When do you get paid? And sickness charges?

[peggy]

hi everyone!

I've looked through the old threads and couldnt find any on this question! But when do you get paid?

Do you allow the parent to pay you on the day that they get paid, or do you ask them to pay you at a date which is more convienient for you?

Or do you do it from a week / month from the day they start?

The other thing i was gonna ask, is if the minded child if off sick, do you charge them? I'm not gonna charge for my or my own childrens sickness, I would charge for the parents sickness and they choose not to send them to me, but wasnt sure about the child, especially if you've said no way hose are i minding them!!

I'm in a process of drawing up my contract, i just want to have EVERY eventuality covered!

thanks xx

[susan]

Hi Peggy,

I charge monthly, although I do not charge in advance as I no some childminders do. I charge from the day they start till end of the month and then begin a full month along line with other contracts ( does that make sense! ) so if they started on say the 15th I'd bill them from then until the end of the month and then each month thereafter would be a full month.

Sickness/Holidays - I charge a full fee for parent/child sickness and holidays but no fee if for any reason I am unable to have the child due to family sickness or holidays as they have to arrange other childcare which may be charged for.

Hope this helps

Susan

[lou]

hi peggy,
i charge monthly in advance. i also insist that i recieve it in cleared funds by the 1st month so if they want to give me cheque then i need it at least 3 working days before the 1st, it is not your problem when their pay day is, it is their responsibility to budget accordingly. OOh sorry that sounded grumpy.
In regards to sickness yes you must charge,(in my opinion) by charging in advance i am already paid for the month so have already been paid if they are off sick.
I make it a general rule that if i am available but the child doesnt come then full payment is required, after all i cant fill that space and would loose money otherwise.
anyway hope some of that is helpful.
Lou x

[peggy]

thanks girls, gosh i really dont know what i would do without this site, it really is so fab!

but i'm abit confused, i am absoultely useless when it comes to getting my head around money!!!

Ok, i think i've decided i'm gonna charge a months deposit and retain til end of contract, when i use to take of the final bill.

Say they come to be on the 15th of the month, and i wanna be paid on the first, am i right in saying that on the 15th they pay me the one months deposit?

Then on the first of the month i charge them for the period from the 15th to the end of the month?

Then the 1st of the following month i charge them for the whole month - yes?!! So i would be paid in arrears? argh!!!

[susan]

Mmmmm ....

think so it does get confusing doesnt it.

I dont charge in arrears I take a weeks fee as a deposit till contract is terminated then would deduct it from the final bill.

xxx

[angeldelight]

Hello Peggy

I let my parents pay weekly or monthly whatever they prefer
I always have it in advance though on the Monday of their first week

If they are here weekly then they pay on a Monday morning
If monthly they also pay on the Monday - they then pay me for the 4 weeks that I am going to be minding

I do not get paid on the same day each month by a montly payer
If you know what I mean ?

I think some do it like that though month to month , a set date ?
But I do not

If a child is off sick then yes they still must pay
If I need the day off for sickness or any other reason I do not charge

It is best to make all your rules clear when you see a new parent
Also to put it in your contract that fees still must be paid in full if ill or on holiday

I think everyone else covered this for you but there are some other threads about it somewhere if you read through them I am sure you will find them

Angel xx

[jules]

It sounds right what you want to do.

I charge a month in advance so for example, on 30th June the Mum's transfer the money straight into my bank account. This will clear in about 3 days. If I am sick during July, I then take that money off August's fees. So if they give me a month's notice they have already paid me so no not paying the notice amount.

If my children are ill, I tend to still have the mindees as my kids are older and stay upstairs in their rooms. My son who is 15 has got shingles at the moment and although some of the little ones haven't had chicken pox, they are still coming. I did, however, tell the parents and it was their choice to send them. Toby is spending most of the time upstairs in his room or in the spare room on the computer so he hasn't had any direct contact with the little ones. He has been off school for a week so far and will still be off for most of this week as well I think.

He is in quite a bit of pain with it, but is not really ill so he is getting really bored. Thank goodness for computer games!!

[Pauline]

I make payment arrangements at the time of signing the contract. Some parents prefer to pay weekly, some monthly. Some pay cash, some pay cheque, one pays by bank transfer and some even pay with childcare vouchers.

