IF you have a parent that uses flex pay and you get it by mail, what are your rules about it.

I have agreed to it in the past and it worked out perfect for the family, but I have a new family that is being a little difficult about it.

just wondering what your rules are with flex pay??

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What do you mean by flex pay?

I have families that use a flexible spending account where they decide at the beginning of the year how much they want with held from their paychecks to cover daycare but what my families do is pay their child care costs to me themselves and then take the receipts I issue and request to be reimbursed themselves.

Another family I have that uses it just brings me a form every 3 months or so and has me fill it out verifying the child care costs etc and the flex account people send them a check.

I receive NO money directly from the flex account and I don't allow families to pay me after they get reimbursed. They are required to pay up front like everyone else and get reimbursed through their flex people.....it has nothing to do with me other than me providing a signed paper every couple months or making sure the family has a receipt.

If that is the type of flex account you are referring to, it shouldn't really have anything to do with you...

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I believe it to be the same. All situations I have dealt with, the company sends me the check direct.

I send them an invoice and then I get the check via-mail.

I am a little upset about an email I got from DCP that said I just submitted for payflex and I hope you get paid on time................HUH NO, if I dont get paid on time I am charging a late fee and no-pay no- stay.

I have never had anyone do it the way you are suggesting. I think I need to have them do it that way.

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One of my families does it the same way BC's does. I sign the paper every few months, THEY pay me on mondays(or they're supposed to but that's a different story) just like everyone else and it's up to them to send in the paperwork for reimbursement.

It's not up to you to do the extra work to get paid. They're the ones benefiting from the program, why should you have to do the extra work for free? That's silly. You've done your part-provided care it's up to them to pay,regardless of how they get the funds.

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I would ask them for proof that YOU are the one that is suppose to paid from the Flex account...

EVERYTHING I've read about FSA, state that the PARENT or employee is to be REIMBURSED....meaning they pay out of pocket and then they wait to get the money....

"Instead of using the FSA money to pay for expenses directly, you pay those costs out-of-pocket and then apply for reimbursement."

http://www.investopedia.com/articles...t-care-fsa.asp

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Thanks both of you for your input on this.

so I need to tell dcp that they need to pay me and that they are to get reimburse from their company? I have only dealt with it in this format.

It sounds like DCP is trying not to have to pay me out of pocket.........

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Yes! Read the link I posted above....it explains to the person using Flex Spending Account what THEY (the parent) are suppose to do.

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Most of my parents pay from a flex-pay account. Ever since I put my EIN # on my receipts, no parent has asked me to sign anything - my receipt with date, parent names, child names, $ amount, time period, the phrase "for child care", my signature & EIN has been enough.
(Mine print from a program, so all I do is input the date & amount paid.)

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I used a flex pay account when I was a teacher, and I paid my daycare, had the provider sign my payment verification form, then I faxed it in for reimbursement. You should not be the one getting paid from the company- it is a reimbursement program. Just like when I bought medical supplies, I paid and then faxed in my receipts for reimbursement. Have they been using it before, or did they just start?

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I've had a couple of families use a flex spending account the same way Blackcat described it. They pay me up front and they are reimbursed out of their account. They bring me a form to sign so they can get reimbursed but otherwise, I have nothing to do with it.

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I too have the parents pay first then they submit the receipts to get reimbursed .

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This is also how it works with my flex pay clients. They pay me and then deal with their company on their end.

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I used to have a dependent care (flex pay) account when I was working in an office. I paid daycare. Once the check cleared, I could claim it and reimburse myself.

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I am paid directly from the employer (a payroll/tax prep office) once a month, the dcp's cover the remainder.

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I've had many parents use the flex pay account and all I ever do is issue a receipt to the parent, so they can get reimbursed through the account.

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I had a client with a reimbursement like yours. It was such a pain in the rear.If I get back into daycare and deal with FSAs, I will charge an extra fee for it. It cost me an extra 10-15 min/week on paperwork. Just due not always getting the check on the same day as everyone else, early or late...it added extra time for me because it wasn't in the same batch as everyone else's. Or, I had to do an trip to the bank, or hold it until the next week.

This parent's was set up like online bill pay, so the parent had to go in & authorize funds, and the company sent out a check from the FSA. Mailing time was about 3 days, usually. There was a cutoff time, so there were times he didn't get the bill pay in on time, because he was waiting for the contribution from his paycheck to post to his FSA account. I still had to do invoice & receipt (which I only do a weekly receipt for cash clients) because that was what the company required. Added up for the year, it was about an extra 15 hours just because they had this particular FSA company. I do/did not consider this a normal operating expense, and in the future I will attach a price to it. Unfortunately, this particular parent's company had been a more traditional FSA where all I had to do was sign a paper with the total daycare fees once per quarter - no receipts or invoices, and the reimbursed the parent. Idk why the company changed it, but it was horrible.

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I have a parent that does just as you mentioned....I fill out a form every so often!

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