registraion fee for new parents??

[adele1985]

Does anyone charge this

When a new parent starts their child with me I charge them £25 registration fee (non refundable) this is to sequre the childs place in my care

Does anyone else do this?

[christine e]

I don't but I know nurseries in my area do

[butterfly]

I charge a £15 adminsitration fee when a new child starts which pays for their contract, info form, learning journey, all about me book, daily diary etc - just covers my costs for them starting.

[The Juggler]

i don't. i charge a full month's deposit to secure a place :)

[butterfly]

I agree Juggler - i charge parents 4 weeks fee to secure a place which is their first 4 weeks care

[greenfields]

No, no charges and I don't want a deposit either. Payment in advance for childcare though.

[miffy]

i don't. i charge a full month's deposit to secure a place :)

I do the same as the Juggler

Miffy xx

[Pipsqueak]

same as Jugs.

I have been tempted to charge an admin fee in respect of all the paperwork - non refundable but tbh the 2-4 weeks upfront fees covers that.

[singingcactus]

No I don't. I incur no admin costs, or registration costs when a new child starts so for me to charge the parents a fee for this would be dishonest. If I had costs due to a new child starting, over and above the usual expenses of caring for the child then I would.

[Joda]

A nursery in my area charges a non refundable administration fee of £150 :eek:

I ask for a deposit to secure the place (which is taken off first month's bill). Personally I don't think I could charge an admin fee - obviously contracts, record forms, daily diaries etc are put through my accounts as expenses anyway, but that's just my own opinion.

[migimoo]

At the moment i charge a settling in fee(2 weeks) to be paid in advance then if we all agree we're happy parents pay each month in advance from then on.
I'm only just starting out,my parents are all prompt payers and this works for me at the moment but i think it would only take 1 parent to mess me about/not give notice to quit for me to start charging a months deposit as some suggest....fingers crossed that doesn't happen!

[rickysmiths]

No I don't. I incur no admin costs, or registration costs when a new child starts so for me to charge the parents a fee for this would be dishonest. If I had costs due to a new child starting, over and above the usual expenses of caring for the child then I would.

What about all the paperwork? The Contract, child information form, parental responsibility form, permissions form, giving a copy of your Ofsted Report (EYFS states we have to give a copy to all parents)etc. Starting the LJ. All the folders to keep their info in.


I don't charge a Registration Fee.

I take a four weeks fees Deposit when they sign the Contract. This is then held until the end of the Contract and used to pay the Notice Period as long as all fees are kept up to date. However they loose the Deposit if they leave me within six months of starting with me so that helps off set the setting up costs of the paperwork.

[singingcactus]

What about all the paperwork? The Contract, child information form, parental responsibility form, permissions form, giving a copy of your Ofsted Report (EYFS states we have to give a copy to all parents)etc. Starting the LJ. All the folders to keep their info in.




These are the costs I consider to be normal running costs of providing care for a child, this is covered by my fees - for me. This would only really amount up to about £1.50 anyway, really doesn't cost much to print off the pages, or email them. I don't have expensive record formats, I just use A4 paper which I write in and place in a binder. When child leaves I contain learning records in a child drawn cover and treasury tags, so re-use the binders. Like I said, it would be dishonest for ME to charge any additional registration fee because my setup does not incur any costs outside of what I would consider part of my business running costs, which I put through my books.

[rickysmiths]

These are the costs I consider to be normal running costs of providing care for a child, this is covered by my fees - for me. This would only really amount up to about £1.50 anyway, really doesn't cost much to print off the pages, or email them. I don't have expensive record formats, I just use A4 paper which I write in and place in a binder. When child leaves I contain learning records in a child drawn cover and treasury tags, so re-use the binders. Like I said, it would be dishonest for ME to charge any additional registration fee because my setup does not incur any costs outside of what I would consider part of my business running costs, which I put through my books.

Sorry I wasn't suggesting you charge a fee, I don't either I just insure myself against those who at the moment seem to be using us and other local minders, as a Nursery stop gap, I have had two in the last year, both were using 4 days 10 hours a day and left within six months as soon as a local Nursery had places which the parent then announced that they had been waiting for :rolleyes:

I too include the 'set up' cost in my fees however that doesn't mean there is none if you see what I mean. You are lucky yours are so low my contract costs more than a pound, I then have a 7 page Policy Document, 2 page Permissions and Consents signing sheet, a one page Child Information form, a one page Parental Responsibility form, a Next of Kin form. I give a copy of my Ofsted Report which we have to do and a leaflet about EYFS.

I choose to make up a parent folder, just a 49p plastic one with plastic wallets in and I put the parents copy of the Contract and copies of all the other forms they have signed, the report, a copy of my Policy Document and my Complaints Procedure and EYFS leaflet and my Ofsted Report, in it along with a list of my already booked holiday dates if they join after January. Of course this all costs in time and money.

This is why I take a Deposit and why they loose it or a portion of it if they leave or reduce their hours within six months.

[singingcactus]

Sorry I wasn't suggesting you charge a fee, I don't either I just insure myself against those who at the moment seem to be using us and other local minders, as a Nursery stop gap,

I choose to make up a parent folder, just a 49p plastic one with plastic wallets in and I put the parents copy of the Contract and copies of all the other forms they have signed, the report, a copy of my Policy Document and my Complaints Procedure and EYFS leaflet and my Ofsted Report, in it along with a list of my already booked holiday dates if they join after January. Of course this all costs in time and money.

This is why I take a Deposit and why they loose it or a portion of it if they leave or reduce their hours within six months.

Yeah, I know you weren't. If I provided a nice looking package like you do then I would also be inclined to charge using your system too - which I think is a really good and fair way of doing things. I supply as much info as possible electronically which is why it costs me so little, and my printer is reasonably cheap to run (although getting less reasonable as ink continues to cost more and more). Also, because I only charge for hours used my contract is ridiculously simple and small lol. I just provide parents with a link to my report, although if they wanted a hard copy then of course I would print that, but we are not allowed to charge for that.

I like the way you charge for yours though, business costs if clients are long term, but chargeable if they leave quickly. That does make sense, because if they leave soon after starting then you would be operating at a loss (or at least not at much of a profit) so you do need to get back some of that loss.

[rickysmiths]

Yes I only charge for Contracted hours though I do charge a slightly higher rate for three days or less a week.

I hate reading stuff online and I don't feel as in control if I send all the stuff over the net. Perhaps I am old fashioned but I feel if I have given them everything on paper in a file then there is no excuse and they can never say they haven't had it because I have handed it to them :laughing: