How do you charge?

[EmmaReed84]

I currently charge an hourly rate with breakfast, lunch and dinner are charged at a seperate rate. Since then I have had to look at my fees and thought about increasing my hourly rate to include meals, nappies, wipes etc... However after thinking about it once my son is clean I don't really fancy buying and storing a load of nappies, sacks and wipes!

I have considered a half day and full day rate but was just wondering what you all do and how you charge... Not really looking for amounts, although that would help give me a general idea, just more about HOW you do it (ie inc meals, nappies, don't provide food etc)

Trying to find a way that suits me, but there are so many variables to consider... TTO, Holidays only, Overtime hours, etc

[loocyloo]

i charge an hourly fee, to include all meals/snacks and the majority of outings ( put into cover myself if i want to go somewhere expensive and decide to ask parents to contribute. but never asked once in over 8 years! )

i charge a flat fee for all year round care, and an 'enhanced' fee for termtime or holiday only.

my occasional care fees are my 'enhanced' fee for less that 6 hrs a day, and usual fee for more than 6 hours a day.

parents provide nappies & wipes ( i usually keep them at my house for each child and parent tops up as necessary ), suncream, and anything else!

i used to charge extra for meals, but when i moved, everyone locally includes meals, so i thought i ought to as well. currently i only feed LOs, but were i to be feeding schoolies with big appetites, then i may start charging for meals.

[muffins]

I do the following-

~ Normal fee- £4 per hr, 8am-6pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

~ Out of hours- £6 per hr, before 8am & after 6pm- Monday to Friday.

~ Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays- £6 per hr.

~ Wrap around care, including transport
8am->9am including breakfast £5
3pm->6pm including dinner £15

~ All nappies, wipes & nappy sacks provided for your child + 10p per hr.

~ Breakfast- £1, Dinner- £2.50, Refreshments & snacks are provided free of charge. Please provide a packed lunch.

[lozzy23]

£4.00 per hour, includes snacks & drinks, outings to play gym and music & movement class.

Parents provide nappies, wipes & suncream.

I charge 50p breakfast, £1 cold lunch, £1 hot dinner.

For term time only parents they pay 4 weeks holiday pay, one has it integrated into their monthly pay the other pays me 4 weeks in August.

[Tabi]

hi
i had a similar querie about this subject...
if parents contribute for meals etc, is it still ok to claim expenses on food you buy for minded children?
sorry if thats quite a simple question.
thanks

[loocyloo]

hi
i had a similar querie about this subject...
if parents contribute for meals etc, is it still ok to claim expenses on food you buy for minded children?
sorry if thats quite a simple question.
thanks

if the parents pay for meals, and you put that as income in your accounts ( and you must ) then, yes, you put all food expenses for minded children as an expense in your accounts. x

[miffy]

I charge a daily rate and include meals for under 5's, but as food prices have shot up I'm considering only including lunch and charging extra for tea like I do for after-schoolies.

I don't include nappies, wipes, suncream, nappy cream or anything else like that in my fees - parents supply and each lo has their own box with all this in.

Miffy xx

[lubanana]

I charge £4.75 an hour, which includes all food, which is primarily organic and homecooked but excludes nappies and wipes etc, UNLESS they are funded children, then I add a £2.50 a day for food IF they are in a funded session/day as the rate is much lower than my normal rate.
The families can have 4 weeks holiday at half price (retainer rate) if they give me a months notice.
I have some children that only attend during holidays, their rate is £5.50 an hour, unless they are a sibling of a child currently attending throughout the year, their rate is £4.75.
I have some children that attend only in term time, they pay £4.75 an hour as shown on their contracted hours only and pay nothing in the holidays.
I don't charge for their holidays as a rule as I can increase my numbers in the holidays for additional children as they are not attending. Colleagues say I am am too soft BUT it works for me.
I previously worked in very high pressure sales and marketing and could not go back to it, so need to be able to justify my charges and not have that horrible feeling that I have got as much as I can for each family. Many of you will not follow my pricing structure but we are self employed and can set charges and terms as we please.
So the prospect that some agency may come in an dictate how much and what I may charge makes my blood boil. (Current changes to EYFS12)
Sorry for long post
Lu x

[Daftbat]

Mainly I charge an hourly rate which includes everything except nappies and jarred baby foods and formula milk.

I do a daily rate with a maximum charge and I offer a slight reduction for a full week with full time hours.

I have often thought about charges which others make for meals. My problems are:
1. If a child is a fussy eater and refuses food you provide do you still charge?
2. If a child is a good eater and is genuinely hungry and wants more - extra fruit, a bag of crisps etc having eaten all his meal do you charge extra?
3. If you charge for meals you are honour bound to actually provide them - sometimes in the past a parent has turned up early, or I have had to change plans e.g one winter we unexpectedly when toboganning after school and only got back when a parent was due to collect. Because I don't charge extra for food I didn't feel guilty about not having done a proper meal.