Choose the method that you are happy with so if it suits you then that 's fine, but one thing to be certain of Peggy, is ALWAYS get paid in advance never arrears!

I charge full fee for the child's absence (unless their parents are teachers and off during the long holidays then it's half fee)

I don't charge if I am not available due to illness or holiday.

[deeb66]

Hi

I agree with Pauline - it is always best to get paid in advance.

Bearing in mind that most companies pay their employess around 25th of the month (some a little later I know) I ask to be paid on 1st each month in other words as soon as they are paid they action the transfer to my account so that cleared funds are there on the 1st.

If a child was to start mid month say 15th then I get them to either give me cash or cheque to cover from 15th to the end of the month and then start paying directly to my account as from the 1st of the next month.

If a parent is paid weekly and wants to also pay me weekly then that is fine but I expect the monies on a Monday morning (but have been known to accept payment on Friday's)

If a parent would prefer to pay me by cash then that is fine it is payable on 1st of the month. If they want to pay by cheque again that is ok but I need to have it in my hands 5 working days before 1st so that I can bank it and be cleared by 1st of the month.

I do charge for their sickness/holiday but not my own. As I am paid in advance any adjustments are made to the following months money this includes extra's I have worked or money I have to deduct as I did not work on a particular day.

I know that it all sounds really confusing but you have to work out what and how you need the money and try to negotiate with the parent so that they are also happy and can realistically make their payments on the time you have agreed. It's no good insisting on a payment date with full knowledge that it is well before they get paid otherwise you will have constant problems!.

I hope all this makes sense.

Dee

[susi513]

I like to give parents the choice of payday - if they have to pay me right after their own pay date there's less chance of them having difficulty paying my bill! I do make clear that although they have chosen their pay date they cannot change it without giving me 4 weeks notice - as this means cancelling current contract & issuing a new one.

Also this way, i have lots of paydays! That doesn't suit everybody - if all your bills are direct debits at the beginning of the month you'll maybe prefer to have all your payments in at the same time.

I get a months deposit at the beginning of the arrangement which I keep until the final day of childcare to cover the notice period in case of any problems.

Advance payments are always best. If you have any issues about late payments or disagreements about how the bill was calculated etc its far easier to discuss with payment in YOUR bank. Its easier to decline a request for a refund than to request a payment that hasn't been made.

If they lose their job or have any personal issues you sympathise with, some childminders have waived/reduced fees - if you've already been paid you don't have to consider that option.

[susi513]

With sickness I think its common to charge if you are open and the child/parent is sick and to waive fees if you are closed (ie they've got to take time off work or pay another childcarer).

Sometimes I've opened while dd has been at home - if she's had headache etc but doesn't have diarrhoea/sickness or anything infectious and can stay in her room without needing my undivided attention. In this situation I explain to parents that dd is at home and give them the choice of sending child as normal or keeping their child at home. I explain that I will contact them if dd's condition worsens ie, if I feel their child is at risk in any way or dd needs my attention and I can't provide qualilty care for their child.

If they choose to keep their child at home for this reason I don't charge because thats what I would expect from a childminder if I was the parent - I would expect my own opinion on what constitutes a risk to my child to be respected by the childminder.

Other childminders I know do charge because they consider they have made the effort to open and the service was available to the parent.

[peggy]

i'm still not clear! Sorry it is me, my mind cannot handle money matters (this is my biggest biggest worry about childminding coz, admitedly i'm thick when it comes to maths!) Bear with me......

So if i charge a month or a week as deposit, this techinically means they are paying in advance coz i've retained a whole months/week pay in case they decide to a runner, if they dont i use the deposit for the final month/week of the contract am i right in thinking this?!

So say they start on the 1st of July - they give me a months deposit up front, and then on the 1st of August, I'll invoice them for service i provided from the 1st July til the 31st July?? yay? have a got it?!!

Have i covered myself adequately in the way i'm thinking?

sorry for being such a dimwit, but i do struggle with things like this, i just need to be confident about what i'm doing!!!

[deeb66]

I think you are still confused Peggy either that or I am - lol!!!

