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Step 1
Require that parents pay a deposit equal to one or two weeks of care. In the daycare payment contract, be sure to specify exactly what the deposit is for, when it's due, and under what conditions it will be returned. If you won't return the deposit if the parents fail to give you sufficient notice to disenroll their kids, make it plain in the payment contract.
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Step 2
Require that parents pay you upfront for care. It's not unusual or unreasonable to require payment on the first day of the week that the child attends your daycare.
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Step 3
Establish a late payment policy. Let parents know if they will be charged by the minute, hour, etc. Let them know how you will communicate the amounts owed and when it's due. Spell out what happens if they don't satisfy the amount due including a forfeiture of deposit or refusal to allow the kids back in your care.
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Step 4
Specify a method and frequency of payment. Will you allow parents to pay for a month's care upfront? Will you require a cash payment after a parent writes you a bad check? What fees will you charge for a returned check? Make all of this clear in your daycare payment contract.
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Step 5
Insert a clause at the end of the daycare payment contract that ensures the parent has read, signed, understands, and agrees to comply with all the terms. This little section should leave no room for citing a misunderstanding as the reason for non-compliance at a later date. Some parents can and do get selective amnesia when it's time to write a check.
