Fee Management for Preschools

Preschools bill monthly or weekly reflecting the high family-mobility and short enrolment lifecycles of early-childhood programs. The platform configures per-program: monthly billing on the 1st with prorated first-month for mid-month start (typical NAEYC-accredited preschools), weekly billing on Monday with prorated partial weeks (typical daycare programs), or per-day billing for drop-in programs (typical drop-in child-care). Auto-debit setup with parent-side payment-method storage, late-fee rules per missed cycle (typical $25-$50 late fee), and parent-side billing-status visibility in the portal. Mid-cycle child withdrawal handles per program policy with prorated refund calculation.

Many preschools (especially non-profit, faith-based, and community-funded) offer sliding-scale tuition based on family income. The platform handles: per-family income-disclosure workflow with documentation upload (recent tax return, pay stubs, employer letter), per-program sliding-scale-formula configuration (typical 30-100% of standard tuition based on income percentile, configurable per institution), family-side fee calculation transparency (parents see "Family income $45,000 → 50% tuition tier → monthly fee $400"), and audit trail for funder reporting. Foundation grants, government subsidy programs, and faith-based scholarship sources each have specific documentation requirements; per-funder audit-trail handling preserves required evidence.

For preschools participating in Head Start (federally-funded comprehensive early-childhood program serving low-income families) and state pre-K (state-funded preschool programs varying by state), the platform handles: subsidy-payer enrolment per program (federal Head Start grantee for Head Start, state agency for state pre-K), per-child subsidy authorisation tracking with funding period, subsidy-payment posting to family account (typically zero-out for fully-subsidised Head Start enrolment, partial-payment for state pre-K with parent co-pay), and subsidy-side reporting per program requirements. Head Start Program Performance Standards require PIR (Program Information Report) annual submission; state pre-K reporting varies by state. Per-program reporting templates configurable once.

CCDF (Child Care and Development Fund) is the federal block-grant program funding child-care subsidies for working low-income families. State agencies administer CCDF; subsidy enrolment is family-side eligibility-determined (family income, work or training status). For daycares receiving CCDF-subsidised families, the platform handles: CCDF subsidy-payer enrolment (state CCDF agency), per-child subsidy authorisation tracking, subsidy-payment posting alongside parent co-pay (CCDF typically requires family-side co-pay scaled to income), and CCDF block-grant reporting per state agency format. State-by-state CCDF rules vary; per-state configuration matches each state's requirements.

NAEYC accreditation sets standards across 10 areas: relationships, curriculum, teaching, assessment, health, teachers, families, community relationships, physical environment, and leadership and management. The platform supports NAEYC-aligned operational reporting: enrolment by age group with NAEYC-aligned ratios (NAEYC standards specify maximum group sizes and teacher-to-child ratios per age group), teacher-to-child ratio per NAEYC standards with classroom-level audit trail, family-engagement metrics per the family-engagement criterion (event attendance, parent-teacher conference completion, communication frequency), and operational audit-trail. NAEYC accreditation cycles every 5 years with annual self-study reporting; the platform supports evidence assembly across the 5-year cycle.