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5 Reasons A Hosted School Management System Makes Sense For Schools

Teacher with his pupils in classroom using tablet pc

Your school management software is your school’s engine room, so choosing whether to host it on-premises or in the cloud is a significant decision. Hosted school management systems (SMS) are becoming more popular as decision-makers see the value in shifting from traditional, server-bound solutions to flexible, internet-based platforms.

This blog explores five reasons why a hosted school management systems is a smart choice for schools in 2025 and beyond.

1. Cloud-based school management software is cost effective

Managing your school’s SMS on site requires a large initial and ongoing investment in IT infrastructure. These servers and data storage facilities are expensive to buy, require regular maintenance and upgrades, and should be replaced every 3-5 years.

With a hosted school management system, the software provider takes care of the IT expenditure and complex technology tasks. Schools pay a subscription to use the platform and can scale up or down as required, eliminating SMS-related capital expenditure and providing cost certainty. In this way, using a cloud-hosted school management system will strengthen your school’s cash flow management.

2. Hosted school management systems offer cutting-edge security.

With cyber threats continually on the rise and the education sector a popular target for cybercriminals, it’s crucial that schools protect sensitive student, family and payment information with robust data security measures. While some schools have the expertise and resources needed to manage this in-house, most are unable to provide an equivalent level of security to cloud-based solutions.

A hosted SMS is one of the most secure ways to collect and store data. Platforms like FACTS School Management offer multiple layers of security to keep your school’s information safe, ensure only authorised users can access the system, and proactively monitor for unusual activity that may signal a cyberattack. FACTS is hosted on Microsoft Azure and is protected by Cloudflare.

3. Cloud-based school management software reduces the IT workload.

Transitioning to a hosted school management system relieves pressure on your IT department. With specialist external teams handling server maintenance, upgrades, security patches, backups and monitoring, your IT resources can prioritise more strategic tasks. Rather than getting bogged down in the day-to-day of infrastructure management, they can focus on opportunities to leverage technology to drive efficiency and boost learning outcomes across your school.

4. Hosted school management systems are accessible anywhere.

Cloud-based school management software lets staff, students and families access information from anywhere, anytime, via a secure login.

Whether teachers are writing reports from home, taking attendance remotely during an excursion or camp, or checking a student’s medical information during an offsite swimming carnival, they’ll have access to up-to-date information, and their changes will be reflected in the system in real time. Likewise, students can access homework, assignments and study materials wherever they are.

5. Hosted school management software is scalable.

One of the most significant advantages of a hosted SMS is its scalability. As your school grows or needs change, cloud-based systems can flex to accommodate more users, faster bandwidth, or greater data storage requirements.

By paying only for the services and resources your school needs right now, you can avoid spending more than necessary on systems and equipment to support future needs, such as growing enrolments.

Hosted school management systems like FACTS offer a flexible, secure and scalable solution to schools looking to reduce the cost, complexity and risk of their operations. By choosing a cloud-based SMS, schools can spend less time and money managing complex IT infrastructure and focus instead on elevating the education experience.

When it comes to school billing, tuition fees are the headline event. However, schools generally manage a vast number of incidental payments across their operations. From enrolment fees to charges for camps, excursions, sports and music programs, extracurricular activities, fundraising and more, coordinating irregular and one-off payments creates a significant amount of work for schools using a manual approach.

FACTS Forms allows schools to manage recurring and ad hoc payments via a secure digital platform. Intuitive and highly customisable, it supports schools to transition from manual, paper-based systems and processes to a streamlined electronic approach that offers a range of benefits.

In this blog, we explore four ways FACTS Forms can transform your school’s approach to billing.

1. FACTS Forms enables efficient payment management

Managing permission and payments for irregular or one-off school activities creates a significant administrative burden – particularly if the area managing the event does so infrequently. Double-handling and errors are common, and reconciliation is often patchy at best.

FACTS Forms empowers schools to collect permissions and payment instantly and securely, supporting them to operate more efficiently and professionally while saving families time and hassle.

FACTS Forms has given De La Salle College an easy, digital means of presenting programmes and activities to our community and a user-friendly and efficient payment platform. We use FACTS Forms for payments including enrolment fees, private music tuition, school camps, extracurricular activities, fundraising, and even selling obsolete school supplies like laptops.

Joseph Gehrig

Business Manager

De La Salle College

2. FACTS Forms embeds secure payments school-wide

Schools collect a vast amount of data about their students and families. Managing incidental payments using paper-based processes exposes them to potential data breaches – particularly considering the education and training sector is one of the top 5 sectors targeted by cybercriminals. Likewise, schools accepting over-the-counter payments by cash or cheque are at risk of theft or fraud.

FACTS Forms offers level-1 PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certification – the highest level of data security compliance – giving schools and families peace of mind that their personal and payment information is always secure.

3. FACTS Forms provides an elevated parent experience

Paper-based processes create an unwanted burden for families, too. If a notice about an upcoming excursion or event makes it out of a student’s school bag, parents must often complete the form, organise payment, and arrange for the notice to be returned to school. That’s if it’s not lost on the kitchen bench or completely forgotten about!

FACTS Forms lets families click a link in an email or SMS to complete digital forms and make payment instantly for school events, excursions, extracurricular programs, fundraising, and more. 24/7 accessibility and a wide choice of payment methods provide them with a convenient and modern way to pay for ad hoc expenses throughout the school year.

FACTS Forms in action

FACTS Forms has transformed registration and billing for De La Salle College’s private music tuition program – a highly manual process with multiple touchpoints across different school departments is now completely digital. Families receive a link by email, which allows them to complete the required paperwork electronically and make payment instantly from their mobile device at a time that’s convenient for them.

4. FACTS Forms supports the creation of unlimited forms with no submission limits.

FACTS Forms offers industry-leading flexibility via an intuitive, easy-to-use platform. It’s quick and easy to customise forms with your school’s logo, colours, and images, and add and edit relevant fields for families to complete.

FACTS Forms supports unlimited users, empowering staff across the school to use the platform to streamline their administrative processes. From the business office to sports and music departments and the fundraising committee, users can create forms in minutes to facilitate efficient management of ongoing and once-off payments.