retainer for April next year?

[tash 1]

Hi not sure what would charge for retainer or deposit for enquiry next April.mum due baby few weeks wants care next April 4 3 days @ £30 day but maybe 5 she not sure what she will be working yet and half day for her other child 3 year old @ £15 day I said months fees to secure place but this would total £900 as she has two kids.she seems keen to book place when baby arrives.Any advice would be great.
Tashx

[miffy]

Next April is a long time away -£900 to secure the place seems a lot to ask but if someone else came along now and wanted the place straight away then you would be much better off taking them than waiting.

I don't think I'd want to commit to holding two places for all that time.

Miffy xx

[Mouse]

I wouldn't commit to someone that far in advance, especially when mum isn't sure yet what she will be working.

Are the spaces available now. If they are and you take a deposit you will have to keep the spaces open for them. Unless you can get a temporary contract it could mean you not earning any money on those 2 spaces until April next year.

If you haven't actually got the spaces at the moment and other children would leave before next April to free up the spaces, then it's not so bad.

[rickysmiths]

I wouldn't do anything until the baby has arrived.

It is too long to charge a retainer the recommendation is no more than 3 months for a retainer.

If you are happy to keep a place for April next year then I would charge a 4 weeks fees Deposit when she signed the Contract for both children which would be held until the end of the Contract. It will be a lot of money but it is asking a lot for you to hold a place for so long.

I would make it crystal clear that if the parents change their mind and don't take up the place they don't get the Deposit back. I would also write in a clause saying that the full fees will become due from a certain date, say from the 1st April so that if dates change or the mum starts to get cold feet and delays her return to work, remember while she is off work she still accrues her annual holiday and she may suddenly extend her maternity leave by using some or all of this leaving you left with no income.

Do keep the Deposit aside in case your circumstances change in this time and you have to return the Deposit.