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Documentation Index

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Elimu Bora integrates directly with Safaricom’s M-Pesa through the Daraja API. This means guardians can pay school fees via M-Pesa without needing to visit the school in person, and the system updates the invoice automatically once payment is confirmed — no manual entry required. There are two ways M-Pesa payments can flow into your school:
  1. STK Push (Lipa Na M-Pesa) — you initiate a payment prompt from the system to the guardian’s phone
  2. C2B (Customer to Business) — the guardian sends payment directly using your school’s paybill or till number

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STK Push — School-initiated payment

With STK Push, you trigger a payment request from inside Elimu Bora. The guardian receives a pop-up prompt on their phone asking them to enter their M-Pesa PIN to approve the payment.
1

Open the student's invoice

Navigate to Finance → Invoices and open the invoice you want to collect payment for.
2

Select Pay via M-Pesa

On the invoice page, click Pay via M-Pesa to open the STK Push form.
3

Enter the guardian's phone number

Type the guardian’s M-Pesa phone number. Make sure it is in the correct format.
Phone numbers must be in the format 2547XXXXXXXX — starting with the country code 254, followed by the 9-digit number without a leading zero. For example, 0712 345 678 becomes 254712345678.
4

Confirm and send the prompt

Review the amount and click Send Request. Safaricom sends an M-Pesa prompt to the guardian’s phone within seconds.
5

Guardian approves the payment

The guardian enters their M-Pesa PIN on their phone to approve. Once they confirm, Safaricom sends a callback to Elimu Bora automatically.
6

Invoice updates automatically

The invoice status updates to reflect the payment — no manual entry needed. A PDF receipt is emailed to the guardian automatically.
If the guardian declines the prompt or does not respond before it times out, the payment is not recorded and the invoice remains Pending. You can send another STK Push request or ask the guardian to pay via the paybill directly.

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C2B — Guardian-initiated payment

With C2B payments, the guardian pays directly from their M-Pesa menu using your school’s paybill or till number. This works even without any action from the school side.
1

Share the paybill details with the guardian

Provide the guardian with:
  • Your school’s paybill number (or till number)
  • The student’s admission number as the account reference
2

Guardian pays via M-Pesa

The guardian opens M-Pesa on their phone, selects Lipa Na M-Pesa → Pay Bill, enters your paybill number, uses the student’s admission number as the account number, and enters the amount and their PIN.
3

Invoice updates automatically

Once Safaricom confirms the transaction, Elimu Bora receives the payment and matches it to the student’s invoice using the admission number. The invoice status updates immediately and a receipt is sent to the guardian.
Guardians must use the exact student admission number as the M-Pesa account reference when paying via paybill. If the admission number is entered incorrectly, the system cannot match the payment to the student and the invoice will not be updated.

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What happens after a successful M-Pesa payment

Regardless of whether the payment came through STK Push or C2B:
  • The invoice balance is reduced automatically
  • The invoice status updates (Pending → Partial or Paid)
  • A PDF payment receipt is generated and emailed to the guardian
  • An in-app notification is stored for your finance team
All M-Pesa transactions are logged in the system for audit purposes, including the transaction reference code and the payment details confirmed by Safaricom.

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Frequently asked questions

First check that the guardian used the correct admission number as the account reference (for C2B payments). If the payment was made but not matched, contact your Elimu Bora system administrator to look up the transaction in the M-Pesa logs and manually reconcile the payment.
STK Push sends a prompt to one phone number per request. If a student has more than one guardian linked, you will need to choose which guardian’s phone number to use for each STK Push.
You can also record payments made by Cash, Bank Transfer, Card, or Cheque. See the Recording and Tracking Invoice Payments page for details.