Education businesses are usually paid up front for delivery over weeks or months. That single fact shapes the books.
Revenue
Class or course revenue. One-to-one tutoring revenue. Enrolment or registration fees. Materials revenue where books or kits are sold.
Splitting one-to-one from group work matters because their margins differ sharply — group teaching spreads one instructor's cost across many students and one-to-one does not.
Deferred revenue is the central number
A term paid in advance, a ten-lesson package, an annual enrolment — all are cash received for teaching not yet delivered. It is a liability until the sessions happen — see deferred revenue.
A business that recognises it all on receipt shows a strong month at enrolment and a weak one every month after, while carrying an obligation it may already have spent. This is the most common accounting error in the trade and the one that causes real trouble when a student withdraws and asks for a refund.
Cost of delivery
Instructor and tutor pay, curriculum and materials cost, assessment and testing materials, and venue hire where sessions are held off-site.
Instructor pay per session is variable and moves with delivery. Salaried teaching staff is fixed and does not — which decides how a quiet term feels. See fixed and variable costs.
Overhead
Premises, booking and learning software, insurance, background checks, marketing, admin wages.
Background checks are a recurring compliance cost in this trade and worth their own line rather than being lost in general expenses.
What this setup gives you
The deferred balance — how much teaching you owe — alongside margin per delivery format, which is what decides whether to push group or individual work.