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Here is another round of changes for the management system. This time they’re to do with the invoicing section and it’s a big ‘un! 1. The main addition is the ability to record and allocate payments, then view how much credit/debit each child’s account is in within ‘Account Balances’. You’ll add a record of payments from each child’s new ‘Finance’ tab (go to Booking > Children > choose a child > then look in the tabs under their name and profile picture). Those payments will be automatically assigned to the child’s invoices, starting with the oldest one, but you can overrule that and allocate money to specific invoices if you choose. Receipts for the payment will be emailed to the assigned bill payers. You can edit and delete records of payments The new Account Balances tab (go to Booking > Finance > Account Balances) will show you the balance for each child’s account and clearly indicate whether it is in credit or debit. There are page filters here to show accounts in just one or the other and for each room. Each child’s current balance will show up in a few places; within the Account Balances page, on their Dashboard, within their Finance tab, and on new invoices. You can prevent the balance from showing up on PDF copies of the invoice if you like from within the ‘Config’ area. Note: So you don’t start out with all of children having a huge negative account balances, today we have auto added payments for all of your invoices currently marked as paid. The payment will be logged as being made on the day you marked the invoice as paid, and the payment type will be ‘other’ (as opposed to cash, BACS, direct debit, or however else they actually paid). Tapestry will not auto add payments moving forward. 2. For each child you’ll see a new tab – ‘Finances’. There are two tabs with that, one for their invoices and one for Transactions. The Invoices one is almost the same as what you could see up to now, except we’ve dropped the status filter, and added a check box so you can set whether you see cancelled invoices or not. The ‘Transactions' tab shows a full list of payments and invoices for this child. 3. You’ll also do this from each child’s new ‘Finances’ tab. The name and address you set there will appear on invoices moving forward. You have been able to set the bill payer from the Invoices page for a while, but you can now also set the bill payer from the Manage Relatives section of the Control Panel (on the 'Adding/Editing a relative' screen or via Manage Relationships). 4. Invoice Status changes Whereas up to now an invoice’s status could be ‘Paid’ or ‘Sent’ or ‘Unsent’, we’ve separated out the statuses into a payment one and a sent one. We’ve added a new status – ‘Part Paid’. That’s for invoices that have had some money allocated but not the full amount yet. 5. Funding changes Quite a few of you told us that you need to be able to allocate funding in smaller chunks than 15 mins. We’ve made that change, so you can now apply any number of minutes. When you’re setting up the funded hours within new regular schedules, you might also notice that instead of a setting wheel to choose whether you view it in minutes or as a decimal, there is a check box. 6. Export your invoices You can now export invoice data from the Exports sections 7. A new tab for extra charges In the Rooms section, you’ll now see an Extra Charges tab. This will show you how many times each of your Extra Charges have been charged on each day and for each day as a whole. 8. Other. There are a couple of other little things. You’ll see a new section on each invoice for Payments allocated to it. There are new history events within the control panel for new actions (e.g. recording a new payment) If you generate a negative invoice (this is one where the parent would have a credit, rather than a charge as usual), that credit will be auto allocated as a payment to the next invoice which is a charge. The above is live on all active Tapestry accounts now. If you’re not currently using the Invoicing feature and want to know more about it, take a look at the Invoices feature page on our information website.

