Columbia Basin Driving Academy got Tri-Cities tuition off the office counter

Columbia Basin Driving Academy serves Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland. Tom Brennan runs a tight office: two people at the desk, a handful of instructors, and a calendar that fills every summer. Tuition used to mean a card at the counter or a check in the mail.

Balances sat on a clipboard. Reminder calls happened when someone had a spare minute. Grandparents who wanted to help pay often had no way to do it without driving in.

"We are a small office. If someone is at the counter with a card, someone else is not answering the phone. That had to stop," Brennan says.

What changed

Families see the balance on the student record and pay from the app or a text link. Installments are set on the program. If a relative wants to cover a drive package, Brennan sends a guest link. No extra login, no extra trip to the office.

The school still offers in-person help for anyone who wants it. Most payments now happen before the family walks in, which keeps the counter free for enrollment questions and drive check-in.

In daily use

• Card payments from the parent or student account
• Installment plans on teen packages
• Guest links for family members who do not need an account
• Balance reminders that go out without a phone tree

Brennan says the office still feels like a family shop. The difference is the register is no longer the bottleneck. Staff spend the afternoon on the calendar, not on card terminals.