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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Payment Dates and Rules
Abigail 10:56 AM 09-11-2010
I've read previous threads about payment due dates and fees, but now i'm getting confused! I want clients to pay on the Friday (morning or afternoon???) for the week prior to care. Even though I don't do weekends, what if a parent says they'll bring it Monday at drop off?

I want to enforce the "No Pay, No Stay" policy after I address the fee schedule. This way, if they don't pay, they don't stay and I never get cut short on pay. What do you think?

Many people do a payment on Monday morning and have fees if not paid by Wednesday and other things, but I want to keep it simple and just create one late fee or maybe two. Please help!
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ninosqueridos 12:14 PM 09-11-2010
If you want to enforce no pay, no stay, then I'd have them leave their payment with you Friday morning or afternoon, and tell them if they pay Monday, please add $x to it for the late fee. That's what I do, except I haven't found my backbone to actually charge them the late fee which is in my policies, and I get paid on Monday ALL THE TIME ("oops, we forgot our checkbook"). For me it is a huge inconvenience since I can only get out of here to make deposits on the weekends, and that would mean holding their check until the next weekend. I would probably be about $200 richer for 2010 alone if I enforced the late fee.
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AfterSchoolMom 01:16 PM 09-11-2010
I had to chase down payment all last year. I have a late payment/no stay policy as well. This year I made a sign to hang on the front door that says "PAYMENT IS DUE TODAY". It's in big, bold letters and is the first thing that parents see when they drop off and pick up. Believe it or not, I haven't had any more problems with people "forgetting" their checkbooks...if they forget it in the morning, they've got it with them in the afternoon!
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ninosqueridos 02:07 PM 09-11-2010
Originally Posted by AfterSchoolMom:
I had to chase down payment all last year. I have a late payment/no stay policy as well. This year I made a sign to hang on the front door that says "PAYMENT IS DUE TODAY". It's in big, bold letters and is the first thing that parents see when they drop off and pick up. Believe it or not, I haven't had any more problems with people "forgetting" their checkbooks...if they forget it in the morning, they've got it with them in the afternoon!
wish I could do that!!
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AfterSchoolMom 03:01 PM 09-11-2010
Originally Posted by :
wish I could do that!!
Why can't you? Just curious.
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Unregistered 03:42 PM 09-11-2010
My parents pay me Friday morning or afternoon BY closing at 5:30pm for the next week in advance either by cash or check I prefer cash and if they dont then they are charged a 25 dollar late fee my 2 parents now pay every 2 weeks in advance and they never pay late so Im lucky but I have had my fair share of late payers threw 10 years.
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momma2girls 05:16 PM 09-11-2010
Originally Posted by AfterSchoolMom:
I had to chase down payment all last year. I have a late payment/no stay policy as well. This year I made a sign to hang on the front door that says "PAYMENT IS DUE TODAY". It's in big, bold letters and is the first thing that parents see when they drop off and pick up. Believe it or not, I haven't had any more problems with people "forgetting" their checkbooks...if they forget it in the morning, they've got it with them in the afternoon!
This is a very good idea!!
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ninosqueridos 06:13 PM 09-11-2010
Originally Posted by AfterSchoolMom:
Why can't you? Just curious.
I mean, I can *physically* do it, but can't bring myself to do it and think they'd really be caught off guard b/c it's just not me, that's all.
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legomom922 06:57 PM 09-11-2010
I have a $10 PER DAY late payment policy. If they do not pay me by 530 on fri, its late. And if they do not pay by mon am at drop off, I refuse service. After the first time they pay late, and I stick to my policy, they are not late again.
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Abigail 10:28 PM 09-11-2010
For those of you who have the late payment due at drop off of Monday morning or "no stay", do you ever have anyone stay home or not come back for a few days or just not come back? LOL

I think the $25 late fee would be perfect if not paid by 5:30 pm on Friday for the following week. It would be like getting paid an additional day of care here! Do you also have something about continuous late payments? What about payments made after the required late fee day?....I'm just wondering for those who say they'll pay the late fee Monday at drop off with the full amount, but then call in sick for two days, would they still be required to drop off the payment or wait until they return Wednesday?

Oh yeah, I also need to add something about cashing the check when I receive it to make sure no one asks me to wait to deposit it until a certain date. I just need to figure out how to word it. Sorry for all the questions! Thanks everyone
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legomom922 08:14 PM 09-12-2010
If mon comes and they still havent paid...TERMINATE I will not put up that.

I do take post dated cks as long as they are dated for that friday, no longer or the late fee gets tacked on.

I also charge an additional $30 on top of what the banks charges, for any ck that bounces...That is like an extra day of income!
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missnikki 07:16 AM 09-13-2010
No pay, no stay. Late fee at close of business on the due day. Late fee until money is in my hand. Postdated checks should be written to include late fee amount that adds up until the date on the check, not when the check is handed to me. I am not a savings and loan. I have been known to waive late fees if the parent comes to me before the payment is late and explains the problem. Bank fees +$25 for bounced checks, and cash/money order only after that.
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DCMom 07:44 AM 09-13-2010
This is one area where I have never had any problems, thank goodness! Payment for the week is due on Monday by the end of the day. I put out my payment box out as a visual reminder and it remains out until everyone has paid. I rarely have someone not pay on Monday, but if they forget I put a note on the whiteboard that greeting them Tuesday morning that says:

'Have YOU paid your daycare this week? Don't forget to add the late fee '



Something I have really been enjoying...two of my families have started auto-pay with their bank. I get a check in the mail on Saturday for the coming week~it's really nice.
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MarinaVanessa 11:58 AM 09-13-2010
Originally Posted by ninosqueridos:
For me it is a huge inconvenience since I can only get out of here to make deposits on the weekends, and that would mean holding their check until the next weekend. I would probably be about $200 richer for 2010 alone if I enforced the late fee.
This is exactly how I do it. Payment is due Friday for the following week of care. If it's late then I add late fees which are due on Monday at drop-off including the week's payment. I explain that it's because I do all of my banking on Saturdays and pay my bills during the week. If they don't pay then it puts me in a bind (I say that it does, but it really doesn't). I charge a $5 per day late fees that includes Saturdays and Sundays. If isn't paid by Friday at 6pm it's late. If the week's fee isn't paid by Monday at drop-off including the late fee's the child does not stay and they are still billed for the day and another $5 is added if it isn't paid by 6pm that day and so on.

I hate, hate, hate not getting paid on time. It throws off my groove. I also explain that if I'm not paid by the time I make my deposits on Saturday that I will make the deposit at my earliest convenience which can be at any time from the time they pay me until the next weekend. Most of my clients don't do well in balancing their checkbooks so they have a hard time if they don't know when I'm going to deposit the check.
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Tags:fee, late fee, payments, policy, schedule
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