childminder wont take childcare vouchers any more

[tryingtosleep]

our childminder just wants cash from now on!

dont know what to do as she's lovely - but the childcare vouchers are a lifesend!

also - not really sure if it's all a bit dodgy???

Have there been issues with paying the vouchers on time such that the funds were in the childminders bank account by the payment date?

Has she told you why she won't continue to accept the vouchers?

My childcare vouchers are notoriously late... if I didn't have a husband whose salary came in on time every month I would be late EVERY month paying bills. So I can see why some CMs don't use them. They are no benefit to us whatsoever.

But then you could pay via bank transfer or cheque... why specifically cash? I would also wonder tbh.

JP - I think they are of benefit to you, as if you don't take them parents like me are likely to think twice about reserving a space. It is a lot of money for the parent. However, I completely appreciate it must be extremely annoying to not be paid on time.

The delay payment can be dealt with though, by using a voucher to pay part of the following months fee... rather than using it for paying the same months care as it was issued.
So if parent gets voucher at end of June, it's used to pay Julys invoice - so could be given to childminder mid-July so it clears by end of July.

The onus is on the parent to pay on time, if you have been late then that will be the reason.
You need to transfer the vouchers a week in advance of the money needing to arrive in the childminders account, It can take at least 5 working days, you should allow 7.
If you have not got enough vouchers saved in advance, you should use cash to get yourself in advance.
All my parents pay in advance with vouchers and i find them brill.

Why has she stopped accepting them?

If my CM stopped I'd have to find another CM as CV make childcare actually affordable for us. Fortunately she is very happy to be paid this way as it's minimum fuss and if the provider ever mucks up I am on to them asap and ensure CM is never out of pocked.

I would not want to pay CM in cash unless fully invoiced/receipted.

I always reccommend that parents save up the first months before they begin the contract, as they can be a pita especially compuserve (busybees), I've had nothing but aggro with those, the rest are fine though. I have told my parents that I will not be taking compuserve, when the current users finish.

Some of my parents have switched to other providers as a result. Most CM's get paid in advance, so I issue invoices on or around the 20th for the next month, payment is then due on the 1st.

atworknotworking - I use computershare (busy bees) because it's what my employer offers... I have absolutely no choice in the company that I use. I have asked employer... it was a clear no - and apparently I'm "very lucky" that they offer childcare vouchers service at all! . However I saved up a month before using them and as a result they are always on time. They come out automatically on the same day every month and enter cm's account at least 2 days before her pay date. I have an extra month's worth in my childcare vouchers account at all times just in case I need it. And I always pay a month's fees in advance.

JenniPenni when I interviewed cms, if one didn't accept childcare vouchers, I simply ended the interview and explained that it would not be possible to use their services. I know many other parents who are the same. So, I would say that they are a benefit to cms.

OP If cv's help you afford childcare and not using them is going to put you in financial stress, just switch cms. I'm sure she's lovely and your kids are comfortable...etc. but they will be absolutely fine - you'll find someone else just as lovely, it's just the change that is hard. There are plenty of lovely amazing cms out there - just look on this board - you'll see several here daily... I would have sent my ds to any of the cms on here in a heartbeat if I lived near them! I love my cm now soooo much. If she stopped accepting vouchers, I'd be gutted and worried about ds adjusting, the change...etc... but I would just have to find someone else I'm sure he'd be fine in the end because I would re interview and find someone lovely.

Don't understand,

I get handed the vouchers once a week by mindees parents, then I phone them through and a few days later the money is in my bank.

It's the only way I'd want to accept vouchers.

Can't you do it like that too ?

oh, as if that wasn't long enough I'd never pay anyone in cash unless there is a detailed and signed by her receipt every single time. It's weird she wants cash. I guess if it goes through her bank then it's taxed?

pinksmarties - I give the whole £243 at the start of each month (a few days before). On computershare it's just set up to automatically go out of my voucher account and into cms. CM had to set up herself online, too - and she gets the voucher the next day. I set this up to come out a few days early just in case anything happens. She always get it early - would you not accept it this way as well??

JenniPenni - I don't know why I'm so bothered by your comment that vouchers are of "no benefit to you whatsoever." um, well, It's money for the job you have done. And a lot of parents depend on them. It's still money from our paycheque, just taken out before tax. I save £70 per month by doing it this way. And I depend on that. Many parents do.

thanks for all your messages - both my husband use them and they are always been paid on time (except one time when they messed up)

she says she just wants cash because otherwise she said it affects her husband's pension - he gets less pension if she gets our money paid into her account - so she says???

Her hb's pension is dependent on her earnings??? So does that means she's going to pull a fast one and not declare? Otherwise how does it matter where the money comes from?

I'd be very tempted to find another CM as this leaves you out of pocket up to the tune of 2.4k a yr.

I am well aware of the benefits for parents, hence me accepting them (I accept from 4 different voucher co's), no quibble. Just wish they were a tad more payment friendly for CMs. It definitely would be an incentive for more CMs to accept them.

I've started (4 weeks ago) with a parent using computershare (busy bees). I received an e-mail saying money was in account but when checked my mini-statement it wasn't. Phoned busy bees and they say it takes 3-4 working days to clear - so effectively I'm in arrears.

I think this could be a reason for reluctance to use vouchers.

