belle06 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Hi All Well sorry to come on here and rant but I have had such a day. can anyone please remind me why we work in childcare and what happened to the simple activity of playing with and interacting with the children. At the minute I feel like I am chasing myself in circles and still have people expecting a little more. Don't get me wrong my boss is brill it is the people who have no experience of childcare and do not realise the everyday mechanics of managing a setting!!! There now seems so much more paperwork and debt collection. Can anyone give me any suggestions on how to keep parents up to date with accounts!. I am starting to wander if a change in career is due i find myself becoming more and more disalluioned (SP) with the work load and stress. Sorry to moan but have spent most of today grinding my teeth in anger (wander if I can claim for dentures) LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth1 Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Oh rant away surely someone will come along soon with an idea. Sorry I can't think of any at the moment, maybe it will come to me soon who knows. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 We work in childcare because we love working with and seeing the chidlren develop and enjoy themselves. Its the beaurocracy that is the problem. So do you wear dentures then?!!! I used to be a teeth grinder when I was a child my mum said every night she could hear me grinding away!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belle06 Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 Don't wear dentures yet but many more teeth grinding days like today and i soon will be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hali Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 bless you we all have days like this - trouble is they seem to become more frequent!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 What makes the job worthwhile is when children have those 'eureka' moments by achieving something they have been struggling with - whether that is something huge like grasping a difficult concept, or something smaller like blowing their own nose and putting the tissue in the bin (even if they leave half a ton of green stuff on their cheeks as they do so!). Are you a private or committee run group? Money is always a difficult topic, but if you're having trouble getting parents to pay their bills on time a little note in a newsletter might help. Do you have a computerised accounts package? This can make the generation of statements much easier - but even if you don't you need some kind of system so that at set trigger points of 'overdueness' the parent receives a reminder that a bill is overdue. Once you've decided on a system you'd need to enforce it rigidly - and then perhaps parents would get used to paying more quickly. My bank details are on my invoice - and more and more parents have taken to paying via online banking which is great because I don't lose cheques and they seem to pay much more quickly! I remember once saying to a client when we ran our own computer consultancy business that if they didn't pay a very overdue invoice I'd be bringing my children round to her house for tea. She paid soon afterwards - but that could have been the desperation in my voice.. And I'm sorry - but I'm sure dentures aren't tax deductible... Hope you have a better day tomorrow! Maz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Oh dear, I know how you feel. We introduced a fine for late payments, this worked really well. We told the parents beforehand in the monthly newsletter and also gave them a an extra reminder the first month but after that they were fined if their fees were late. Tracey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belle06 Posted March 4, 2008 Author Share Posted March 4, 2008 we are a private company and i use an account package that can generate invoices which we promptly give out but still have parents oweing money Hey ho maybe tommorrow will be a better day as the song goes things can only get better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fizzy Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 we were having a problems with the odd few, so in our monthly news letter i wrote Could all parents please pay at the begining of the month when fees are due, as i feel i spend a lot of time chasing up late payers. This time i feel could be better spent playing with the children (or words to that effect). This worked well for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 we al have days we need to rant.. at least on here you know you are not judged by it, As to fee collection the policy of the company will dictate how much you can realistically do we have an interest charge for late payments of 5% of the bill, which we invoke if no payment or we have also warned a parent that if they do not pay the child will not be able to stay next session..they came back with cash same day!! don't think there is an easy answer to this..perhaps itemised bill , i did comment to one once that they would not expect to go shopping and walk out without paying but they expected us to look after their child and not pay... they were never late again with their payments!! (I was having a bad day with several late payers) Inge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Totally agree with happyMaz, I had most of my parents paying by standing order, no forgotten cheques or cash to handle. I charged 5% of the whole bill outstanding if a second reminder letter was sent out, never had to enforce this after the 1st reminder letter . I did have one parent who didn't pay for her daughters time extra to funding, she ended up owing me £110, I found out that taking this to small claims was good money after bad because even if I won the claim it doesn't guarantee you actually get the money. I was soft with her because I felt the child really needed the place. As it is difficult to retrieve debts it really is important to have solid, consistent systems in place to ensure debts don't get too high and unmanageable for the parents. When I gave out invoices I asked the parent how often they wanted to pay, ie: monthly, weekly etc. I then completed the standing order form (I made my own which were accepted by all the banks) there and then, to be signed by the parent. If weekly, my system was to divide the total amount by 10 and this is how much was paid over the 1st ten weeks of term, leaving the last few remaining weeks to get the following terms invoices ready. Hope you feel better for having a rant and that tomorrow you will feel a bit better for it. As for all the other paperwork, well there is delegation, or if that fails there is always the shredder Peggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dublinbay Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 Poor you Belle! Tomorrow WILL be a better day.........and if not, I can always give you the name of a very good dentist!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Just wishing you a better day today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Since we introduced this system out problems with late payers have been reduced. Parents can choose to pay either within 2 weeks of the beginning of the half-term or weekly in advance. Our fees policy states that non-payment will result in a letter and a £5 admin charge, a second letter would result in another £5 charge. We have also said that little jonny cannot come to lunch club if payment is not received the next day. It always comes. Unfortunately, been stung too many times. We would not allow the parents bill to get too high. Of course we could not prevent the child from receiving their free entitlement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Nothing to add advice-wise but having just read through the thread I was thinking how lovely you all are, it feels so supportive to be able to rant and have such positive feedback, professional advice and cushions of support - hope your subsequent days have got better belle06. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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