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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Billing Mistake... What To Do?
jenboo 01:57 PM 10-04-2017
I have invoices set up to automatically send out each week. Well today i realized one families plan was paused. They haven't received an invoice in 3 weeks.... which means im out $525. Next week is this familys last week due to dad working a seasonal job.
Do i tell them about the invoices not getting sent and set up a payment plan or do i suck it up and not say anything since it was my fault i wasn't double checking the payments???
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Blackcat31 01:59 PM 10-04-2017
Originally Posted by jenboo:
I have invoices set up to automatically send out each week. Well today i realized one families plan was paused. They haven't received an invoice in 3 weeks.... which means im out $525. Next week is this familys last week due to dad working a seasonal job.
Do i tell them about the invoices not getting sent and set up a payment plan or do i suck it up and not say anything since it was my fault i wasn't double checking the payments???
So they have't been paying and haven't said anything to you?

I am doubtful they didn't notice. They more than likely had their fingers crossed that you would continue to not notice....

I'd absolutely tell them "Hey, I noticed your payments haven't been posted. I had an issue with invoices not going out but assumed yours was fine since neither you nor DCD has said anything about it"
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Blackcat31 02:00 PM 10-04-2017
Oh and not your fault. Just because I don't get a bill from a service doesn't automatically mean I don't owe for the services.
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Mom2Two 02:05 PM 10-04-2017
I always make an itemized invoice in Quickbooks (I bill daily and on attendance), and I have to enter each line. Sometimes I forget a fee or a day of attendance.

As soon as I correct it, I re-send the invoice and just say "I'm sorry! I made a mistake on the other invoice and this is the correct one" etc.

I would just bill them now, and say "Sorry, I forgot to send the bills for the past three weeks. Here they are!" Don't do anything other than expect them to pay before the next day of care. Either they pay or you'll need to follow thru with whatever you do for non-payment.
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TheMisplacedMidwestMom 02:20 PM 10-04-2017
Ever joked with a cashier about there being no price tag so the item must be free?... I have never had them agree with me and give it to me for free. (I also hear they hate that joke)
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Max 02:40 PM 10-04-2017
I was on the other end of this situation once. My son's taekwondo is $120/month and we weren't billed for a few months because of an invoice error. I felt terrible that I honestly hadn't noticed Almost all our bills are set on auto pay and I try to go through that bank account each month but sometimes I get several months behind. I offered several times to pay it but they insisted not to worry since it was their mistake.

But in this situation, I would absolutely still seek payment from the family.
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Snowmom 02:54 PM 10-04-2017
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
So they have't been paying and haven't said anything to you?

I am doubtful they didn't notice. They more than likely had their fingers crossed that you would continue to not notice....

I'd absolutely tell them "Hey, I noticed your payments haven't been posted. I had an issue with invoices not going out but assumed yours was fine since neither you nor DCD has said anything about it"
Exactly this.

I'd say this verbatim. If they didn't pay, they certainly wouldn't have services anymore and I would send them to collections.

There is no way they didn't know they owed over $500.
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Ariana 03:38 PM 10-04-2017
They clearly knew they were missing payments and how ridiculous that you had to even remind them.

I might even be tempted to tack on a late charge since this wasn't even your fault.
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284878 05:14 AM 10-05-2017
How is it that you didn't notice not having that money?
Was it a system error that caused the invoice to be paused?
I wouldn't say anything and just invoice them.
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jenboo 06:09 AM 10-05-2017
Originally Posted by 284878:
How is it that you didn't notice not having that money?
Was it a system error that caused the invoice to be paused?
I wouldn't say anything and just invoice them.
I just had a new kid start who pays monthly vs weekly so my total bigger than normal, even without the dck missing payment.

I must have paused it one week when their total was different (i had to manually send an invoice) and forgot to unpause it.
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Cat Herder 06:50 AM 10-05-2017
I'd just unpause it, send the invoice and carry on with my life. If they are on auto-pay the money should be sitting in their account waiting, anyway. No harm, no foul.

If you act like it is a big deal so will they. Don't borrow trouble.
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jenboo 07:28 AM 10-05-2017
Originally Posted by Cat Herder:
I'd just unpause it, send the invoice and carry on with my life. If they are on auto-pay the money should be sitting in their account waiting, anyway. No harm, no foul.

If you act like it is a big deal so will they. Don't borrow trouble.
It's not just one week though... it's $525.... 3 weeks worth.

I printed out their patment history and I'm just going to show them so they know before i send an invoice for that much. I don't want to deal with a possible over draft and all that fun stuff.
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laundrymom 07:55 AM 10-05-2017
THis!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
So they have't been paying and haven't said anything to you?

I am doubtful they didn't notice. They more than likely had their fingers crossed that you would continue to not notice....

I'd absolutely tell them "Hey, I noticed your payments haven't been posted. I had an issue with invoices not going out but assumed yours was fine since neither you nor DCD has said anything about it"

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jenboo 02:50 PM 10-05-2017
I told her this morning and she was like "oh, i was wondering why there was so much money in the account".
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AmyKidsCo 07:38 PM 10-05-2017
Originally Posted by jenboo:
I told her this morning and she was like "oh, i was wondering why there was so much money in the account".
Isn't it amazing how we worry about every little thing and so often the parents aren't fazed by it at all? I agonized about raising my rates this year - Should I or shouldn't I? How much? Should I take an extra day off instead? In the end I raised them the full amount I'd originally planned on and no-one said anything about it.
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jenboo 07:49 PM 10-05-2017
Originally Posted by AmyKidsCo:
Isn't it amazing how we worry about every little thing and so often the parents aren't fazed by it at all? I agonized about raising my rates this year - Should I or shouldn't I? How much? Should I take an extra day off instead? In the end I raised them the full amount I'd originally planned on and no-one said anything about it.
Seriously!! I almost didn't ask for the money because i was worried about what she might say.
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Cat Herder 07:08 AM 10-06-2017
Originally Posted by jenboo:
Seriously!! I almost didn't ask for the money because i was worried about what she might say.
Borrowing trouble is one of the most common issues we face, it seems. Glad it worked out.
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Max 11:25 AM 10-06-2017
Originally Posted by AmyKidsCo:
Isn't it amazing how we worry about every little thing and so often the parents aren't fazed by it at all? I agonized about raising my rates this year - Should I or shouldn't I? How much? Should I take an extra day off instead? In the end I raised them the full amount I'd originally planned on and no-one said anything about it.
This is so spot on!!

I worry about people's feelings wayyy too much. And the ones I worry about hurting the most, are the ones who don't seem to care about mine ugh, whyyy?!
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Tags:billing, past due letter
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