To ask for help figuring this out?

[GoBrookeYourself]

I might be being a bit thick but I wondered if anyone could help me understand our nursery fees. DS is due to start school in September so we’ve given notice for his last day as the end of august. When we first started nursery, we paid a month in advance and the bill period is for the next month (so we’ve just received the bill for 1st-31st august). I presumed we wouldn’t have anything to pay this month as next month is his last month, but we’ve received our usual amount. I queried this and was told that it would be next month we wouldn’t have anything to pay as that’s the month we paid the extra one for when we started DS, but it doesn’t make sense to me as surely next month would be for September when he’s not even there.

I tried asking them to explain but we seemed to be confusing each other, so I just wanted to know how it works before I make myself look any sillier

Wait I think I understand! I feel silly now I think I get it

It's OK.
One bill covered May as you were doing it, everyone else would have paid in April.
The other bill was a month in advance for June.
So ever since then you have paid for the next month during the last 2 weeks of the previous month.
Roll around to now. In mid June you paid for July. In mid July (ie now) you will pay for August. In mid August you would normally pay for September, but DS is leaving so you won't.
So from your last bill (now) you will get 6 weeks childcare and no bill to pay as you have paid it all in advance. It may feel like a 'free' month as no bill to pay, but of course it isn't really.

You didn't have a deposit like in renting houses, you have just been doing what they say, paying in advance.

I think your confusion is because you paid two bills in May, you think you paid double. But actually you just paid the bill for May "late", presumably due to them having to set you up on the system etc. Their billing terms are one month in advance, but for the first month you paid in arrears, but from then onwards you were billed at the correct time, and paid one month in advance.
So payment for August sessions is due in July.
No payment is due in August, as he is not attending in September.

It makes absolutely perfect sense to me, but I'm not sure if I'm explaining it clearly.

Thank you everyone, especially @mrsm43s for the explanation, Now to find out if I did pay a deposit.

I doubt you paid a deposit, given that they were billing you in advance, but who knows.

Thank you @TeenMinusTests, I don’t recall paying a deposit either but they’re quite adamant we did and that it’s come off our first bill. But I agree, it looks unlikely!

Is it possible you paid a deposit when you put his name down for the nursery? I guess that was some time in advance rather than just when he started?

Yes, I might have done just can’t remember! I’ll look back on bank statements. Thank you again for helping, I have a feeling I’d never have understood the way they were explaining and it would have bothered me forever!

Did you pay a deposit to reserve the place? That might have been some time before he actually started.
(Possibly their normal procedure is to charge a deposit when the place is reserved, refundable on the first bill, but you didn't sign him up for that nursery until close to him starting, when it was actually time for them to start billing you anyway, so they didn't bother with the deposit in your case.)