Lesson 4: Collect fees on time

VCVidya Coaching CentreLesson 4 of 6 · 15 min

Goal: Monthly fee reminders, and an instant thank-you when a parent pays.

1st of the month, 10:00Fee sheet: get rowsFor each studentWhatsApp reminder

You'll learnSchedule triggerIteratorApp triggers (Razorpay)

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The situation

Instalments are due on the 5th. On the 1st I start calling parents, about 120 of them, and I’m still calling on the 10th. When a parent pays through the Razorpay link, I find out from the dashboard, update the sheet, and send a thank-you by hand.

Ravi, Accounts · Vidya Coaching

This lesson builds two small agents that work together:

• Kabir sends the reminders on a schedule.
• Tanvi reacts the moment a payment arrives.

Part 1: Monthly reminders (Kabir)

This workflow has no form to wait for. It starts on a schedule, reads the Fees due sheet, and sends one WhatsApp per student.

1. Create an agent from Start from scratch. Name it Kabir, job Send fee reminders every month.
2. For the first step, choose Schedule (Auto Appy) → Get Monthly Schedule. On Configure, set Specific Dates (Month) to 1 and Time (24-hour format) to 10:00.
3. Add Google Sheets → Get Row(s) from Sheet. Choose the Fees due spreadsheet (Spreadsheet ID), the Worksheet Title, and a Range such as A2:F200.
4. Add Iterator (Auto Appy) → Iterator Over Array. In Choose Array, map the rows from the previous step. Everything after the Iterator now runs once per student.
5. Add Auto Appy WhatsApp → Send approved template with a fee_reminder template. Map the parent’s phone, the student’s name, the amount and the Razorpay payment link from the current row.

autoappy.com/workflows/…Sample data

Kabir: on the 1st at 10:00, read the sheet, then one WhatsApp per row.

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Schedule options

Schedule (Auto Appy) offers five ways to start:

Action	Starts the workflow
Get Daily Schedule	every day at a time
Get Weekly Schedule	on chosen week days at a time
Get Monthly Schedule	on chosen dates each month at a time
Interval Schedule	every N minutes, hours or days
Create Single-Time Schedule	once, at a date and time

Loops multiply tasks

Every step after an Iterator runs once per item. 120 students × 1 WhatsApp step is 120 tasks, plus a few for the schedule and the sheet. Only fetch the rows that need a reminder: keep a Status column and give the sheet a filtered range or tab of unpaid fees.

Part 2: Thank parents the moment they pay (Tanvi)

Razorpay can tell Auto Appy about every payment. The triggers live in the Razorpay (Legacy) app; the newer Razorpay app holds actions such as Create Payment Link.

1. Create an agent named Tanvi, job Thank parents when a fee is paid.
2. For the first step, choose Razorpay (Legacy) → Payment Link Paid.
3. The Setup tab shows the webhook URL and Razorpay’s own setup instructions: in the Razorpay dashboard go to Settings → Webhooks → Add New Webhook, paste the URL, tick payment_link.paid under Active Events, and click Create Webhook.
4. Click Start Capturing Sample Data, and make a small test payment through a payment link.
5. Add Google Sheets → Update Google Sheet Row to mark the instalment as Paid.
6. Add Auto Appy WhatsApp → Send approved template with a fee_received template: “Thank you! We’ve received ₹{{1}} for {{2}}’s fees.”

autoappy.com/workflows/…Sample data

App triggers come with step-by-step setup instructions.

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autoappy.com/workflows/…Sample data

Tanvi: payment in, sheet updated, thank-you out.

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Which row to update?

Update Google Sheet Row needs a Row Number. Store each student’s row number (or a fee ID) in the Razorpay payment link’s notes when you create it, so it comes back with the payment. Or look the row up first with Lookup Google Sheet Row using the parent’s phone.

✍️Try it yourself

1. Change Kabir to run on the 1st and the 4th (a second nudge before the due date).
2. In Tanvi, add a condition so the thank-you only goes out when the payment status is captured.
3. Work out the monthly task count for 120 students with two reminders and 100 payments.

Answer to 3

Reminders: 2 runs × (1 schedule + 1 sheet + 1 iterator + 120 WhatsApp) ≈ 246. Payments: 100 × 3 steps = 300. About 550 tasks a month, well within the free Starter plan.

What you learned

• Schedule triggerStart a workflow on dates and times instead of events.
• IteratorRepeat the next steps once for every row in a list.
• App triggersApps like Razorpay call your workflow; the Setup tab shows how.
• Tasks and costLoops run steps many times, so filter before you loop.

Next: Answer parents' questions with AI →

🎓 For trainers: how to teach this lesson

• Contrast the two triggers: Kabir is driven by the clock, Tanvi by an event. Ask the class for one more example of each from their own work.
• Do the maths on the board: students × steps = tasks. It makes plan choice concrete.
• Safety: test Kabir with a sheet that has only two rows (your own numbers) before pointing it at the real fee sheet.