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to add a billing address for a child to appear on their invoices. Please note, you can only have 1 billing address per child but it can be changed at any time. The first thing you will need to do is log in via a browser and then head to the “booking” section of Tapestry (1). Once here, select the ‘Children’ tab (1) on the left and then choose the child whose billing address you want to add (2). From the child’s page, navigate to the ‘Finance’ tab (3) and you will see a spot on the right where you can add their billing address (4). Just click the pencil icon to start adding. This will bring up a new modal where you can input the bill payer’s name and the billing address. When you’re done, just click ‘Save Address’ You will now see the child’s billing address has been saved. From now on, any new invoices you generate for this child will include this name and billing address at the top of the PDF. It will look something like this: Back to Main Tutorials Page

Let's start by looking at Account Balances (2) on Booking -> Finance (1). In this tutorial we will look at how Booking allows you to view Account Balances for children. This view allows you to see the balance of individual children's account balances, and you can use the 'Room' selector to filter your selection for a particular room. The account balances are derived from invoices created and payments made, whether they are allocated to an invoice, or are unallocated payments. On this screen, Tapestry shows all the balances for children's accounts for the whole setting or for a particular room (3). It is possible to see any balances (which includes zero balance accounts), or if you want to see which accounts are In Debit or In Credit, these are also options on the Status drop-down (4). The Balance column (5) shows the current account balance, with zero and positive balances shown in black and accounts which are currently in debit shown in red (6). The Last Invoice column (7) shows the last invoice which was generated for the account and the date that it was generated. The Last Payment column (8) shows the last payment that was made for that account, and the date that this payment was entered as a payment on Tapestry. You can also see Account Balances for a particular child on the child's Dashboard, by selecting the 'Children' icon (1) from the Booking menu, and searching for the child's name (2). The Dashboard shows the child's account balance (3), along with other information about the child's current Booking schedule and calendar. On the Booking -> Finance tab (1), we can see a list of Transactions (2) which shows of payments (credits) and invoices (debits), which total the account or ledger balance for the child's account. This also shows us the child's account balance.(3) You can also see an account balance on Booking -> Finance (1) by selecting Invoices (2), which lists all the invoices which have been generated for the child's account. This page also shows the current Account Balance (3), after the latest transaction has been applied to the account. Use of the Finance screens for recording payments is covered in this tutorial. If you choose to, you can set up your invoice to show the Balance Brought Forward (1) when you view an invoice. This is done by going to the Booking -> Config (1) on the Booking menu and selecting Invoices (2). You will see the option to show the child’s balance brought forward and total now due (3). If you decide to show this on the invoice, the Balance Brought Forward (1) is the account balance as it stood when the invoice was generated. In the example below, you can also see the payments that have been allocated to the invoice to date (2). Viewing an invoice is covered in more detail in this tutorial. If this is configured as mentioned above, the Balance Brought Forward (1) is also shown on the PDF invoice, and this is the account balance as it stood when the invoice was generated. Go back to Main Tutorials Page

Podcast episode: Finding flexibility in education and school – what is possible? We chatted with Sarah Sudea, founder of Finding the Flex. We discussed flexischooling – what it is, what the benefits may be to everyone involved, and what it can look like in a school. We also talked about other ways to be flexible with a child’s schooling, such as when they start in Reception. You can listen here. Sarah also shared some useful links for more information: Centre for Personalised Education for information leaflets and parent testimonies https://www.personalisededucationnow.org.uk/testimonies/ Relationships Foundation report on benefits of flexischooling 'Flexi-schooling children with special educational needs and disabilities' https://relationshipsfoundation.org/blog/flexi-schooling-must-be-a-widely-recognised-option-for-uk-pupils/ Flexischooling Families UK on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/flexischoolingfamilies/ for leaflets and support for parents when approaching schools to ask for flexischooling Sarah’s website – https://www.findingtheflex.com/ Sarah’s linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-sudea b80138264/?originalSubdomain=uk

