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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Payment Invoices How Do You Handle This?
beachgrl 07:48 AM 09-21-2011
How do you handle keeping up with what parents pay?
Do you do a simple receipt book and hand them the copy each time they pay?
Do you keep track of it in an excel sheet or other type software for it?

I am trying to find a good method for this, thanks
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Blackcat31 07:51 AM 09-21-2011
How do you handle keeping up with what parents pay?
I use MMK and enter each families hours each week.
Do you do a simple receipt book and hand them the copy each time they pay?
I also keep a simple receipt book and do give parents one each time they pay me.
Do you keep track of it in an excel sheet or other type software for it?
I use MMK for all my book keeping. LOVE it!!
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JenNJ 07:56 AM 09-21-2011
I print out payment sheets and mark them each week when I am paid. I am old school. I like my info on hand so I can show parents if needed.
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daycare 08:00 AM 09-21-2011
I use mmk and email everything including reciept.
Also if you choose to use mmk online payment program everything is 100% paper free and automatically updates.
All of my invoices are created in mmk,emailed to the parent and then when it's paid by check or cash, I send reciept via email. Otherwise online payments will give them a reciept after they submitt payment.

I would not work without mmk. I love it.. Lol
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blessedmess8 08:01 AM 09-21-2011
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
How do you handle keeping up with what parents pay?
I use MMK and enter each families hours each week.
Do you do a simple receipt book and hand them the copy each time they pay?
I also keep a simple receipt book and do give parents one each time they pay me.
Do you keep track of it in an excel sheet or other type software for it?
I use MMK for all my book keeping. LOVE it!!
Minute Menu is where it's at! FOR SURE!!
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pfund2233 08:09 AM 09-21-2011
I also use Min Menu Kids! I was suggested it from someone on here about 2mo ago and I would dare be without it now!! LOVE IT!!!!
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beachgrl 08:14 AM 09-21-2011
What is MMK, is that minute menu or something else?
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
How do you handle keeping up with what parents pay?
I use MMK and enter each families hours each week.
Do you do a simple receipt book and hand them the copy each time they pay?
I also keep a simple receipt book and do give parents one each time they pay me.
Do you keep track of it in an excel sheet or other type software for it?
I use MMK for all my book keeping. LOVE it!!

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beachgrl 08:14 AM 09-21-2011
ahh, nevermind I see someone said what it was lol
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beachgrl 08:17 AM 09-21-2011
Originally Posted by pfund2233:
I also use Min Menu Kids! I was suggested it from someone on here about 2mo ago and I would dare be without it now!! LOVE IT!!!!
Is minute menu just used by those of you who do the food program? I haven't
decided yet if I am going to mess with the food program or not as it seems like a lot of hassle and with my drop ins right now no one would be here on time for a specific breakfast or even lunch for that matter for me to be cooking up entire meals for two kids whose schedules vary, it's too much. I know the food program uses minute menu for their menu submissions.

Does anyone use it just for keeping up with payments aside from the food stuff?
thanks all!
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sharlan 08:21 AM 09-21-2011
I don't use the food program, too many picky eaters.

I absolutely love the Minute Menu Kids program, though.
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blessedmess8 08:22 AM 09-21-2011
Originally Posted by beachgrl:
Is minute menu just used by those of you who do the food program? I haven't
decided yet if I am going to mess with the food program or not as it seems like a lot of hassle and with my drop ins right now no one would be here on time for a specific breakfast or even lunch for that matter for me to be cooking up entire meals for two kids whose schedules vary, it's too much. I know the food program uses minute menu for their menu submissions.

Does anyone use it just for keeping up with payments aside from the food stuff?
thanks all!
I use it for food program, but if I stopped the food program, I would definitely still use it! The Food Program is a small fraction of what I use it for.
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daycare 08:23 AM 09-21-2011
Originally Posted by beachgrl:
Is minute menu just used by those of you who do the food program? I haven't
decided yet if I am going to mess with the food program or not as it seems like a lot of hassle and with my drop ins right now no one would be here on time for a specific breakfast or even lunch for that matter for me to be cooking up entire meals for two kids whose schedules vary, it's too much. I know the food program uses minute menu for their menu submissions.

