Glossary¶
Authoritative list of terms used across Feoda documentation. Always use these definitions consistently. When a term appears for the first time in a document, spell it out with the abbreviation: "Accounts Receivable Management (ARM)".
Feoda-Specific Terms¶
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ARM | Accounts Receivable Management — Feoda's solution for school billing, payments, and collections, built on Oracle NetSuite |
| Billing Configurator | ARM feature: Feoda's proprietary tool for mapping items (fees, discounts) to students based on configurable rules. A 9-tab NetSuite Suitelet covering segmentation, items, families, items-to-years mapping, exceptions, scheduling, payments, mid-year, and maintenance. Currently ~10% functional. Also supports CSV upload and Excel import as alternative input modes. |
| Billing Engine Type | ARM feature: a custom classification field on item records in NetSuite that categorizes items for the billing engine. Used by the configurator's segmentation tab to split items into charge and discount categories. |
| Billing Instruction | ARM feature: a custom record in NetSuite that serves as the master billing record per item per year level (e.g., "Student Year Fee 7"). Contains the item, year level, billing period, and engine type. Generated by the Billing Configurator or created manually via CSV import. |
| Billing Instruction Applied To | ARM feature: a child record of the Billing Instruction that maps a specific instruction to individual students/families. Lists every student/family that instruction applies to. |
| Billing Instructions | ARM feature: the collective set of Billing Instruction records that define exactly what each family is billed for — items, amounts, discounts, and billing period |
| Billing Order | ARM feature: a Sales Order used as a billing container in some implementations. Invoices are generated incrementally from the billing order (e.g., one per term). |
| Billing Profile | ARM feature: the parent container record for billing instructions. Equivalent to a "Subscription Plan" in other implementations. One billing profile per debtor/family. |
| EPM | Enterprise Performance Management — Feoda's solution for budgeting, forecasting, scenario modeling, and board reporting |
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning — Feoda's solution for financial operations (GL, procurement, HR, payroll, fixed assets), powered by Oracle NetSuite |
| Family Billing Profile | ARM feature: a custom record in NetSuite that stores the billing configuration for a specific family — items, amounts, discounts, and billing period |
| Payment Plan | ARM feature: customizable installment schedules for tuition and fee payments |
| RPS | Recurring Payment Schedule — ARM's automated payment collection mechanism. A daily scheduled script processes all RPS records whose processing date matches the current date, submitting to eway (credit card) or generating ABA files (direct debit). |
Oracle NetSuite Terms¶
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Bundle | A packaged set of NetSuite customizations (scripts, records, forms, workflows) that can be installed as a unit |
| Custom Record | A user-defined record type in NetSuite for storing data not covered by standard records |
| Customer Deposit | A NetSuite payment record representing an advance payment (e.g., enrollment deposits). In ARM, customer deposits are created through the enrollment module, not through RPS. |
| Debtor | The customer record in NetSuite that represents a family. Billing is always to the debtor (family), not to an individual parent. Each debtor has a unique ID and billing title. |
| NetSuite | Oracle's cloud-based ERP platform; the foundation of Feoda's solutions |
| NetSuite Next | Oracle's AI capabilities woven into the NetSuite platform — includes Ask Oracle, Smart Workflows, SuiteCloud AI |
| Saved Search | A NetSuite feature for querying and reporting on data using configurable filters and columns |
| Suitelet | A NetSuite SuiteScript-based external-facing form or page. In ARM, the payment suitelet is the secure page where parents view billing summaries and set up payments. |
| SuiteAnalytics | NetSuite's reporting and analytics engine |
| SuiteCloud | NetSuite's platform for customization and integration, including SuiteScript, SuiteFlow, and SuiteTalk |
| SuiteFlow | NetSuite's visual workflow builder for automating business processes |
| SuiteScript | NetSuite's JavaScript-based server and client-side scripting language for customizations |
| SuiteTalk | NetSuite's web services API (SOAP and REST) for external integrations |
| Undeposited Funds | A NetSuite holding account where direct debit / bank payments are placed before the school applies a deposit to move funds to the bank account |
Education Sector Terms¶
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Central | A Student Information System (SIS) used by some schools (e.g., Al Faisal). Provides student and enrollment data via API or CSV export. |
| CoA | Chart of Accounts — the structured list of all financial accounts used by a school |
| SIS | Student Information System — software for managing student data (enrollment, grades, attendance). Also known as SMS |
| SMS | School Management System — alternative term for SIS |
General Business / Technical Terms¶
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ABA | Australian Bankers' Association file format — a fixed-width text file used for direct debit (bank) payments. Contains school bank details, parent bank details, amounts, and reference codes. Must follow strict formatting standards. |
| ADR | Architecture Decision Record — a document capturing a significant architecture or technology decision |
| API | Application Programming Interface — a set of protocols for building and integrating applications |
| B Pay | An Australian electronic payment system that allows customers to pay bills using a reference number via their bank |
| CI/CD | Continuous Integration / Continuous Deployment — automated build, test, and deploy pipelines |
| eway | Payment service provider (merchant) used by Feoda for credit card processing. Verifies card details, processes payments in real-time, and returns authorization codes (code 00 = success). |
| GL | General Ledger — the master accounting record |
| Edstart | An Australian third-party education fee payment provider — available as a payment method option in Pymble's billing suitelet |
| Hypercare | Intensive post-go-live support period |
| JWT | JSON Web Token — a compact, URL-safe token used for SSO authentication. In Pymble's implementation, the parent portal passes a JWT to the Feoda payment suitelet to authenticate the parent without requiring a separate login. |
| OTP | One-Time Password — used for authenticating parent access to the payment suitelet (Saint Edwards, Al Faisal) |
| SSO | Single Sign-On — authentication mechanism allowing parents to access the Feoda payment suitelet through their school's portal without a separate login. Pymble uses SSO via JWT token. |
| PII | Personally Identifiable Information — data that can identify an individual (names, IDs, etc.) |
| PR | Pull Request — a code/documentation review request in Git |
| RAG | Retrieval-Augmented Generation — AI technique that retrieves relevant documents to inform responses |
| SIT | System Integration Testing — testing focused on verifying integrations between systems |
| SOP | Standard Operating Procedure — documented step-by-step instructions for routine operations |
| UAT | User Acceptance Testing — testing performed by end users to validate the system meets requirements |
How to add a term: Add it to the appropriate section in alphabetical order. Ensure the definition is concise and unambiguous. Update all documents that use the term inconsistently.