In this tutorial we will take a look at the 'Extra Charges' overview screen. This is where you can view your number of weekly extra charges including what they are and who they relate to. For a guide on how to add extra charges, take a look at this tutorial. To navigate to the 'Extra Charges' overview screen, you will need to start by clicking the 'Booking' button from the top menu (1), select 'Rooms' (2) and then 'Whole Setting' (3) from the options on the left hand side. On the tab across the top of this page, you will need to click 'Extra Charges' (4) which will take you to the overview screen. On this page you can see an overview of extra charges, (defaulting to the week you are in at the top (1)) and a list of extra charges for that week (2). Looking along the week, you will see the number of daily extra charges which align with the extra charge itself (3). You will also see at the end of the week the total number of the extra charges (4). By clicking on an extra charge, you can see which child/ren it relates to. A pop-up will appear which includes the 'Extra Charge Details'. These details include the date the extra charge has been added for (1), the name of the extra charge (2) and the child/ren the extra charge relates to (3). It also shows you the breakdown in quantity of the extra charge for each child, as well as the total (4). As mentioned earlier, the 'week commencing' automatically defaults to the week you are in. To change the date and view extra charges from previous weeks, click inside the box (1) and then you can either manually enter a date (following the same format DD/MM/YYYY) or, select a date (2). You will notice that you are not able to select the weekdays Tuesday-Sunday. This is because the 'Extra Charges' screen format is a weekly view. If you would just like to see the extra charges for a particular room within your setting, you can click which room you would like to view these for on the left hand side (1). With support on assigning children to rooms, have a look at this tutorial. The screen appears the same way as it does in the 'Whole Setting' view. The only difference on these pages are that the extra charges that you can see relate to the children in that room. As mentioned previously, you can view the details of the charge, including which child it relates to, by clicking on it. To view extra charges in upcoming weeks, you can choose to do this in a couple of ways. You can either follow the same process as above, selecting the date beginning the week you wish to view or, you can click 'Load Later Weeks' at the bottom of the page (1). This will load the next 4 weeks and will continue to do so each time you click it. Go back to Main Tutorials Page

I have been thinking a lot about childhood recently. Children are finding ways to be children in a world that is evolving all the time. At the same time, the struggles that many children face remain the same throughout history: oppression, prejudice, violence, poverty, injustice. How do these ancient struggles and new challenges shape childhood? This post is too small a space to do anything more than ask the question. But here is a collection of words about childhood that I have gathered together. Let’s begin with a definition of childhood from UNICEF: Childhood is the time for children to be in school and at play, to grow strong and confident with the love and encouragement of their family and an extended community of caring adults. It is a precious time in which children should live free from fear, safe from violence and protected from abuse and exploitation. As such, childhood means much more than just the space between birth and the attainment of adulthood. It refers to the state and condition of a child’s life, to the quality of those years. And then we can add to that the words from The Open University’s course on Childhood and children’s rights: As you consider characteristics of children, you need to recognise that every child is unique and special in its own way. There are, however, some common characteristics of the period of childhood, which should guide you in the way you look at and work with children. Three of the most important are: dependency, vulnerability, and resilience. Jean Piaget wrote that ‘Play is the work of childhood’ and Albert Einstein said that ‘Play is the highest form of research.’ The writer and poet Lemn Sissay describes childhood as a book: Ultimately, family is a collection of stories and childhood is an introduction to that book. As you live your life you come to realise the significance of that introduction. And finally, Maria Montessori: Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future. And Friedrich Froebel: The plays of childhood are the germinal leaves of all later life. By Jules FSF and Tapestry Education Group

I don't run my nursery anymore but when I did, we would encourage children to put their hoods up or wear hats, but we wouldn't enforce it. Could you maybe let him choose one when you next go shopping? The crazier the better! He might be more inclined to wear one then, if he's had the choice. 🙂

