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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

paying in advance

18 replies

laura240 · 28/02/2006 11:34

Hi everyone
I am a newly registered childminder and have my first parents coming tonight to sign contracts.
I have just been reading the NCMA handbook and it advises that you take payment a month in advance.
Is this what is genrally done? I haven't mentioned it to any parents yet and am now worried it might put them off.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks

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Bozza · 28/02/2006 11:34

That's how I pay.

lexiemum · 28/02/2006 11:40

have always paid this way, then paid for any additional hours as I've needed them. Though with first cm I paid cash weekly at the end of dd1 sessions. I guess this is the best way to go so you don't end up with non-paying parents who still insist on childcare being provided.

BTw with the my new cm I discussed splitting the payment for feb and march exactly in half as I knew I couldn't afford to pay the larger amount in march as mat pay has run out - thankfully she was very accomodating.

saltire · 28/02/2006 11:44

Most childmiders do this. I have it written into the information sheet that i give out to parents, and =there is also a space on contracts for it, saying somethin like (cos i haven't got one to hand)
payment shall be made at weekly in advance - on first contracted day of each week or
monthly in advance on first contracted day of the month.

Any additions for extra hours shall be carried over to next month.

Bozza · 28/02/2006 12:00

My CM gives me an invoice on the first Tuesday of every month - it includes care for full weeks, so I have already paid for all this week (Tues to Thurs) on my February invoice. I will get my March invoice next Tuesday evening (DH does drop offs) and pay it next Wednesday evening.

HappyMumof2 · 28/02/2006 12:54

it's up to you. My parents pay weekly because I prefer it.

ThePrisoner · 28/02/2006 21:12

I don't ask for payment in advance because, when I first started minding, it wasn't something I'd even thought about. I know a few minders who have had the dirty done on them and have ended up not being paid, and they are now quite insistent on payment in advance.

uwila · 01/03/2006 08:50

When I used a childminder, she asked for payment in cash at the beginning of the week. A whole month (which equated to some £1000) in advance would have been very difficult for me at the time -- in fact yes it probably would have put me off.

And after I'd been there a while, I don't think I ever managed to show up with the money on Monday morning. So she usually got it more like Wednesdayish. But, of course she always got it. And with my long work hours I was a very good customer.

FeelingOld · 01/03/2006 09:43

I'm like the prisoner, I invoice monthly in arrears (except 1 parent who pays me every friday for the week I have just worked). I do this because most of my parents (I care for 8 part-timers) either work shifts or amount of hours on the days they come can vary so I find it easier to work out if I invoice in arrears. When I do my invoices I write on the bottom 'payment due by X/X/X' and give them 3 days to pay me, it is in their contract that if they do not pay by the date then I don't mind their kids until it is paid and I fine them £5 for every day they are late (never had to do this though). This method works for me and my parents.

nzshar · 01/03/2006 09:52

I will be asking my parents to pay weekly/monthly in advance. Know too many cm's that have been burnt by non payment.

saltire · 01/03/2006 10:00

One of my parents always pays weekly on the first day that i have the kids each week. The other pays me monthly in arrears, we came to this agreemnt because both her and her husband get paid on the last day of the month.
I have had two people who wouldn't pay in the past. With one i actually got as far as taking her to court and got her wages arrested, the other one, just the threat of court was enough.

Bozza · 01/03/2006 10:10

Well uwila if you had had your DD in a nursery you would have been paying upfront. Maybe because I was already used to this system it wasn't an issue when DS started with the CM.

uwila · 01/03/2006 10:24

Ah, but Bozza, I don't like nurseries. Much prefer a lovely childminder. If (before I employed a nanny) I didn't like a particular childminder, I would not go to a nursery, but another childminder.

uwila · 01/03/2006 10:25

I'm just pointing out that yes you could risk losing customers because they can't afford to pay a whole month in advance.

alibubbles · 01/03/2006 10:33

I take a months deposit when contracts are signed and a month in advance, yes it can be a very large sum - I don't ask for cash though! Too many childminders have been stung, by non payers. We have to pay out in advance for food, toys, materials, cleaning stuff etc.

Nurseries expect a deposit and a month in advance, and a standing order, you also pay all day irrespective of the hours used, unless you book for half days only.

Did you know that parents can get the childcare voucher whilst on maternity leave, so that is a big saving for them. A new client has been claiming the vouchers since the baby was born last year, and these have been using these to pay the retainer. baby starts full time next week.

Bozza · 01/03/2006 10:44

Well fortunately for me alibubbles my nursery deposit was only £50 or I would have struggled with that. I paid no deposit or retainer for the CM so was quite happy to pay in advance - really it is only the first month that is the issue here, isn't it? Also since the CM was only before/after school 3 days it is not that large a bill. I see the argument for the CM needing supplies etc.

HellyBelly · 01/03/2006 18:29

All mine pay in advance whether they are weekly or monthly. None of them expected any different! :)

Booh · 01/03/2006 19:22

In advance too, invoice given a week before the end of the month and payment expected on the first day of the month! One uses the voucher system so money goes into my bank acocunt. Today has been a great day!!!!

It is the same as a nursery, and if parents can not afford it to start off with then I will make some kind of arangement. But there are too many non-payers out there!

Tinker · 01/03/2006 19:26

I pay at the end of the week.

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