I think its all just too complicated and opens up problems with parents about quality of meals, costs etc. So I keep it simple and advise parents that the child will recieve everything they need whilst they are with me - no matter how many meals or snacks etc that they have. My book keeping is more straight forward too

[Chimps Childminding]

I charge an hourly rate which includes breakfast and snacks, I don't provide meals. Parents supply packed lunch or something to warm up/cook for lo's here all day, nappies, wipes etc, though of course I do buy wipes, suncream etc incase parents forget to put it in the bag! I only

have 1 schoolie here for tea and her parents send something like a pasty, ravioli etc and she has "proper" tea when she gets home at half 6!

My hourly rate is £3.50 but a full day (10 hours) is £30 (I charge a minimum of £20 for a pre-school child when using only part day)
Before school minimum £5
After school minimum £10

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I charge session rates - I think if you do a half day rate you are taking away flexibility

I have:

Before School rate
After School rate
School Hours rate
Day rate

These are the same for term time only or holiday only or both contracts

[LauraS]

I intend to charge hourly, as someone said, offering only half days/full days does remove flexibility. I'd wonder if some parents booking a full day of ten hours but only needing eight, say, might tend to drop off as early and pick up as late as possible to get their moneys worth, rather than booking/using only what they need if paying hourly.

I've seen some really odd charging structures when researching the viability of me childminding. One CM was charging set fees £130 for half days up to 25 hours, and £180 for 25 to 45 hours - no hourly rate at all. That would totaly put off parents who don't want close to 25 or close to 45 hours, in my opinion, as they might feel they are paying for something they aren't getting. The poor parent who needs 26 hours will pay £50/hour for that last extra hour

I've also seen some that are odd in terms of costing more for a session than hourly, say at £4 per hour, six hour session £22, ten hours £44. Either it's not been well thought through or I'm missing something

[The Juggler]

I charge by the hour £4.50 or £5 before 0800 and after 1800.

I charge £5 for before/after schoolies

I charge min. 5 hours per day

75p for brekkie, 1.50 for lunch

[julie w]

I charge a flatrate of £20 per day. It includes breakfast lunch snacks and outings, but parents provide nappies, wipes and formula. Before and after school is £35 per week or £5 odd before/after care. It saves messing around with odd hours and works for me.

[EmmaReed84]

I charge a flatrate of £20 per day. It includes breakfast lunch snacks and outings, but parents provide nappies, wipes and formula. Before and after school is £35 per week or £5 odd before/after care. It saves messing around with odd hours and works for me.

£20 a day... Out of curiosity how many hours and where about do you live? If you did an average 8 hour day that works out £2.50 per hour... AND including breakfast lunch and snacks... That would be £100 a week pretty much all in.

I currently charge £3.50 without any meals included and that is considered cheap around here. That works out £140 a week.

However I live in Essex, so I guess it really depends on the area you are. But £2.50 sounds so cheap... not having a go or anything, but crikey I would not be able to afford to do that.

[julie w]

£20 a day... Out of curiosity how many hours and where about do you live? If you did an average 8 hour day that works out £2.50 per hour... AND including breakfast lunch and snacks... That would be £100 a week pretty much all in.

I currently charge £3.50 without any meals included and that is considered cheap around here. That works out £140 a week.

However I live in Essex, so I guess it really depends on the area you are. But £2.50 sounds so cheap... not having a go or anything, but crikey I would not be able to afford to do that.

I live in Stoke on Trent which is quite a poorly paid area tbh. Even with tax credits some parents struggle with paymentI work 7am to 6pm but I am completely full so I feel I get a good wage for this area. x

[EmmaReed84]

I live in Stoke on Trent which is quite a poorly paid area tbh. Even with tax credits some parents struggle with paymentI work 7am to 6pm but I am completely full so I feel I get a good wage for this area. x

£1.81 an hour... I am never going to moan again about my rates lol

I guess as long as you are earning a decent wage that is all that matters...money wise I mean lol

[PixiePetal]

I charge hourly with a minimum of 5 hours

meals and snacks included (pre schoolers who stay till 5.30 at least can have tea - older ones can go home for it with family!)

Parents only need to give me nappies and formula milk if used and spare clothes to keep here, including wellies etc

I will be £5/hr for any up coming contracts - money going up

[Valencia]

This has been confusing for me too.

Do I do an hourly rate or a daily/half day rate? Do I include meals?

I am proposing either £4.50 an hour to include meals. Or £40 full day (max 8 hours), £25 half day (5 hours and under). Before and after school £5p/h.

I'm going to my first childminder forum meeting next week, so will ask around.

My other question is how do you bill? Contracted hours each week/month or multiply by working weeks and same amount every month?

[loocyloo]

My other question is how do you bill? Contracted hours each week/month or multiply by working weeks and same amount every month?

i invoice for the month ahead, for the actual days to be used in that month!

for example , i have just invoiced mum for 'freds' care for june 2012.

hours... wednesday, thursday & friday 9.00-5.00 ... 24hrs@£4.00/hr = £96.00 per week

weeks beginning 4th/11th/18th/25th June ... 4 weeks @ £96.00
plus friday 1st june ... 1 day@ £32.00

total for month...£416.00 due on the 1st June 2012.

i can then add extra days or refund days for the previous month to give total to be paid.

hope that helps xxx