Advice about how to do this please.

[EmmaReed84]

I had a client visit last night and it went wonderfully, you know when you just click with a parent! Anyway, Mum is a student Nurse and is at Uni, but does 8 week placements at the hospital on various wards. Mum will not know what her shifts are like until she goes to each placement.

I have explained I cannot do Wednesday, which is fine and LO attend a playgroup 3 days a week. I have advised Mum that if I drop off child and collect, then fee is chargable for the duration, but if I only collect, then will only charge from that time.

I do not 'need' the money, nor am I too fussed about filling up the rest of my spaces, due to health, I do not want to over do it, plus in Sept my full time EY child is leaving, so I will have that space coming up if I need it.

Because we do not know what days or hours are going to be, I suggested that we agree on a minimum hour contract, so example a minimum of 10 hours a week, but not attribute the hours to any days. Then pay the 4 week deposit based on the contracted hours.

She has said she will be able to tell me the days, when she goes on her new placement, and will probably be able to give me a full 8 weeks, worth of days and hours, but then when she moves placement, she won't know until she is there.

I did suggest that I would invoice her in arrears, with always a minimum of 10 hours, then chargeable for any extra hours done, over and above that...

Like I said, I am not fussed that she is taking up a full time space, as I am not really looking to fill it anyway.

Can anyone help or give advice about invoicing as I have never had to deal with shift workers like this before.

Thank you x (sorry if it sounds confusing)

[Kiddleywinks]

Presumably it is monthly in arrears?

On the invoice I would just put something along the lines of:
W/C 6th Jan 10 hours minimum £xx.xx
Plus additional hours x ?? £xx.xx

W/C 13th Jan 10 hours minimum £xx.xx
No additional hours

W/C 20th Jan 10 hours minimum £xx.xx
Plus additional hours x ?? £xx.xx

W/C 27th Jan 10 hours minimum £xx.xx
No additional hours

Total amount due for January £xxx.xx


If Mum is paying an amount each week so the additional hours is all she needs to cover at the end of the month, you would deduct that from the total amount due;

Total amount due for January £xxx.xx
Less already paid £xxx.xx
Balance due £ xx.xx

[dawn100]

I do something similar. I charge a minimum number of hours per week eg 10hrs divide that by 5 (or how many days a week the place is over) x the number of working days in a month ( I started doing this way so I could work out what the minimum charge was when I took a day off as I don't charge for my holidays) this is charged in advance then at the end of the month I add they additional hours / fees to the next bill.

I'll try to explain it a bit better
Feb 2014 20 working days
10 / 5 = 2hrs x 20 = 40hrs minimum charge
Where as if I took 3 days off in feb it would be 17 working days
10/5 =2 hrs x 17 = 34 hrs minimum charge

Minimum charge for feb 40 hrs
Additional hours used in jan 10 hrs

Total 50 hrs @ £ x.xx = £xxx.xx

you can either work this out weekly or monthly depending on your own personal preference, if worked out monthly and mum say worked 1 week of 5 hours, one week of 7 hours one week of 11 hours and one week of 12 hrs you would only get the minimum payment as mum has worked 36hrs over the month where as if you worked it out weekly mum would have to pay the 40 minimum payment and 8 additional hours so it is best to decide how you are going to calculate this in advance.

[bunyip]

Can't get my head round the maths I'm afraid. Just wanted add my 2d-worth.

If you're getting paid in arrears, take a good-sized deposit to cover the chances of the client leaving without paying. She may be on a 3-year course, but sh1t happens.

If the childcare is being funded, beware. I have an ad hoc client who works in the admin/finance section of a University Hospital. She warned me that they are under constant pressure from their managers to delay/wriggle out of childcare payments to save money. This is a local phenonmenon, not sure if it applies nationally.

Treat placment timetables with the greatest degree of circumspection. My DD was a student midwife and had what appeared to be a highly-organised timetable at the start of each term. Within weeks, it was being altered at short notice due to lecturers having more lucrative seminars to deliver elsewhere. When she was doing practice on the wards, they were all told to turn up at 0700 in full uniform. Half of them were told to start work immediately; the other half were sent away and told to get some sleep cos they'd be back in at 1900.

[caz3007]

I would charge the 10 hours in advance and then any added extras in arrears. I have done lots of flexible contracts as I don't need to be full and do it that way.

I do my invoices something like this

Payment for week beginning xxxx (the standard 10 hours)

and then at the bottom I put the date, and description of the extras. Mine are usually just early or late starts and finishes, so these have a standard charge

[EmmaReed84]

Can't get my head round the maths I'm afraid. Just wanted add my 2d-worth.

If you're getting paid in arrears, take a good-sized deposit to cover the chances of the client leaving without paying. She may be on a 3-year course, but sh1t happens.

If the childcare is being funded, beware. I have an ad hoc client who works in the admin/finance section of a University Hospital. She warned me that they are under constant pressure from their managers to delay/wriggle out of childcare payments to save money. This is a local phenonmenon, not sure if it applies nationally.

Treat placment timetables with the greatest degree of circumspection. My DD was a student midwife and had what appeared to be a highly-organised timetable at the start of each term. Within weeks, it was being altered at short notice due to lecturers having more lucrative seminars to deliver elsewhere. When she was doing practice on the wards, they were all told to turn up at 0700 in full uniform. Half of them were told to start work immediately; the other half were sent away and told to get some sleep cos they'd be back in at 1900.

The childcare is not funded, and she used a childminder previously to coming to me, (in fact, just in her notice period now) it is only that she has moved, she has had to look for alternative care.

I was not really looking to fill the space I had, so this means the extra money I get is literally going straight in to savings for our mortgage. So if she ever did decide to up and leave, as bad as it would be, it would not affect me financially. Apart from the extra in the savings account.

My head just aches from figuring out how to invoice, but the replies I have had, helped me loads! So thank you all xx