Arizona ESA Invoicing: How to Bill a Class That Spans Two Quarters

Your fall enrichment class starts September 9 and runs through mid November. Some of those sessions fall in the Arizona ESA first quarter, which ends September 30. The rest fall in the second quarter. If you send one ESA invoice for the whole class, ClassWallet will not be able to pay it in full, because it can only draw on the funds sitting in a family's account for the current quarter. The fix is to bill the class one quarter at a time, and the way to do that reliably is to set the offering up for quarterly billing from the start rather than trying to split a single invoice after the fact.

Why a single invoice does not work across quarters

ESA funds load into a family's ClassWallet account once per quarter. The 2025-2026 ESA Parent Handbook lists the funding dates, and second quarter funds are deposited between October 15 and October 31. Unspent funds roll over, so nothing is lost, but the money for October sessions is simply not in the account in September.

ClassWallet pays an invoice against what is available at the time ESA staff approve it. A September invoice that also bills October and November sessions asks ClassWallet to pay from money that has not arrived yet. In practice that invoice stalls or comes back for correction. The handbook also requires every invoice to itemize the services with their dates of service, so an October session listed on a first quarter invoice has nothing to draw on until second quarter funds land.

The clean approach is one invoice per quarter, each listing only that quarter's session dates.

The Arizona ESA quarters

The handbook divides the year into four quarters:

• First quarter: July 1 through September 30
• Second quarter: October 1 through December 31
• Third quarter: January 1 through March 31
• Fourth quarter: April 1 through June 30

Funds for each quarter are deposited in the back half of that quarter's first month. First quarter funds load between July 15 and July 31, second quarter funds between October 15 and October 31, and so on.

What about the October 31 deadline

The October 31 and January 31 dates you may have heard about are the ESA debit card transaction deadlines. If a family pays you with their ESA debit card and does not submit documentation by then, they can be required to repay the undocumented amount. Reimbursement submitters have until the end of the contract year.

ClassWallet Pay for Services, the direct vendor payment method most enrichment teachers are paid through, has no quarterly submission deadline. The family uploads your invoice, ESA staff approve it, and ClassWallet pays you in 2 to 10 business days. Send each quarter's invoice within that quarter or shortly after it closes anyway, so the session dates stay current and the family's funds are still there.

One note on where this guidance comes from. The handbook does not spell out how to handle a class that runs across two quarters, so this is a gray area. The steps below reflect how quarterly funding works and what experienced ESA teachers do, not a written ADE rule. If a family's situation is unusual, confirm with ADE at ESACallCenter@azed.gov or 602-364-1969, or ask your ClassWallet contact.

Set the offering up for quarterly billing, not a one-time split

If you know a class will run across a quarter boundary, the right move is to set that offering's billing to per quarter when you create it, rather than pricing it as one flat course total and trying to divide it into two invoices later. A flat, whole-course price is meant to be billed once, in full. Once that single invoice goes out, there is no second invoice to send for the same enrollment. Trying to send a follow-up invoice for the same student on a flat-priced class will be rejected as a duplicate.

Quarterly billing solves this the way it is meant to be solved: each quarter is its own billing period, and you invoice one period at a time as it comes.

1. When you set up the offering, choose per-quarter billing instead of a flat course price.

2. Set the per-quarter price to what you want to charge for a quarter's worth of sessions. If a quarter has fewer sessions than another (a class that starts mid-September has only a few first-quarter dates and a full second quarter, for example), price each quarter for what it actually covers rather than splitting one flat total evenly.

3. As each quarter arrives, invoice your ESA families for that quarter from the Students tab. Only that quarter's session dates go on the invoice, and the amount is the quarterly rate you set in step 2.

4. Repeat the next quarter. Each period gets its own invoice, and a period that has already been invoiced cannot be billed again for the same student, so there is no risk of accidentally double-billing a quarter.

5. Mark each invoice paid once ClassWallet releases the funds to you.

If your class continues into a third quarter, the same setup carries you through it. There is no limit to how many quarters a per-quarter offering can run.

Common mistakes

Pricing the class as one flat course total when it actually spans a quarter boundary. A flat price is billed once, in full, for the whole course. If sessions cross into a second quarter, that single invoice either has to bill for funds that have not loaded yet, or it leaves you with no way to invoice the remaining sessions afterward. Decide up front whether a class is a single flat-priced course or a per-quarter offering, based on whether it stays inside one ESA quarter.

Sending the second quarter's invoice too early. If you invoice a quarter before its funds load in the back half of that quarter's first month, the invoice has nothing to draw on yet. It shows as unpaid and can read as a missed payment.

Session dates that cross the boundary on one invoice. An invoice that lists a session from the next quarter cannot be paid from the current quarter's funds. Keep each invoice's dates inside one quarter.

Forgetting a later quarter. The first quarter gets billed and a later one gets missed. Put a reminder on your calendar for mid October, mid January, and mid April, whenever your recurring classes are running.

Assuming the October 31 deadline applies to every family. It applies to ESA debit card purchases. Pay for Services invoices are not on that clock. Bill promptly anyway.

Setting classes up to make this easier

You can avoid the quarter boundary entirely on some classes by keeping them inside one quarter. A six week class that runs through October and November stays in the second quarter and can be a simple flat-priced offering. A class that starts in mid September and runs eight weeks will cross into October regardless, so plan for per-quarter billing from the start rather than after the fact. Either way, keep your session list dated and current, so quarterly invoicing always has the right dates to work from.

If you are still setting up your vendor account, our guide on what to do before fall enrollment covers the pieces that need to be in place first. For every field a ClassWallet invoice has to include so it does not get rejected on a technicality, see ESA invoice requirements for Arizona enrichment teachers.

Common questions

Can I send one ESA invoice for a class that runs all semester?

Not if it crosses a quarter boundary. ClassWallet pays from the funds in a family's account for the current quarter, and each quarter's funds do not load until the back half of that quarter's first month. Set the offering up for per-quarter billing so each quarter gets its own invoice with only that quarter's session dates.

Can I split a flat-priced class into two invoices after I have already sent the first one?

No. A flat-priced course is billed once, in full, for the whole enrollment. If you need to bill in more than one pass, set the offering up for per-quarter billing before sending the first invoice, not after.

When do second quarter ESA funds become available?

The 2025-2026 handbook lists second quarter funding dates as October 15 through October 31. Wait until funds are deposited before sending a second quarter invoice, so it can be paid rather than sitting unpaid.

Does the October 31 ESA deadline apply to my invoices?

The October 31 quarterly deadline is for ESA debit card transactions. If your families pay you through ClassWallet Pay for Services, the standard method for enrichment providers, there is no quarterly submission deadline on your invoices. Send each quarter's invoice promptly anyway so the dates stay current.

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