> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://harnesscalendar.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Accounts and students

> An account is the payer behind a student. Why you bill accounts, not students.

A **billing account** is who you bill: the payer behind a student.

## An account is the payer, not the student

A **student** takes lessons; an **account** pays for them. The account receives invoices and carries the balance, so you bill the account, not the student. Every active student belongs to at least one account, and adding a student creates their own account automatically.

## Shared and family accounts

A **shared account** groups several students under one payer. Mia and Leo both take lessons; the Chen family account covers them both, so one invoice at month end collects both kids' charges, and the balance belongs to the family, not to either child.

A student isn't limited to one account. The same student can be billed partly through a family account and partly through their own, for instance.

When a student belongs to more than one account, a **Lessons bill to** picker appears on their profile's **Billing accounts** card. It names the account that receives their lesson charges. Changing it only affects future charges; to move a charge that already exists, see [Understand your transactions](/docs/billing/understand-your-transactions).

To create a shared account, rename an account, or change who's on it, go to **Finances → Accounts**. See [Manage billing accounts](/docs/billing/manage-accounts).

## Who gets billed

Billing recipients are the **account's** contacts, set when you create or edit the account in **Finances → Accounts**. These are separate from a student's notification settings: a student's **Lesson details** and **Lesson schedule** recipients control lesson emails, not invoices. See [Contacts and notifications](/docs/students/contacts-and-notifications).