What we believe,
and what we won’t do.
Why this product exists, who it's for, and the lines we will not cross.
Why this product exists
Independent microschool operators are running schools and a back office at the same time. They opened a one-room school because they wanted to teach. They learned, the hard way, that the part of the job nobody warned them about is the part that decides whether their families get the money they are owed and whether the school is still open at the end of the year.
The ESA money flow is where most of those hours and dollars go. Quarterly invoicing has to match how a state ESA program actually pays. Approved-vendor status has to be in place before any money flows. Per-state reporting deadlines, if missed, delay or block the next disbursement. Families are partly ESA-funded and partly out of pocket. Some states require attendance for eligibility. Today this lives in a spreadsheet, a chat thread, and a payment portal in another tab.
CohortLedger is the back office for that work. We invoice, we track, we document. We never touch the money.
You became an
accidental administrator.
You opened a school. Then the paperwork opened back. Six different jobs, all of them part-time, all of them due at the same time.
Funds typically arrive between the 15th and 30th of the first month of each quarter, then take 5 to 10 business days to settle. One late report can push that into next quarter.
- 01
Quarterly ESA invoicing
Invoices have to match how the state actually pays, four times a year, not monthly.
- 02
Approved vendor status
Before any money flows, you have to be registered and approved in your state's system.
- 03
Per-state reporting deadlines
Miss one and your next disbursement is delayed, held back, or blocked entirely.
- 04
Mixed-pay families
Some are partly ESA-funded and partly out of pocket. The math is not on the form.
- 05
Attendance for eligibility
Some states require it for ESA. The portal will not remind you, and it does not forgive.
- 06
A spreadsheet you fight with
Today this lives across a spreadsheet, a chat thread, and a payment portal in another tab.
Built for the operator,
not a network of operators.
Three rules we will not break. The product is independent, it is shaped around the money flow, and it ships per-state from day one.
- I
Your school, not a franchise.
Software for the microschool you run, not a network you join. No revenue share. No required programming. No ranking.
§Your name on the door, your tuition, your families.
- II
Built around ESA money.
Quarterly invoicing that matches how ESA actually pays. Received, pending, partial, and out-of-pocket, tracked for every family, every state.
§Real awards: $10,474 TX TEFA. $30,000 TX special needs. $8,000 UT Fits All. ~$7,500 AZ ESA.
- III
Compliant in your state.
Per-state vendor registration, reporting deadlines, and attendance requirements, with alerts that arrive before the deadline does.
§TX Odyssey (TEFA). AZ ADE ESA Portal. FL Step Up EMA. UT Odyssey. Pre-loaded.
What the work
demands.
An operating company you can reach, a clear data posture, and dated records you can hand a state reviewer.
- iOperating company
Reachable, accountable, in the US.
Incorporated in the US, terms and privacy policy published, DPA on request. A person answers email.
- iiStudent data, considered
Built with student data in mind.
Operator-facing back office, not a place children log in. We never touch your ESA money; it flows through your state's platform. Records stay dated and exportable, and a plain-English privacy policy you can hand a parent.
- iiiDated records
Audit trail by default.
Every invoice, attendance entry, and compliance check is timestamped and exportable. Hand a state reviewer a clean trail, not a screenshot of a spreadsheet.
Our position
We are software for the operator of an independent school. We are not a network they join. We are not a payment processor. We are not a certifying body. We are not an authorized administrator of any state ESA program.
We work alongside the platform their state already uses, including ClassWallet, Odyssey, Step Up, Student First, and EMA. We help operators stay organized, paid, and compliant, with dated records they can hand to a state reviewer.
What we will not do
- We will not take a cut of your ESA disbursements. Those funds flow through your state’s platform. We never see them.
- We will not sell student data.
- We will not use student records to train AI models, ours or any third party’s.
- We will not display advertising to children.
- We will not turn into a network. Your school is yours.
Founder note
CohortLedger exists because the operators we talked to were undercompensated, overstretched, and inheriting a back office that was not their job. The product they wanted is the product we are building. If you run an independent school and there is something we are missing, write to us.