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Kitty B
21-08-2015, 09:55 PM
Hi guys, had a parent ask me about childcare vouchers today. It's not something I've dealt with before, had a brief look online. Wondering if many other childminders have parents that use them and is it a straightforward process and I'm guessing u just get paid as normal as in bank transfer?

chris goodyear
21-08-2015, 11:07 PM
I use vouchers for a few of my parents. As you say they are easy and yes it's paid by bank transfer. The parent registers you with their voucher company and if the month's fee is more than the voucher limit the parent can top up the voucher so it gets paid in one go via bank transfer. Bonus is that it is always paid on time!

FloraDora
22-08-2015, 07:16 AM
The voucher system is changing this Autumn, so not sure how the new system will work.
I get paid via 3 different voucher companies and they vary as to how long the money takes to get to your bank account.
The parents opt to have an amount, depending on their salary , paid straight in to a voucher company before they are taxed therefore saving them in tax payments which works out great for the parents.
You have to be careful about when you want your payment. If your payment is needed to pay bills say on the 1st of the month then the money has to be transferred from the voucher company at least 3 days before, more if there is a bank holiday or weekend. One of my parents doesn't get paid until the last day of the month. Therefore the money goes from her salary into the voucher company on the last day. If this parent transfers the money from the voucher company on the last day of the month the minimum date would be the 3rd going in to my account - so you have to be aware of this as human error ...ie...forgetfulness ....could mean extra days adding on to this if she doesn't action it until the next day.

On the whole though the vouchers work fine once you have the dates sorted. One of my parents has it automatically paid, so she doesn't do anything - but if she does any extra days she then has to do the extra payment manually.

Parents eligible like to pay this way as its a bonus for them that they save over the year with the tax perk and so if you are willing to go with it it's another attraction for parents to use you.
I believe the new system will be for new people joining the scheme, parents can opt to stay with the voucher company at the moment.

Simona
22-08-2015, 07:37 AM
Tax Free Childcare System has been delayed to 2017


If you can please encourage parents to register under the current Vouchers System with any of the providers such as Edenred, Co-Op or BusyBees etc etc.

Those who advise on these say the current scheme is better for parents...so guide them to registration which is very easy for parents and for providers to register to receive them


The new scheme 'Tax Free Childcare' was due to start this autumn but the Govt has delayed the launch.
It will be available to all parents who will have an online account.
The current childcare vouchers is only for 'employed' parents so not the self employed
The amount parents get depends on how much they earn:
£243 per month ...or for higher earners....£124 per month.

The new scheme = For every 80 pence the parents pay in the govt will top up 20 pence.
The scheme has caused a few worries and has had problems being set up hence the delay

It is now expected in 2017

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-tax-free-childcare-launch-date-as-it-welcomes-judgment-from-supreme-court

bunyip
22-08-2015, 09:58 AM
Thanks for the links Simona.

How peculiar that news of yet another UK regime policy setback is exiled to the middle of Nursery World, when the highly-spun launches of these "support for hard-working families" rackets have previously been spun across the front pages of all the establishment press.

Odd that............ :huh:

bunyip
22-08-2015, 10:05 AM
Hello Kitty :waving: (Sorry, couldn't resist......................;).................... .....anyway, hi !)

[Boredom warning: This is a copy/paste of an old post, so apologies to members who've seen it before.]

How it works, in brief. Mum's payroll sets aside a portion of her salary (up to £243pm) as a "salary sacrifice" and pays that into a CV (childcare voucher) account, using a CV provider company. This reduces her salary (which can have implications for future pension and other benefits) but has the advantage that she does not pay income tax or National Insurance on that amount. She can save over £900pa this way. CVs are then paid into the account of an Ofsted-registered childcarer (CM, nursery, etc.) Mum can choose how she does this:

Paper vouchers (a bit of a rarity, but still an option) which the CM has to submit to the CV company: sometimes by post, or sometimes by telephone/email using the code numbers.
Online - automatic transfer of the same amount monthly (the equivalent of a bank standing order)
Online - parent inputs the amount manually

IME most mums use option 3, especially if the bill always exceeds £243pcm. But some use option 2, especially if the bill varies significantly. The CM receives an email to say the CV payment has been made to their CV account, with a reference (usually the child/clients's name) so you know who has paid. Later (usually within a couple of days) the CM receives another email saying the £££ has been transferred out of the CV account and into the nominated bank account. It's then up to the bank to drag its heels over clearing the funds so you can buy beer.

