Hank Systems

The Challenge

Hank Systems is an automation platform built specifically for tutoring businesses. It handles student management, tutor scheduling, parent communications, billing, and reporting — all the operational complexity that tutoring companies deal with daily.

When we came on board, the platform had a complex codebase that needed stabilisation. The existing code had accumulated technical debt, making it difficult to add new features without introducing bugs. At the same time, the business needed several critical new features delivered to keep up with customer demand — particularly around billing automation and accounting integrations.

The challenge was dual: stabilise what exists while simultaneously delivering new functionality.

Our Approach

We took a methodical approach — stabilising the foundation first, then building on top of it.

Codebase stabilisation: Before adding any new features, we audited the existing codebase to identify the most problematic areas. We refactored critical paths, improved error handling, added logging for debugging, and resolved the issues that were causing intermittent failures. This was not glamorous work, but it was essential — building new features on an unstable foundation would have made everything worse.

Stripe billing integration: We built a comprehensive billing system using the Stripe API. This included subscription management (different plans for different tutoring business sizes), automated invoice generation, payment processing, failed payment handling with retry logic, and customer billing portal access. The integration handles the full billing lifecycle without manual intervention.

Xero accounting sync: Financial data flows automatically from the platform to Xero. When a payment is processed through Stripe, the corresponding invoice and payment are created in Xero. This eliminates the manual bookkeeping that was eating hours every week and ensures the books are always current.

New automation features: We delivered several automation features that tutoring businesses had been requesting — automated session reminders, parent notification workflows, and scheduling optimisation tools. Each feature was designed to reduce the manual coordination work that tutoring administrators spend most of their time on.

Ongoing feature delivery: Rather than a single big delivery, we worked in iterative cycles — building, testing, deploying, and gathering feedback. This approach meant the business could start using new features sooner and we could course-correct based on real-world usage.

Technology Stack

• Frontend: React for a responsive, interactive admin interface
• Backend: Node.js for API services and automation processing
• Payments: Stripe API for subscription billing and payment processing
• Accounting: Xero API for automated financial reconciliation
• Database: PostgreSQL for reliable, scalable data storage
• Automation: Custom workflow engine for scheduling and notification automations

The Outcome

The platform is now stable, reliable, and actively receiving new features. The Stripe integration handles billing automatically, the Xero sync keeps the books current without manual entry, and the automation features save tutoring administrators hours of manual work every week.

The codebase stabilisation work paid dividends immediately — new features could be built and deployed with confidence, without the fear of breaking existing functionality. This allowed us to move faster and deliver more value over time.

We continue to work with Hank Systems on ongoing feature development and platform improvements.