Ledger Lines
Who paid, who missed, who is owed a makeup. On your phone, in five seconds.
A ledger for private music teachers who teach on their own and get paid by Venmo, Zelle, cash or check. Parents get a plain email. Nothing for them to log into.
Pre-order. First version ships by November 9, 2026. Full refund any time before it ships, no questions. Prefer to wait? Get one email when it opens.
| Student | Slot | October | Lessons | Makeups |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maya R. | Tue 4:00 | Paid, Venmo | 3 of 4 | 0 |
| Theo K. | Tue 4:30 | Not yet | 2 of 4 | 1 owed |
| Lena and Sam N. | Wed 5:00 | Paid, check | 4 of 4 | 0 |
| Priya S. | Thu 3:30 | Paid, cash | 3 of 4 | 1 owed |
Sent to Theo's parent, 4:58 pmLeft hand is getting steady on the Clementi. 2 of 4 October lessons used, 1 makeup owed, October not paid yet.
Mock-up of the first version. The real screen will look close to this.
How it works
- Paste in your spreadsheet. Students and weekly slots, done in a minute. Or type them in.
- Mark the lesson as it ends. Taught, no-show, cancelled, or makeup used. One tap, from your phone, with bad signal too. When a family pays, tick who paid and how.
- Send the parent one line. A short note plus the balance goes by email, with a link to a plain page. No account, no app, no password for them.
Every balance stays right: lessons paid, lessons taught, makeups owed, per student. Notes are kept for as long as you teach them. It runs in your phone's browser and sits on your home screen like an app. No app store.
How it compares
- Octavia Free archives lesson notes after 3 months and keeps billing, family sharing and makeup booking in Pro, $180 a year. Here notes stay, and the balance is the whole point.
- My Music Staff is about $203 a year for one teacher, built for studios with a family portal. This is built for one teacher, and the family side is one email.
- Square Appointments books the lesson but never knows who owes you a makeup or a note.
- Your spreadsheet works until the makeups pile up. This is the same sheet with the makeup logic and the parent note built in, on your phone.
Prices and features checked October 15, 2026, on each product's pricing page.
If you need online card payments, invoicing or a family portal, My Music Staff and Octavia do that well. This is the ledger for teachers who don't.
Questions
- Does it touch my money?
- No. Families keep paying you the way they do now. You tick who paid. There is no card processing, no percentage and no per-teacher fee.
- Do parents need an account?
- No. They get an email with a link to a plain page. Nothing to download, nothing to log into.
- Is it for me?
- Yes if you teach on your own, about 15 to 40 students, and makeups and "who paid for October" keep slipping. Not yet if you run a studio with several teachers. The first version has no invoicing, no card payments, no practice app and no student portal. Calendar sync is an iCal feed. Parent notes go by email only.
- What happens to my data if you shut down?
- You can export everything to CSV at any time, from day one. You buy one year of access, not a lifetime promise. If Ledger Lines ever closes, the read-only parent pages stay up.
- What if it is late?
- If it has not shipped by November 9, 2026, you get a full refund without asking. You can also ask for a refund any time before it ships. Write to info@clearstepsolutions.work.
- Who is behind it?
- Clear Step Solutions, a one-person software studio, not a teacher. Replies within two days, usually sooner. Payment is handled by Lemon Squeezy, the seller of record, who also handles tax and receipts.
Pre-order, or wait for the email
Ships by November 9, 2026. Full refund any time before it ships.
Prefer to wait? Email me when it opens
This opens your email app. Add how many students you teach if you like. One email back when it opens. No newsletter, no sharing.
Terms, in short
- Ledger Lines is provided as is. Liability is capped at the fees you paid.
- It is a teaching ledger, not a tax or accounting record. Keep your own records for tax.
- You buy one year of access. Pre-orders are fully refunded on request any time before the first version ships, or automatically if it misses November 9, 2026.
- Your data is yours. Export it to CSV at any time.
Privacy, in short
- We store what you enter: students, slots, attendance, payments ticked, notes and parent emails. You control it; we process it for you.
- Delete your account and your data is really deleted, not hidden.
- No third-party analytics or ads on your data. This page counts visits with a cookie-free, privacy-friendly counter only.
- Card details are handled by Lemon Squeezy. We never see or store them.
- Questions or deletion requests: info@clearstepsolutions.work.