In this tutorial we're going to look at how to record and allocate a payment on Tapestry's Invoice feature, and how to send a receipt to a child's bill payer/s. You'll need to have Booking and Invoices set up on your Tapestry account first, so if you haven't done this yet you can refer to our tutorial on this here. If you'd like, you can skip ahead to a certain section of this tutorial using these links below: Recording a payment and adding details Sending a payment receipt Recording a payment First we'll have a look at where to record a payment from. There are two places that you can do this: from a child's finance tab, and when viewing a specific invoice. Finance tab Let's start from the finance tab. You can get here by navigating to Booking (1) > Children (2) > selecting a child (3) > and then Finance (4). Here you will be able to see all of the transactions for the child (5), consisting of payments and invoices. The current account balance can also be seen to the right (6). For a closer look at account balances, please have a look at our tutorial on this here. To record a payment, click on the '+ New' button (1) and select 'Payment' (2). From an invoice Now let's look at this from an invoice directly. From the child's finance tab, you can also click on an invoice. From here just click on the cog > 'Add Payment' (1). You will also have an have an additional 'Add Payment' button (2) within the payment details section. Alternatively, invoices can be viewed by navigating to Finance (1) > Invoices (2). If an invoice requires payment then once you click on the cog (3) you'll have an option to add a payment (4). Adding payment details Now that we've seen the different areas that you can add a payment from, let's have a look at what happens once we select the relevant 'Add Payment' button. Once clicked, a modal will appear where you can enter the details of the payment. You can: (1) Select the date you received the payment, which will default to the current date. (2) Enter the amount of the payment. (3) Select the type of payment received. The default is 'Other', but you can also select BACS, cash, cheque, credit card, debit card, or voucher. (4) Add a payment reference, which will be visible to the bill payers (optional). (5) Send an email receipt to the bill payers (optional). (6) Add an internal note, which will not visible to bill payers (optional). If you've arrived at the 'Add Payment' modal from a specific invoice directly, then some of the details will already be auto-filled to match the invoice amount (you can amend these if needed). Or if you've chosen to add a payment from the child's finance tab then you will need to fill out all of the payment details from scratch. Let's have a look at a specific example of recording a payment. Here I'm going to record a payment of £1,000 (1). At the bottom, within the 'Invoice Allocation' section, you'll see all of the invoices for that child that are not marked as paid and require payment (2). Once you enter a payment amount it will be automatically allocated and to the oldest invoice first. So in this example you can see that £989.82 has been allocated to invoice #152, and then the remaining £10.18 has been allocated to invoice #153 (3). You can manually amend payment allocation by changing the amount in the allocated field (1). If the payment amount is greater than the unpaid invoices, or if you allocate less than the payment amount, then the remaining funds will show as unallocated and can be used towards future invoices (2). Once you're happy with your payment and allocation, click to save (3). After saving you'll be taken back to the child's finance tab (or the main Invoices page if you added the payment this way), where you can see the payment (1) and amended account balance (2). We can see that the payment is 'Part Allocated' (3) (£10.18 unallocated). As some of the payment is unallocated, when you next create an invoice for this child, the unallocated funds will automatically be applied to the new invoice. If you click on the payment you'll see the details and can manually allocate the remainder of the payment from here (1). From the cog menu (2) you can also edit or delete the payment if needed (3). Sending receipts Once you have added a payment to Tapestry, you can also send a receipt of the payment directly to the bill payers. If you haven't got your bill payers set up yet then you can refer to our tutorial on this here. As we've already seen, you can choose to send a receipt at the same time that you record a page by ticking the option. You can also send a receipt for existing payments. To do this, go to Children (1) > select the child (2) > and then Finance (3). From the list of transactions, select the payment you'd like to send a receipt for (4). Once the payment is open, click on the cog menu (1) and select 'Send Receipt' (2). The bill payers will then receive an email notification receipt that looks like this: If you have any questions please get in touch at customer.service@eyfs.info and we'll be happy to help. Back to Main Tutorials Page

