Payments: Square Cash? Brightwheel? Etc.

[CityGarden]

I have been using Brightwheel for payments but have several new students starting this summer and don't want them to use Brightwheel. (I plan to faze out Brightwheel in my program all together.)

I need an payment method parents can use every month, ideally electronic but my credit union does not offer "quick pay" etc.

I'd like something where I can send them the payment request / invoice. Most of my clients are part-time and I allow them to add extra days if space is available, I also allow two weeks vacations at no charge each year with 30-days notice so the tuition amount can slightly be different. Also all my parents want receipts so even if they did a bank transfer or check they would still want a receipt.

Should I just use Square Cash and **** up the fee? Is there a better alternative? Are the fees a tax write off? If I do bank transfers instead what would I use to do the invoice/payment request and receipt....? What do I give to parents to set up bank transfers?

[Meeko]

I love Venmo! I love FREE!!

have always got my money the next day

[Laurie]

Venmo is quick, but you don't have a way to send invoices or receipts.

There are other programs like brightwheel that would have what you're looking for. Google "Daycare software" and a bunch will pop up.

I'm curious why you don't continue with brightwheel? I love it and so do my parents.

[CityGarden]

Venmo is quick, but you don't have a way to send invoices or receipts.

There are other programs like brightwheel that would have what you're looking for. Google "Daycare software" and a bunch will pop up.

I'm curious why you don't continue with brightwheel? I love it and so do my parents.

The couple parents I have that tried Brightwheel love it but as a provider I have found I don't want to do individual daily notes ---- which is the main appeal for the parents, I only like the billing.

My group is 2+ years, bring their own lunches and we follow a consistent daily schedule so it feels like a waste of my time to input sleep, naps, poops, etc. for each child - I found I like Shutterfly Share Sites better to communicate with a group (what centers the children were interested in, class journal logs, etc.) vs individual updates. I also find Shutterfly is quicker to update and has more of the features I wanted ---- except billing. Most my children are 2 or 3 days per week so when full I will have 12 families and I just find Brightwheel takes too much time.

[CityGarden]

I love Venmo! I love FREE!!

have always got my money the next day

Venmo is quick, but you don't have a way to send invoices or receipts.

Yes I have heard good things about Venmo but I need to send invoices / receipts.

[Laurie]

That makes sense and thanks for explaining. I haven't come across anything that only does billing. You could continue to use brightwheel, but only the billing section. I would imagine you don't have to use the other part. Just a thought

[Alwaysgreener]

Yes I have heard good things about Venmo but I need to send invoices / receipts.

You can request money with Venmo and and they can use their email confirmation or Venmo know as proof of payment. When you request money just write what it's for child care services and the dates.

Another option is wave.com, it is also free. You create invoices with your day care name, it also has other accounting features. I have not used it, I found out about it recently and open account, just playing around with it at this point.

[hwichlaz]

Yes I have heard good things about Venmo but I need to send invoices / receipts.

I use venmo for daycare all of the time.

I send a money request...and there is a notes section...so I put...

June 2017 child care for Grace
$600

You can add more detail if you need to. Or you can send an email invoice from whichever office program you use (I use microsoft office 2013) and a note at the bottom with the date payment is due and please pay cash or Venmo.

[CityGarden]

UPDATE:

Just a PSA - due to the holiday weekend a payment that was made at 3pm on Friday did not even get sent to my credit union account from Brightwheel until late Wednesday.....

This was the first time Brightwheel has taken this long, I emailed and they said it is normal due to the holiday weekend.

[bklsmum]

I am thinking about offering one of these payment options to my families. Guess I'll be spending my weekend researching them all. Do you guys eat the fees or pass them on to your families?

[CityGarden]

I am thinking about offering one of these payment options to my families. Guess I'll be spending my weekend researching them all. Do you guys eat the fees or pass them on to your families?

With the exception of this holiday weekend payment I have been very pleased with Brightwheel for billing and payments.

Right now it is still free for me because I only allow bank transfers (no credit cards) but soon those will also require a fee of under $1.00 per invoice. I would likely cover that fee if I continue with Brightwheel, it would be $12-16 per month for me max and I could write it off, I believe. I would suggest you check your state guidelines though, my state does not allow you to charge cc fees to the person who is purchasing - I know mine does not but I do not accept cc, the fees are to $$$ for me to want to cover.

My consideration to not continuing with Brightwheel is that I am finding I would rather do class updates vs individual (Brightwheel to me is more for the individual) and I want something I can update both on the app as well as the desktop/laptop. If I continue with Brightwheel it would be for billing and sign in/out only.

[Alwaysgreener]

With the exception of this holiday weekend payment I have been very pleased with Brightwheel for billing and payments.

Right now it is still free for me because I only allow bank transfers (no credit cards) but soon those will also require a fee of under $1.00 per invoice. I would likely cover that fee if I continue with Brightwheel, it would be $12-16 per month for me max and I could write it off, I believe. I would suggest you check your state guidelines though, my state does not allow you to charge cc fees to the person who is purchasing - I know mine does not but I do not accept cc, the fees are to $$$ for me to want to cover.

My consideration to not continuing with Brightwheel is that I am finding I would rather do class updates vs individual (Brightwheel to me is more for the individual) and I want something I can update both on the app as well as the desktop/laptop. If I continue with Brightwheel it would be for billing and sign in/out only.

For whole class updates try an app called Remind. A school teacher mentioned it to me. I liked it but I needed individual not group.

Another plug for Venmo, My DCF paid after closing Thursday. My transfer said it would take til Monday. The next morning it was in my account.