I am trying to work out exactly what you want to do....you said

Ok, i think i've decided i'm gonna charge a months deposit and retain til end of contract, when i use to take of the final bill.

also

So say they start on the 1st of July - they give me a months deposit up front, and then on the 1st of August, I'll invoice them for service i provided from the 1st July til the 31st July?? yay? have a got it?!!

If you want to hold a months deposit until the end of contract then that will be ok if you can get the parent to agree to it as it could be a considerable amount of money but if this is the case and they agree and the child is due to start with you on 1st July then you need to charge them 2 months money, the first as your deposit and the second as your months fee as you really want to be paid in advance and not arrears - does this make sense?

Let me give you an example of what I would do but obviously it is up to you .........

If a parent signed a contract on 10th July and child was due to start on 1st August. I would charge £350 deposit on the understanding that if child started on agreed date then money would be deducted from first months money. If the child did not start or the contract was terminated before child started then the £350 would be mine.

So if Augusts fees were £500 take £350 deposit and present a bill for Augusts money to be paid on 1st August but of course they would only have to pay £150 as you had already taken £350 deposit

......Good lord I am starting to confuse myself - lol!!!!!

I hope this makes sense Peggy

Dee

Dee

[angeldelight]

Crikey you have confused even me now Dee haha

Only kidding you explained it very well just hope everyone else understand haha

Hope you are ok Dee?

Angel xx

[deeb66]

Yeah I am fine thanks Angel - ticking along as usual!!!

Know what you mean about confusing....it is easy to explain in spoken word but it took several attempts when I was typing it as I couldn't get it right and was even confusing myself....I hope it does make sense to everyone else - lol!!!!

Have to wait and see.....probably start getting messages along the lines of "what is that woman talking about?" ;D ;D

Dee

[lorri]

Oh no Dee! I'm confused now! I was kind of getting it but now I'm confused too!

I also have a major mental block with anything like this and I need to get my head round it so I don't confuse any parents!

Basically, if a child starts on say 15th of July you would charge one month in advance (if arranging to pay monthly) plus from 15th to 31st July for normal charges? Then on 1st August you would charge 1st Aug to 31st Aug and so on only using the months deposit for the final payment at end of contract?

Yes?

Please say yes!!! Ha ha!

Lorri

[peggy]

Ok... i think what i'm gonna do is charge a month in advance and charge a smaller deposit fee?! I'm just thinking that if i started work tomorrow it would be impossible for me to get together two months childminding money before i'd even been paid! Am i being soft here? I just dont want to make things difficult before i've even begun!

Ok, so perhaps half deposit and a full month or week in advance I(dependent on how they pay) ......i'm gonna have to re-write my contract !

Bloomin heck... this is difficult all this!! I'm gonna go back over the other threads for some more guidence coz i'm sure i've already discussed this - its just so difficult to know what to do, specially when you've never done it before, i just dont want to be stiched up!

Thanks girls though for all your advice, its really giving me something to think about!!

[peggy]

hang on hang on!! Dee! I've got it what your saying !!! By jove she's got it !! I'm gonna do that !!!

That way i cant loose at all, and i'm being fair to the parent as well, they will just have to borrow some money, aint my problem is it?!

[peggy]

sorry, what i meant to say was that instead of retaining the deposit for the end of the month they can use it for their first bill, thats the bit that's clicked with me!

Lol ! thanks again - i'm gonna go now before i cause any more trouble!!

[jen]

Have an parents ever paid by standing order? A parent has enquired about this and i'm unsure whether it will work or not.

Because some months have 4 weeks and some have 5 it will differ each month and also the 1st of the month may sometimes be in the middle of the week.

is cash or cheque better?

If that makes sense?

I'm trying to get my head round this money thjing too and i can honestly say my head is hurting! lol

Also i will be using NCMA contracts - do i write all of the extra info people have mentioned on there or do i do a seperate one?

sorry to be a pain

jen

[angeldelight]

I am sure Dee gets paid by standing order Jen

She will more than likely be on later so maybe she can help you

You are not a pain and you only get to find out these things if you ask

I get paid cash and cheque but I would imagine that standing order is a good idea

Angel xx

[susi513]

For standing order you need to work out the anticipated cost over the next 52 weeks, allowing for holidays and if there are different hours/fees in holidays then divide by 12. I have a couple that do this and I give them a termly statement so if any adjustments are needed they pay or I refund at the end of each term. If they book any extra hours though, i usually get payment for those hours at the time of booking.