Does anyone use it just for keeping up with payments aside from the food stuff?
thanks all!
It is an accounting program that you purchase so to answer your question you don't have to be on the food program to use it.
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jojosmommy 08:28 AM 09-21-2011
I use MMK and chilcarepay.com. I do not provide my parents with weekly or any other type of invoice. I have offered but they never want them anyway. I give them a W-10 the last week in dec and when/if someone drops.
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pfund2233 08:29 AM 09-21-2011
I don't use any of the food program stuff as I'm not on it. I use it for the accounting stuff and keeping track of hours and payments!! Well worth the $70 for a year! Plus you get 30 day free trial to try it!!
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AnneCordelia 08:37 AM 09-21-2011
I use a simple receipt book and issue an receipt after every payment.

I also send an invoice out the day before payday. I know parents should remember on their own, and I shouldn't have to ask, but I find that it occasionally slips their mind and I've never had that happen once I started sending weekly invoices.
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emmajo 09:42 AM 09-21-2011
I'm so old-fashioned! Everyone hands me a check. I only give a receipt to one dkm who needs it for work reimbursement. It's just a Word file w/ "*** paid $______ to *** on ***date for childcare for *** from ***date to ***date."
6 on a sheet and I cut off one each week to give to her. At the end of the year I give each family an index card w/ their total paid - they sign a copy and I sign a copy and we each keep one. I have an Excel file for weekly totals paid to me, and another with a running total of what each family pays each month. Once I have this all set up it's easy to keep track, but it does sound like MMK is a lot of fun to use too!
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mismatchedsocks 09:52 AM 09-21-2011
Parents who give me a check do not get a receipt. they can get those from the bank if they need proof they pay me. I also keep track on microsoft money each week what is owed, how they paid and when. Each month I print out this sheet for their file, then add up the 12 months at end of year.

Parents who pay cash, and ask for a receipt get one. I keep this money also in microsoft money and write cash, and give families end of year statement at end of year. I have carbon receipt book for cases that may need it. My families are really good right now, each week they pay the same so there is no confusion, so I havent used a receipt in a year!
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beachgrl 10:18 AM 09-21-2011
Thanks everyone for the replies, I will check into the ones mentioned and see what will work best for me right now I have one fam that pays great and one that is kinda a hassle so I want to keep up with everything so it is clear for them in case they get mixed up because I sure wont, lol
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snbauser 10:40 AM 09-21-2011
Another MMK user here. I stopped providing receipts a few months ago in order to cut costs. I have 12 families and the cost of ink was killing me. So now I only have 2 that I give receipts for for their reimbursement. One of them I email a copy to and she pays monthly. The other I print out one because she pays by cash and pays an even amount whenever she owes anything and I have to enter it all in and figure out how much she will owe and when it will be due next.
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Meeko 11:03 AM 09-21-2011
I have used the Home Day Care Calendar Keeper (Tom Copeland and Redleaf Press) for years and years. It has a place to record attendance and payments and lots of advice on home day care. It has work sheets for taxes and areas to record business expenses. It's easy peasy to understand and I can whip it out to show a parent if they ever have a question. (Don't want to fire up my computer, have to print something out and have folks wandering into my office)
Attached: calendar.jpg (41.3 KB) 
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littlemissmuffet 12:11 PM 09-21-2011
Originally Posted by JenNJ:
I print out payment sheets and mark them each week when I am paid. I am old school. I like my info on hand so I can show parents if needed.
This is what I do to. And I only give ONE reciept at the end of the year, or upon termination of services. If a parent loses it and needs another, they are charged a $5 fee!
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pixsydust 01:40 PM 09-21-2011
I print two copies of each family's invoice. I give them one copy and I keep the second copy for my records. I use a self inking stamp that has "PAID, DATE, METHOD" on it and just fill in the blanks. I keep my copy in a folder with all my payments received as well as a summary sheet that I created in the front of the folder to write pay period, payment source, amount paid, and whether they paid by cash, check or direct deposit. The summary sheet is helpful if I just need to check an amount paid. It saves me from looking through all the invoices.
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2ndFamilyDC 10:37 AM 09-23-2011
I also use MMK..............couldn't function without it now.
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beachgrl 04:20 PM 09-23-2011
Good to get some ideas, may try mmk trial to check out what and all is included, thanks all!
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Tags:binder, invoice, mmk, receipt books, tom copeland
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