
Communication	1 lesson	🚧 In Progress
Student Management	4 lessons	✅ Complete
Payroll & Expenses	0 lessons	⏳ Pending
Exams	0 lessons	⏳ Pending