I have others that I bill calendar monthly and they get a much higher bill in 5-week months.

[lou]

The other thing you can do is, online banking.

One of my parents does this, basically i gave her my bank details, and when i give her the invoice, she just does a bank transfer on the internet. Its dead easy and beacuse she has set it up, all she has to do is change the amount accordingly eaach month.

just an idea x

[deeb66]

peggy said:

sorry, what i meant to say was that instead of retaining the deposit for the end of the month they can use it for their first bill, thats the bit that's clicked with me!

Yes Yes yes by jove she's got it!!!!!!

That's it exactly Peggy ;D ;D ;D

Dee

[deeb66]

jen said:

Have an parents ever paid by standing order? A parent has enquired about this and i'm unsure whether it will work or not.

Because some months have 4 weeks and some have 5 it will differ each month and also the 1st of the month may sometimes be in the middle of the week.

jen

I work out a six months forecast for each parent so that they know exactly how much they will have to pay me each month.

As it is for 6 months I obviously give them 2 each year

January - June
July - December

All parents pay me via on line banking or telephone banking which means that I give them my bank account details and they set them up as a Bill Payment on their bank account - it cannot be set as a standing order as yes the amounts vary from month to month depending on how many of their working days there are in that month.

Once they have set the Bill Payment up they only have to instruct the bank how much (which they can change every month) and on what date but obviously they have to do it manually every month.

In the past I have been very trusting and advised the parents that they must action the payment 3-4 working days before 1st of the month to make sure I get my money on time. A few months ago I had a problem where 1 or 2 of my parents would forget and I didn't get paid so I told them all that I would text them all on the day I expected the payment to be actioned to remind them which would ensure I would get paid on time.

I have to say this has worked really well and I am really happy with the system.

Hope all this helps

Dee

[deeb66]

lorri said:

Oh no Dee! I'm confused now! I was kind of getting it but now I'm confused too!

I also have a major mental block with anything like this and I need to get my head round it so I don't confuse any parents!

Basically, if a child starts on say 15th of July you would charge one month in advance (if arranging to pay monthly) plus from 15th to 31st July for normal charges? Then on 1st August you would charge 1st Aug to 31st Aug and so on only using the months deposit for the final payment at end of contract?

Yes?

Please say yes!!! Ha ha!

Lorri

Lorri

I don't think you would get any parent to agree to pay you a large deposit and you hold on to it until the end of the contract as their contract with you could potentially last for years.

Peggy said it really well so I will try to expand on what she said

1) you take a large deposit (which helps to cover you costs just in case they back out of the contract).

2) It is always best to be paid in advance rather than in arrears.

3) Deduct the deposit money from the first months fee's which means that providing the parent goes ahead with the contract it hasn't cost them extra money nor have they lost anything.

4) If a child starts mid month then the deposit may have just paid for that period (to end of month) but on the day they start give them the bill for the next month so that you can be paid on the 1st (in advance!!!)

Example - Child due to start 16th July

I would

1) On day we signed contract I would ask for large enough deposit to cover all working days from 16th July to end of month - for ease lets say this is £300.

2) if child started on 16th as agreed then they wouldn't have to pay me as their deposit covered 16th to end of month.

3) couple of days after the child started I would give the parent my bank account details and present a bill/invoice for August money as I would expect to be paid on 1st August (cleared funds in my bank account)

I hope all this makes more sense to you

Dee

[susi513]

Just to say that I keep deposits until the last day of childcare and parents haven't had a problem with this - just the same as if you rent a house really!

I do this because twice in the past I haven't been fully paid for the notice period - its much easier to refuse a refund than to pursue non-payment! And i've something to dip into if they fall behind with payments.

If a parent does tell me its a problem to pay it all at once I would offer to spread the cost across the first few payments til they're paid up.

The only snag is that I have to put through these payments as income for tax purposes even though technically the money is not mine to spend.