The ability to record payments and see a child's account balance was added to Tapestry on 11/12/23. If you have already started using the Nursery Management system on Tapestry, you will notice some changes as to how this works with the addition of these new features. I'll run through these changes in this post. New invoice format option As part of this new release we have included a new format option for your invoices, so you may want to consider this before generating any more invoices on your account. You can access this from the 'Config' section (1) -> 'Invoices' (2). It's called 'Balance Brought Forward' (3). If you have this enabled, at the bottom of all your invoices you will see a line that says 'Balance Brought Forward' and it will show the child's account balance at the time of the invoice creation. To see what this would look like click on the 'Show Example' button (4). New 'Finance' tab on a child's page When you go the 'Children' tab on the left-hand side menu and click on a child's name, you'll notice the previous 'Invoices' tab has been replaced with 'Finance' (the other tabs remain unchanged). If you click on the new Finance tab, you'll see a green box with an announcement about the new account balances functionality. Once you've read this you can click on the 'X' to stop displaying it (1). Previously the Invoices screen here showed a list of all invoices for a child. You'll see there are now two different tabs, one called 'Transactions' (2) and the other called 'Invoices' (3). The transactions tab will show you a list of all payments and invoices for the child, with the most recent transaction appearing at the top. The Invoices tab displays just the invoices for the child as the Invoices screen did before. Let's look at the Transactions tab in more detail. Here you can see: A. The date of the transaction. B. What type of transaction it is, either an invoice or a payment (if it's a payment it will show what type of payment). C. The amount. If this is in orange it shows an account deduction, so the parent owes you money. If it is green this means money coming in to you, the setting. D. The account balance after the transaction. Each individual transaction can be clicked on to see more information. Any invoices you created for a child prior to account balances and payments being enabled will display here (E). You may notice there are some 'Other payments (F). These are system generated payments for invoices that have been previously marked as paid. This is to ensure that your account balance is correct for your historical invoices going forward. In the top right-hand corner above the list of transactions or invoices, you can choose to show any cancelled transactions/invoices (4) and add a new invoice or payment for the child (5). I've linked below the tutorials that talk you through how to do both of these things. Invoices: Generating an invoice Invoices: Recording payments On the right-hand side of the screen you will be able to see the current account balance for the child (6), the child's bill payers (7) and the child's billing address (8). The account balance you see here will take into account any previously generated paid and unpaid invoices for a child. If there are any outstanding invoices for the child you'll see the account balance will be negative. The tutorials underneath explain these features in more depth. Invoices: Account Balances Invoices: Assigning Bill Payers Invoices: Adding/editing a billing address for a child Changes to the Finance tab There are a few changes and additions to the 'Finance' section (1) in the left-hand side menu. The 'Invoices' screen (2) is still there, with a few small alterations which I'll go through. Also, There is now a new Account Balances screen (3). I'll go through the changes on the Invoices screen first. This screen looks very much the same as it did before, but instead of a 'Status' column there are now two different columns. The first, Payment (1), shows whether the invoice is unpaid, paid or partially paid and the second one shows if the invoice has been sent or not (2). As I mentioned earlier, you can now record payments for children on Tapestry. You can do this from the Finance page for an individual child, as shown above, and you can also do this from here. To add a payment from here, just click on the cog button for a child that has an invoice in the period you are viewing (3). Then from the drop-down, select 'Add Payment' (4). The Account Balances screen (1) is completely new with this release. This screen shows you each child (2), their current account balance (3), when their most recent invoice was and how much it was for (4) and when their last payment was and how much it was for (5). Please see this tutorial for more information about Account Balances on Tapestry. New Extra Charges screen As part of this release we have included another new screen. This page allows you to see the number of extra charges for any given day and week. This can be found from 'Rooms' (1), then either selecting to view the whole setting or a specific room (2), then clicking on the 'Extra Charges' tab at the top (3). This tutorial talks you through the screen in more depth. Export your invoice data The last new feature included in this release is the ability to export your invoice data. You can access this from the 'Exports' tab (1), then selecting 'Invoice Data Export' (2). Here you can choose a date range (3), what children's data you want to include in the export (4) and the format type (5). Once you've done this, click 'Generate CSV' (6). To see how to do this in more detail, what the different format options are and what the CSV looks like, take a look at this tutorial. So, those are all the new additions included in this release. We hope you find them helpful! If you have any questions about them, or the Nursery Management system on Tapestry in general, please get in touch with us by emailing customer.service@eyfs.info.