I accept vouchers from different companies at present. I was nervous about it at first (I like to be in control) but regard as really easy now.

There are numerous CV companies operating within what is essential the same scheme. They operate in similar but not quite identical ways. It is vital to be registered with the same CV provider as the client, or you won't get paid. The parent needs to tell you exactly which voucher provider they'll be using. To avoid confusion (and registering with the wrong company) insist that she provides the contact telephone, email and website url. (ie. Make sure it's her fault if anything goes t1t5up.)

You will need to register on the particular voucher company's website. This can take anything from a few minutes (for those CV companies which do the entire process online then they verify your Ofsted details for themselves) to several weeks for those where you register online,but still have to post a copy of your certificate off before they'll complete the process. I've no idea why it's different for each CV provider, but just live with the fact that it is. (But then I've no idea why Ofsted ask me 'security' questions when I 'phone them cos the information they want is not hard for anyone to get hold of.) I digress....

You should set payment-in-advance terms the same as for any other client, and it's up to parent whether s/he settles the 1st month by cash or voucher. But it should be on time without any excuse about the vouchers. If her employer has a voucher scheme, they can set up her end of things ahead of time to be ready for when it's needed. Granted, if she's paying you out of her very first pay packet then she's maybe not had time to get the voucher ball rolling. But the essence of it is: lack of planning on her part should not constitute a crisis on your part. By accepting the vouchers, you are saving her money. There's no reason why saving her money should inconvenience you or entitle her to more favourable terms than you'd offer any other client.

A few things I wish I'd known before I accepted vouchers for the first time (and I'm assuming you're having the whole thing done automatically, not dealing with 'paper vouchers'):-

1. Talk to the voucher company. They know everyone has a first time, and it's in their interests to help you have a hassle-free experience. They do a highly unspecialised job (taking money from one account and putting it in another - not exactly mind taxing stuff :yawning:) so they've already worked out that they only compete with one another on who can offer the best customer service.

2. When you receive an email saying the vouchers have been transferred to your account, it does not mean the cash is in your bank yet. Since any delay in clearing is usually down to the recipient's bank, remember that part is not the parent's fault. It's up to the parent to get the vouchers into your voucher account by the due date, but the rest isn't her problem. You may wish to adjust her due payment date to allow for the sluggishness of your own particular bank (even their computers don't work weekends.) You can't say she's paid late if she has transferred the CVs but they haven't arrived in your bank account. If this is going to give you a cash-flow problem, then you must bring forward the contracted due date for payments. It is not enough to say "cleared funds" - you are running a proper business, not flogging 2nd hand CDs on eBay.

3. Check your settings. You should ask the voucher company to make sure their computer searches your account for vouchers and transfers them to your bank account every day. I know this sounds crazy, but a lot of CMs make the quite reasonable mistake of setting it to check once a month. That can mean waiting a whole month to get hold of the cash if the computer is 'looking for' a voucher payment the day before it arrives - because it won't start 'looking' again for a whole nother month. AFAIK this can happen with at only one of the voucher companies, but it's a PITA to find out the hard way.

4. Never, ever, ever refund a voucher payment in cash. Don't even consider it. Technically it's tax fraud and money laundering, which could have HMRC crawling all over you. If mum overpays by vouchers, then you can carry over the credit to the next bill or contact the voucher company to transfer the credit back into her voucher account. Tell her this. Tell her that you are giving her information, not entering into a discussion.

