A key part of your daycare business is getting paid for the services you provide, and daycare invoices help you do this. Invoices list the services families use each month, the rates and related fees and when and how families can pay you. So a clear and efficient invoice and invoicing process are important for both you and the families you serve.
This guide describes the daycare invoicing process and offers tips on how to make it run smoothly. It also provides a free daycare invoice template to help you set up your invoicing process. Finally, you’ll learn how daycare invoice software can help you send bills on schedule, follow up on late payments if necessary and use your billing records to help you file reports and tax returns. Read on for help developing a child care invoice template that works for your business.
Table of Contents
- Free Daycare Invoice Template
- How Do I Invoice for Daycare
- Sending Daycare Invoices
- The Dos and Don'ts of Sending Invoices
- Using Daycare Invoice Software
Free Daycare Invoice Template
Click the image below to download our free template. The editable PDF is ready to use as soon as you download!
How Do I Invoice for Daycare?
The child care industry in the United States is worth more than $33 billion, so if you run a daycare business, you could make some serious money. However, running your own business requires serious financial planning. You need to stay on top of your budget and ensure that your income covers your spending. You also need to make sure your customers pay their tuition fees on time.
This is why daycare invoicing is so important. Your monthly invoice tells your customers how much they need to pay, when to pay it and how to pay it. This also helps you keep a record of your tuition payments throughout the year. When invoicing, you can do many things to ensure your payments arrive on time. Let's take a closer look at the ins and outs of daycare invoicing.
What to Include on Your Daycare Invoice
You should include certain key pieces of information on your daycare invoice, such as:
- The invoice number
- The date of the invoice
- Your business name and address
- The name and address of the person you are invoicing
- The amount of the invoice
- The date that payment is due by
It’s a good idea to break down the amount you are invoicing for each family. For example, you should include the period of time the invoice covers and the number of days their child was due in daycare. Then you can include the price per day and the total amount they owe. You can also include additional costs in this summary, such as the cost of meals, additional hours or day trips.
However, you do not have to include a breakdown of costs covered in your basic day rate. For example, don't include the cost of resources, cleaning and meals if these are included in your daily rate. This will overcomplicate your invoice. It's also a good idea to include methods of payment and contact details for your finance office. That way if anyone has any questions, they can reach the right person easily. Legally, invoices in the U.S. must be paid within 30 days of receipt. However, it can help to add a note at the bottom of your invoice politely reminding the recipient of the payment due date. This will ensure that you receive your daycare fees as soon as possible.
Sending Daycare Invoices
Once you create your invoices, you can start sending them out. Here are some of our top tips for sending your daycare invoices.
When Should You Send Your Daycare Invoices?
Send your daycare invoices the same date each month. Ideally, this should be around a week before the invoices are due. This ensures that parents pay their invoices by the given date. It also means that late payments won't be too overdue, which is good for your financial stability. It's a good idea to send your invoices at the start of the week. If a parent has any questions about their invoice, they will have plenty of time to contact the office before the weekend.
How Should You Send Your Daycare Invoices?
You should send your invoices by email. This ensures that all the invoices arrive in plenty of time. When doing this, it is important to check that you sent the invoice to the correct email address. Asking for an acknowledgment of receipt can help you ensure this. If you don't hear back from a parent or they fail to pay their invoice on time, contact them to confirm their email address. That way you know you are sending invoices to the correct address in the future.
Keeping a Record of Your Daycare Invoices
You should keep a thorough record of your invoices and payments throughout the year.
It is a good idea to store your invoices in two separate folders for each child: paid and unpaid. Once a parent has paid their invoice, you can mark it and transfer it to the paid file. This makes it easier to keep track of any outstanding invoices.
The Dos and Don'ts of Sending Invoices
Let's look at what you should do and what you should avoid when sending invoices.
Send a Polite Email but Don't Make It Too Long
Email is a great way to send invoices to parents. It is quick and parents can send follow-up questions easily.
Send an email with your invoice attached. This should be a simple, polite message explaining that the invoice is attached. You can also mention when the invoice is due by and provide contact details for your finance office.
Don't make this email too long or complicated. All the information they really need is already on the invoice itself.
Give Parents Time to Pay
Some parents will pay their invoices very quickly, while others might take longer. Don’t start contacting parents about making payments until after the invoice payment date.
If you want, you can send a reminder email on the invoice due date. But don't start following up until people actually miss the payment due date.
Don't Send Your Invoices Late
It is your responsibility to send invoices on time, so make sure you stay on top of your billing schedule.
If you send an invoice on the payment due date, there is a high chance that parents will not pay it on time. Contacting them for payment a day after you sent an invoice can be frustrating for them. Late payments can also cause serious issues for your business's financial stability.