Also, a lot of my parents have paid me cash - it's not dodgy or anything - as long as you give them a receipt it's ok. A lot of people still like to work this way.

I know the vouchers save parents money but not every parent is entitled to any benefits or has a voucher scheme at their workplace - so they have to pay cash.

We have an amicable deal with CM whereby at the start of the month we estimate how much we'll be paying her that month, deduct vouchers (both dh & I get max amount) & pay her the difference in cash - the vouchers then clear by electronic transfer (mine) & physically being banked (dh).

Every school hols we reconcile the accounts - usually we've over-paid so CM credits us.

If CM preferred not to wait for the vouchers we'd just pay her the full month & then credit the vouchers against next month, but after 6 years & 3 kids we're all v relaxed about it.

I can't think why your CM's earnings would affect her dh's pension, UNLESS she's going to stash the cash & not declare it. Sounds decidedly iffy, tbh.

she says she just wants cash because otherwise she said it affects her husband's pension - he gets less pension if she gets our money paid into her account.

Any accountants or other people in the know about such financial matters know if this is true or not. Pension Credit - reading this it does sound as though a partners income would be taken into account... but for a Childminder their Income would be the Profit wouldn't it, rather than turnover.

But whether that income's vouchers, cheques, bank transfer or cash, she'd still be declaring it as income, surely?

If her income, as his partner, is supposed to be taken into account, then if she's taking cash only & not putting it through her account then I'd really be inclined to assume that she wasn't going to declare it.

Which opens up all sorts of cans of worms re: her registration & insurance, doesn't it?

I wouldn't accept it - I'd happily agree to pay cash in advance & then off-set subsequent vouchers to keep her cashflow viable, but cash under the table like this comes across as very dodgy.

everyone knows it takes a few days for vouchers to clear... so everyone who uses them should schedule them to be paid to the carer at least a week before the carer expects payment. Simple.

The cash thing sounds really dodgy and dishonest on cms part. I would just look around for another cm.

Vouchers come out of parent's paycheques before tax. So, while it saves a bit of money, the paycheque is still lower because the amount has been deducted. So it would be difficult for a parent to pay in cash if something went wrong with the voucher as the money is already gone from their earnings and what they have budgeted for.

Easy answer is to save up at least a month in advance in voucher account and make sure it's transferred to carer at least a week before payment is expected from carer.

I think I must be in the minority in my locality in doing a tax return!

When I mention doing it online I often get blank looks (and I am sure its not because they still submit the paper return!!)

I suppose it is possible as one of them doesn't do much minding that their net profit falls below the personal allowance so perhaps in those circumstances, you do not need to do a return - especially if she has no savings or other income.

The other minders are all fully Ofsted registered and have their public liability insurance in place and in fact two of them received "Good" Ofsted reports last year - they just don't seem to declare their income.

I did actually report one of them a couple of years ago but I got the distinct impression from the lady at Inland Revenue that they had far "bigger fish to fry".

My accountant does my tax returns.

Shocking. What a shame people don't just do things by the book. I hope they get found out.

I get 10 childcare vouchers a month from various clients, topped up with direct payment to the bank.

I HATE computershare,( Busy Bees) as far back as 7 years ago. They are useless, incompetent and inefficient.

I have often threatened to refuse to take them. Busy Bees paid me compensation on several occasions for late payment. I charge my parents a late payment of £5 a day, I invoiced BB for it as it was their fault.

The problem is their default payment date is the 1st of the month, if a parent gets paid on the 26th, they are keeping that money for 4 days and getting interest on it, before triggering the payment, my May payment, because of the bank holiday and then a weekend took 10 days to get to my account.

I have asked the parent to ensure that it is sent to me to reach my account by the 1st of the month, they have changed the payment date to the 26th now.

I charge my parents a late payment of £5 a day

Yeah I'd heard that they hang onto payments for a few days too, one of my parents contacted them about it as they ended up with an overdue amount one month. They were not impressed that Compushare were holding onto their money.

I appreciate that many parents need the benefits that vouchers bring, but seriously why do they hold onto payments that arn't theirs, I've never had this problem with any other voucher provider I accept and I take 3 others as well.

WRT CM only wanting cash, I would say that you need to use the voucher system, she will understand the benefits taxwise, and insist that any balance you pay in cash is fully reciepted by her.

I used to pay my childminder with busybees vouchers by electronic transfer and it was very hit and miss! I paid her each week what ever I owed, which was different at times so didn't pay in advance. Sometimes it took a day and other times it took 5 days and seemed to just depend on how busy they were!

I am now a childminder and I accept whatever people want to pay me by. I give a week to pay once I have invoiced the parents, at an interval that suits them- weekly, fortnightly, four weekly and monthly. If there is any problem they can talk to me about it but most of mine have paid within the week. To be honest it's not really a problem if its late as I have money in my account from the last year which is to pay my tax bill when I get it and this years is already building up so there is always an excess if I don't get my pay quite in time.

Cash only is a bit dodgy and as others have said I really don't see how it affects her husbands pension at all. But it doesn't mean she's not a good childminder or that she doesn't have registration or insurance just that she's not declaring all of her income which is a different issue in my opinion.

If you really can't afford to pay her cash just explain that to her and she can choose if she wants your custom or not! It is a pain to have to look for someone else and to resettle your children but if you can't find a solution to suit you both then that's what you'll have to do