Is your wraparound childcare admin finally becoming too much?

The Context

Many schools that we speak to, and go on to support, have been running the booking, payment, and administration for their wraparound care in-house, using existing systems.

They have come to us because the management of this has outstripped the capability of their systems, or the volume of work has increased to unmanageable levels—or both.

The Issues

The staff responsible for doing the admin are always very clear on the problems they are facing. These can be broadly broken down into three categories:

1. System workarounds: Having to create manual workarounds to make the acceptance of payments work with an existing MIS or payment provider system.

2. Payment volume & complexity: The sheer volume and complexity of payments has become too much. This includes managing receipts from the Universal Credit Reclaim Scheme and processing Tax-Free Childcare and Childcare Vouchers.

3. Credit control: It is becoming increasingly difficult to be confident that every penny is being collected and every booking accurately recorded.

The Crux of the Problem

The root of these issues usually comes down to two key factors.

Firstly, the Terms & Conditions (T&Cs) that the schools operate on are often not fit for purpose. While once suitable, they are rarely reviewed on an annual basis to ensure they meet the growing demand for childcare and the associated administrative pressures.

Secondly, the systems are creaking under the strain. Systems that once worked for a smaller number of bookings and payments are now struggling to cope with a higher volume of booking requests, changes, and payments.

Let’s consider these points in turn, and what you can do to improve things.

The System is No Longer Fit-for-Purpose

This is the most common reason for people to call us. Typically, they will be managing their payments through a school payment provider or through their MIS. Both facilities allow for the collection of payments and a basic level of booking.

However, neither is suitable for larger breakfast and after-school club provisions.

MIS and payment provider club “bolt-on” features are designed around supporting extracurricular activities, such as a one-hour after-school sports club with a set termly fee. They cannot cope with the complexity of recurring bookings across different days. Crucially, neither can accommodate payment via Tax-Free Childcare or Childcare Vouchers (which will typically account for 40% of a club’s revenue).

Terms and Conditions

Standard terms and conditions in wraparound childcare, and those adopted by every successful commercial operator, are that:

• Parents are required to pay in advance for all sessions.
• Parents can make either permanent bookings (the same weekly pattern recurring until further notice) or ad-hoc bookings.
• Swapping sessions is not permitted. Cancellations are only refunded on ad-hoc bookings, and only with a certain notice period.
• Parents are required to cancel sessions if they are not needed, rather than simply telling their child not to turn up.

These T&Cs make sense from a commercial and practical perspective. Providers are able to predict attendance levels and, in turn, staff and equip the club accordingly.

But more importantly, the T&Cs promote the booking behaviour that you want for a successful club. Parents rely on the childcare service and appreciate the security of a permanent booking; in exchange, they accept that they are unable to cancel individual sessions. More parents tend to make a permanent booking, which makes everything about the club more predictable and stable.

It can be difficult to consider adopting these more rigorous Terms & Conditions, but in doing so, the administrative processes will become more streamlined.

Steps to Take

If this sounds familiar, here are three practical steps you can take to start improving the situation:

1. Review your T&Cs: Do they reflect the current size of your club, or are they still reflective of an earlier (possibly smaller) version?

2. Review your payment processing: Does your system provide the facility for the automatic allocation of Tax-Free Childcare and Childcare Vouchers? Does it allow for recurring bookings with variable patterns?

3. Talk to us: If you’d like some advice, or just to sense-check your thinking, why not give us a call and have a chat with one of our experienced team? We promise there won’t be any hard sell—we are confident that our business and the results we have achieved speak for themselves. But we are also wraparound childcare nerds(!) and love to help people improve their processes.