Set up billing once.
Get paid all year.

Back-to-school is your best window to build the financial systems that run your program on autopilot — before the first invoice is due.

Talk to a billing specialist → Download the free guide ↓

✓ Already included in brightwheel Premium — no extra cost

5 hrs
saved per week on billing admin with brightwheel
90%
of programs see more on-time payments after turning on autopay
$5–10K
recovered monthly from missed & late payments
30 min
average setup time with a brightwheel billing specialist
Free resource

The Back-to-School Billing Readiness Checklist

A practical guide covering the 5 billing steps experienced directors complete every back-to-school season — and what happens when you skip them.

  • ✓ 5 pre-season steps with full action checklists
  • ✓ Real benchmarks: late fee amounts, autopay adoption stats, deposit timing
  • ✓ "Why this matters" context for each step — not just what to do
  • ✓ Printable and fillable — designed for busy directors
Download free guide (PDF) ↓
③ Collect deposits at enrollment — not after
Goal: Secure financial commitment from every family before their child's first day, as part of the enrollment process itself.
Why this matters: Families who ghost in August are almost always the ones who never paid a deposit. Collecting at enrollment, when motivation is highest, is the most effective way to reduce no-shows.
Action steps:
  • Decide deposit amount, refund policy, and whether it applies toward first month's tuition
  • Include deposit in enrollment packet so families pay at submission — not separately after
  • Put your deposit refund policy in writing — families will ask
  • Track every deposit in one place — not a spreadsheet on someone's desktop
  • Set a deposit deadline — families who haven't paid are not confirmed
✅ With brightwheel
Add a registration fee to your enrollment packet — families pay at submission, tracked automatically in your billing dashboard.
Add a registration fee to your packet →
brightwheeltools & templates
Back-to-School BillingReadiness Checklist
What experienced childcare directors do before new families arrive — and what most programs wish they'd done sooner.
7 hrs
per week on manual billing admin
5–10%
gap between billed & collected
30 min
to set up with brightwheel
Back to school is the most financially consequential window of your year. This checklist covers what experienced directors do differently.
① Communicate your rates & policies before families commit
Goal: Make sure every family knows exactly what they owe, when it's due, and what happens if they don't pay — before their child's first day.
Action steps:
  • Update tuition agreements before re-enrollment opens
  • Include late fee, grace period & payment methods in writing
  • Cover payment expectations at orientation
  • Send rate increase notice 4–6 weeks early
  • Ask families to sign and acknowledge the policy
$25
average late fee amount
✅ With brightwheel
Digital tuition agreements let families sign and add their payment method in one step — every family enters the year payment-ready.
Learn more →
brightwheeltools & templates
"The features that helped me grow the program — a lot of it is due to the billing. It has been flawless. Once you set it up, it just kind of goes, and you don't have to do it on a weekly basis. Everything is done in brightwheel. It just saves so much time."
Miranda E., Director at Little Eagles Daycare, MN
The Back-to-School billing checklist

The billing features that pay for themselves — already in your account.

You can set up billing plans, autopay, late fees, deposits, and tuition agreements on your own or through other systems. With brightwheel, they're already built into your account at no additional cost — and a dedicated onboarding specialist will configure everything with you, so your billing runs automatically from day one.

1

Billing Plans

Set tuition rates for every program type before enrollment opens.

Read the guide →
2

Autopay

Get families enrolled during registration while they're in setup mode.

How to set up →
3

Late Fees

Automate your policy so enforcement is consistent and impersonal.

Best practices →
4

Deposits

Deposits predict who actually shows up. Verbal commitments don't.

Learn more →
5

Tuition Agreements

Get signatures before the first invoice — not after the first dispute.

Free template →

What programs say after switching to brightwheel billing.

Directors who activate brightwheel billing don't just save time — they get paid more consistently, have fewer hard conversations, and feel less stressed about the financial side of running their program.

2 in 3

admins report fewer uncomfortable billing conversations with families after turning on brightwheel billing

3 in 4

admins say managing finances is less stressful once billing is automated in brightwheel

91%

of admins say families find it easier to pay with brightwheel than with their previous method

Talk to a billing specialist →
From the brightwheel blog

The research behind the checklist.

Every item on the Back-to-School billing checklist has a body of ECE practice behind it. Dig deeper with these resources from brightwheel's editorial team.

📖 Guide

Childcare Tuition Pricing: Complete Guide to Setting Profitable Rates

How to calculate your true cost per child and build a rate structure that actually sustains your program.

Read article → 📖 Guide

Daycare Late Payment Policy: What to Include and How to Enforce Them

How to structure a late fee policy that protects your program without creating family friction.

Read article → 📋 Template

Daycare Payment Policy Guide: Best Practices and Sample Template

A complete payment policy template you can customize for your program — with all the terms families expect to see.

Get template → 📖 Guide

What to Include in a Comprehensive Childcare Admission Packet

The full enrollment paperwork checklist — including financial commitment forms, deposits, and tuition agreements.

Read article → 📖 Guide

Collecting Overdue Daycare Tuition with Care and Clarity

Scripts and strategies for recovering overdue balances without damaging family relationships.

Read article → 📖 Guide

Top 5 Tuition Mistakes Childcare Businesses Make — and How to Avoid Them

The most common billing mistakes ECE programs make entering a new school year, and what to do instead.

Read article →

Save 5+ hours a week — starting this billing cycle.

Billing is already included in your brightwheel Premium plan. A billing specialist will walk through your full setup with you — most programs go live in under 30 minutes.
🔒 Included in your brightwheel subscription
🤝 Dedicated onboarding support