5. You are not responsible for how mum manages her voucher account. If she pays too much of her salary in and can't get it out: her problem, not yours.

6. Don't take any BS from mum about the voucher company delaying transactions. Parents sometimes try it on and say "oh I expect the voucher company gets delayed by the bank holiday", etc. I got my December vouchers credited on Boxing Day. In fact, they frequently draw down the money from the employer's payroll several days before the parent's due pay day. I tell my voucher-paying parents that I expect the credit on time and no arguments. First time they're late I'd issue a warning, second time and I refuse to accept anything but cash or BACS from the parents. They know the vouchers save them money, so none of them have messed me about so far.

Be aware, this is how it runs now. The UK regime is planning to phase in an alternative scheme with the exciting name of "Tax Free Childcare". This is supposed to run in parallel with CVs but a parent will only be allowed to run on one scheme or the other and not allowed to join or re-join a CV scheme if not already joined by the time TFC starts. The long-term aim is to eventually phase out CVs and put everyone on TFC. There is very little detail on this at the mo. Updates tend to appear on CV websites and Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert site, but we're still waiting to see how it will all work out. I'm only saying this so you're aware it will eventually change, but just go with the stuff on CVs for now. Simoana's post and the links therein are the most up-to-date information I've seen. :thumbsup:

Simona
22-08-2015, 10:28 AM
Thanks for the links Simona.

How peculiar that news of yet another UK regime policy setback is exiled to the middle of Nursery World, when the highly-spun launches of these "support for hard-working families" rackets have previously been spun across the front pages of all the establishment press.

Odd that............ :huh:

I have to admit Bunyip that many were aware of the delay...it was not just in NWorld but widespread.
I am sure I did post this in the forum a while back....or maybe not...there is so much going on!

It maybe the govt does not want to publicise this too much as a certain Minister in charge of the DWP has made a few cock-ups...pardon my language but can't think of any other word to describe his dealings with quite a few matters in his dept.

I also think it has to do with the Childcare Vouchers' company launching a legal challenge and I read it was a success.

I hope the whole scheme gets thrown out because the CV work well...all the govt had to do is extend it to all parents....employed or self employed...and getting all employers to subscribe to it.

Kitty B
22-08-2015, 05:21 PM
Thanks guys. So do I wait and see which voucher company they go for then register??

bunyip
22-08-2015, 06:41 PM
Thanks guys. So do I wait and see which voucher company they go for then register??

That's right.

I suppose you could trawl the tinterwebnet and register with every single voucher company (and I have no idea whether that's three or three hundred :huh: ) just so you could be ready for whichever the parents are using.

At best, you'd be wasting a huge amount of your time to save the parents' time and they won't even appreciate the effort you've made.

At worst (and this depends on your view of corporate online security systems) you'd also have lots of inactive CV accounts loaded unnecessarily with your personal data just waiting for the next big e-security breach.

mumofone
22-08-2015, 06:45 PM
Thanks guys. So do I wait and see which voucher company they go for then register??

Yeh just wait and see which ones parents use :-) just make sure you advertise saying you accept all childcare vouchers. It's so easy to sign up with them that by the time they tell you which one they're with you'll have loads of time to sign up with it before they start with you :-) good luck :-)

k1rstie
24-08-2015, 03:18 PM
I have two parents who pay through the same voucher company. My most recent start pays a different amount online each month. It's no hassle.
My oldest parent, who has been using vouchers for years and years has paper vouchers. As soon as I am given one, I phone he free all number, and redeem it. It takes less than a minute, the staff are really friendly. If her voucher arrives when the child is not coming, mum just puts through my door. I redeem as soon as possible, as it's an equivalent to a 243 pound note, and I don't want to loose it.

I get an email from the company, and both the online and the paper voucher arrive in my account at the same time. Both my parents work for the same company, in the same department. My voucher company are fab.