To avoid this, you should aim to send your invoices a week before the due date. That way, if there is a delay in sending your invoices, you should be able to resolve the issue before payments are due.
Using Daycare Invoice Software
Staying on top of your daycare invoices takes a lot of time and effort. You will need to keep records of your invoices and your income each month. Without this, filing your tax return each year can be very difficult.
When it comes to invoicing, it is a good idea to hire staff who have specialist bookkeeping experience. However, this means taking on another staff member and covering another salary, which will eat into your daycare's profits.
Fortunately, there is another great solution for staying on top of your childcare billing and answering the question, how do I invoice for daycare? Invoice management software. This software simplifies the billing process and makes it easy for your staff to keep track of daycare payments.
Let's take a closer look at exactly what daycare invoice software can do for you.
Daycare Invoice Software Creates Billing Schedules
As we already mentioned, it is important to create an invoicing schedule and stick to it. This ensures that parents know when to expect their invoices so you get paid on time every month. Daycare invoice software makes it easy to create and manage billing schedules. Once you set up this schedule, the system will use it to manage the billing process for you.
Billing Software Makes It Easy to Generate and Send Invoices
Once you have a billing schedule in place, your software can automatically generate and send invoices to parents on your behalf. It will do this using data about your daily rate and the number of days each child attends your daycare each month.
If you offer any parents a discounted daycare rate, you can simply add this new rate to the system. Your software takes care of the rest and ensures that everyone receives an invoice for the correct amount.
The software also automatically sends your invoices to parents in plenty of time. It tracks which parents have paid and sends reminders for outstanding invoices after a set period of time. If a parent still hasn't paid, the system can alert you to this so you can follow up in person as well.
Software Helps Parents Pay Their Invoices
A lot of billing software programs offer integrated payment processing. This means that parents can pay their invoices using a secure online portal, which is managed by the software.
A portal helps your software keep a record of which payments you have received. It also allows parents to split their childcare bills and access their payment history, so it makes the process more accessible for them as well.
If some parents still want to make invoice payments in person, this is also an option. They can come into the office to make payments. When they do this, your staff can record the payments on your online portal to keep your records up-to-date.
You Can Use Software to Track Payments
The online payment portal makes it easy to see which parents have paid their invoices and which invoices are outstanding. Your software tracks this for you.
The daycare invoice software can send reminders and alerts if a parent has outstanding child care fees. This ensures that you don't lose track of overdue fees, which is vital for your business's financial stability.
If a parent fails to pay their daycare invoices for a prolonged period of time, this puts them in breach of their contractual obligation. This means that you have a legal right to deny them access to your services and can make a claim against them in small claims court.
Ideally, you won't have to do this with any of the parents in your daycare business. However, if you do, having complete records of your payment requests and reminders will help your claim. Your software records provide a valuable paper trail.
Data Analysis Helps You Optimize Your Billing and Financial Planning
Billing software also provides an analysis of your payments throughout the year. These reports can help you:
- Set tuition fees for your daycare
- Understand how your billing schedule works within your business
- Create billing cycles, structures and schedules that benefit your staff and your customers
Analyzing all this data yourself would take a lot of time and energy. You'd need to hire a financial analyst to understand all of the data, and this can be expensive.
In contrast, your software can do this automatically in a short amount of time, without any extra effort from you or your staff. You can even request reports to focus on specific billing questions you might have.
Daycare Invoice Software Keeps a Record of Your Payments
It is very important to keep thorough records of your daycare invoice payments throughout the year. You will need these when you do your business's taxes at the end of the financial year.
This also helps your long-term financial planning. Your records will help you create accurate financial projections for the months and years to come. So, if you are looking to expand or develop your business in the future, you'll know just how much money you have to work with.
When it comes to doing your taxes, daycare invoice software also makes this process easier. You might hire an accountant for this or use bookkeeping software. However, when you do this, you still have to enter or share a lot of data to create an accurate tax return.
Daycare invoicing software is designed to integrate with most bookkeeping programs, such as QuickBooks. This means that you can simply and quickly share the data across the programs. As a result, the bookkeeping process will become much quicker and easier so you can focus on other areas of your business.
Daycare Invoice Software Gives You Remote Access to Your Daycare Payment Information
Daycare invoicing software also makes it easy to access your payment records and information remotely. All you need to do is log in to the online portal.
From there, you can view payments, check outstanding balances and make changes to your billing schedule. You do not have to be in the office to stay on top of your billing admin.
Billing software can also improve your communication with your customers. For example, if a parent emails you with a question about their invoice, you can quickly check the online portal. You can respond to any questions quickly and accurately, which all of your customers will appreciate.
Click here to download your free daycare invoice template.
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