I was just wondering today

[son77]

do you only charge by the hour?

ie, X comes at 11.20 & leaves at 3.45, would you charge from 11am-4pm or just the hours used?

In this case I would charge from 11.15am-3.45pm, is this me being too soft & I need to charge purely by the hour or is this about right?

Blimey, there's always something that you wonder if you are doing right!

[mjw]

Its totally up to you. I tend to charge like you but some do hourly rate or daily or morning/ afternoon sessions. Just make it clear in your contract. Remember it is your business so you set the rules so do it with confidence.
Mary

[crazybones]

Its purely up to you. I charge per hour and class part of an hour as another hour. Does that make sense? I did do a half hour fee for a mum who was always late but that was me being soft. and trying to get more money as I was actually working extra every day.

[manjay]

I charge per half hour the same as you but there are lots who would charge for the full hours. It is up to you

[miffy]

There isn't any right or wrong answer it's up to you

I usually charge by the full or half day but the hours you mention don't fit into that at all!!!!!

I would always charge by the full hour never by the half but as I say it's up to you

miffy xx

[sarah707]

I charge by the half hour...

For one parent I bill by the quarter hour cos he's a very mean man and will query every extra minute on the bill. Not nice.

[Heaven Scent]

I charge by the hour/day/week but I'm not getting into half hours - no way jose

[Monkey1]

I do the half hour. I'm going to introduce a minimum session fee though as i have one parent who is contracted for 8 hours, she is now taking the P**s by splitting it into half hour sessions! Not worth me getting out of bed!

[Twinkles]

I do the half hour. I'm going to introduce a minimum session fee though as i have one parent who is contracted for 8 hours, she is now taking the P**s by splitting it into half hour sessions! Not worth me getting out of bed!

Cheeeky mare !!

I charge by the half hour.

[son77]

Thanks girls, given me something to think about half of you do full hours only and half of you do 1/2 hours.

[angeldelight]

I do the same as Miffy

Angel xx

[NikNak]

I have been charging to the exact minuit for one parent but after reading this I am defo going to change it for the future to the hour! It makes it so much easier to work out the fees. I really struiggle with the maths if it isn't rounded of into hours! x

[Pipsqueak]

I have been charging to the exact times but i am now going to start charging up /full hour. I am getting sick of the extra 10/15 mins here and there stretching to 25mins there and here!!!

[tulip0803]

I would do the same as you. But it is your business so you can make the rules.

[Blaze]

I charge to the nearest 15 minutes...but as has been said before...your business your rules!
Blaze

[Tatia]

I charge to nearest quarter hour, too but am thinking to change it to either 1/2 hours or even hours (as may childminders around here do charge by hour). Maybe I should start with 1/2 hurs so as not to freak them all out?!

[HilaryT]

I charge by the quarter of hour as I think that's fair for all. If the children stay longer, then I charge longer! But it's up to you to decide.

Hilary

[jaja]

hi

I charge by every fifteen mins but after reading this thread i might just do every half an hour from now on

xxx

[Ruth Gray]

Hi, I personally charge by the hour. One little boy that I look after arrives around 8:25am and is collected at 4.35pm. I charge them from 8am-5pm. I find that if you start going into half hours it just makes things alot more confusing. I explained to parents that this is what I intended to do when they came for their first meeting and they were fine.

Hope this helps!!

[Blaze]

...I used to charge by the hour untill i found that parents would quite often turn up late, as they felt they were paying for it, so why shouldn't they use it & then all sorts of problems occured when i implemented my late collection fee in an attempt to put a stop to it!
Blaze