Shortchanging you at payment

I've got a minor dilemma. I've had a particular family (both parents are school teachers) that will either "forget" to pay on a Monday morning or will often short change me. I always count the fees after the parents have left. Now I've sent a short text letting them know that they are short on their fees and to bring the balance at pick up. They texted back "opps, thought we included the complete total" How do you miss $40.00 in your fees?? These people are educated teachers for goodness sake?? I would assume basic math would be a given.

Do any of you actually count the money exchange at drop off or do you do what I do and wait until they leave. All parents put the money or cheque in the child's work/communication folder so it's never an issue of actually "exchanging money" in hand at drop off.

Is it tacky to count the fees to make sure they are accurate at drop off? Do any of you do this? This one family has short changed me a day last week (they sent their school age son who was on Xmas break for the one day and didn't include payment for him on this Monday, just for my regular dcg.) So now they are short for fees this week and still owe me for the one day on Monday last week for their son. :mad:

Otherwise they are (were) good clients. The "I forgot" or "opps thought we put the whole amount in the folder" is getting old.

I would insist on post dated cheques for advance payment then you will no longer have payment issues. I think it's a much more professional way of conducting business too. You aren't a babysitter or working for "cash" and there are many companies and business who do not handle cash transactions and I think our profession should adopt this method exclusively. Payment issue threads on this forum are always about providers being paid in arrears for care, by cash or EMT. I don't think I have ever seen a thread in the whole nearly two years I have been a member relating to having any problems with payment in advance via post dated cheques. I always ask for 3 months at a time and when I am down to 1 month left, then I require topping up, that way I am never chasing money at the last minute and running the risk of messing up my own budget.

Put a stop to this behaviour by implementing cheque only payments asap and see how much easier things will be.

I find it easiest to issue invoices every 2 weeks. That way everyone knows what they owe with no hesitation :)

The week of payday, I usually send a text with their total. I started to put it on the monthly newsletters but had to many parents "forget" it was payday so I am going back to sending texts.

I receive a mixture of cheques and cash. I don't even look at the cheques until the parents is gone. Even though it is my payment, I do feel it's tacky. If they have wrote the wrong amount or short changed me, I would just send a text telling them. It's never happened yet though.

If it was a big issue and happening a lot, than I would suck up my feelings of tackiness and count it while they were there or take a glance at the cheque.

I just had the same problem. The family is usually great; picks up on time, polite kids, always bring more diapers when I start to run low, etc. She always pays me in cash and I've never counted it in front of her, and never had a problem. Then over the Christmas break, she didn't bother paying for stats (Christmas, boxing day, and New Year's day) even though it's in my contract that I get paid for stats, and they've always paid stats before without a peep. I need to bring it up, but I'm not sure how to do so. It seems pretty far-fetched that they would actually forget about the stats. My guess is they did it on purpose and think I'm too nice to say anything. The problem is, they're half-right, and now I'm feeling awkward just thinking about it. I hate this part of the job!

I'm as torn as you-do I start counting the cash in front of her? I think it's tacky as well, but I'd rather avoid having this problem again.

First if this is an on going problem then yes I would start counting it in front of them .... Make it awkward for them too. Second I only use emt and I have never had a problem. My fees are due on Fridays before 5pm for the following two weeks. If I haven't received someone's fees by that time I send a text saying "just a reminder fees are due today" and then I get it within a few minutes. I don't deal with cheques ... I'm not willing to deal with NSF's and the charges that are associated with that also I do all my banking online and never set foot in a bank so I don't want the hassle.... I like to sit on my couch and receive my fees.

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Originally Posted by CrazyEight

I just had the same problem. The family is usually great; picks up on time, polite kids, always bring more diapers when I start to run low, etc. She always pays me in cash and I've never counted it in front of her, and never had a problem. Then over the Christmas break, she didn't bother paying for stats (Christmas, boxing day, and New Year's day) even though it's in my contract that I get paid for stats, and they've always paid stats before without a peep. I need to bring it up, but I'm not sure how to do so. It seems pretty far-fetched that they would actually forget about the stats. My guess is they did it on purpose and think I'm too nice to say anything. The problem is, they're half-right, and now I'm feeling awkward just thinking about it. I hate this part of the job!

I'm as torn as you-do I start counting the cash in front of her? I think it's tacky as well, but I'd rather avoid having this problem again.

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it is as simple as just saying "It looks like a mistake was made and you didn't include stat days in your payment. So the amount still owing is..." It is awkward but I always say these things with a smile on my face, makes it not feel confrontational and still upholds your contract agreement. Or if I won't be seeing them for a few days I send an email with a deadline for payment and that a late fee would be owing if not paid by that time. Before the holidays I sent an email out to each family stating what was owing and when, just to prevent any confusion or "mistakes" in amount paid.

Don't feel bad for following through on what was agreed upon in contract and also I don't hestitate sending reminders to the families that I have that forget that it is payday.

In my contract I state that each month's fees are due on the first of each month. I charge a daily rate so each month's fees are usually different. A few days before the 1st I send an email to each family to let them know the total and any additional fees and show a breakdown like this ($50 per day x 20 days + $15 for early drop off on Dec. 1 = $1015 total). I know they can figure it out for themselves but if I send the breakdown it is there clear as day and then we don't have any problems with "forgetting" anything. If I end up closing and don't charge for a day whatever difference is made up in the next month's fees.
I find that parents like it to be clear.
If they forget the cheque in the morning I remind them to bring it at pick up time.
So far I haven't had any problems.
Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Crayola kiddies

I don't deal with cheques ... I'm not willing to deal with NSF's and the charges that are associated with that also I do all my banking online and never set foot in a bank so I don't want the hassle.... I like to sit on my couch and receive my fees.

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If a personal cheque goes NSf in your account from a parent, you do not get charged a penny. A business account is different but as we aren't registered businesses this is not an issue. You don't have to set foot in a bank to pay cheques in, drive thru cash machine and deposit them that way and they are available immediately. You could do this while grocery shopping etc. EMT's are fine until you get that parent who innocently gets side tracked and you can't get hold of them to remind them to pay. You may not have come across this problem yet, but ultimately they are the ones in control of when they pay you, not you, versus cheques which are banked prior to any care being given, so there is never an issue with late payment as you have the cheques in hand from the start and if they don't bring them, then there is no care provided.

I've had a NSF cheque once. I charge $30 if this happens and my bank charges me $15 so technically I make an extra $15 for this inconvenience. This parent did this once and never again.

I had another parent put a stop on a cheque and again, I was charged $15. She paid me in cash the same day she stopped the cheque (she had an issue with Visa taking out too much money and she knew this so she paid me cash). I only charged her the $15 that my bank charged me.

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Originally Posted by bright sparks

If a personal cheque goes NSf in your account from a parent, you do not get charged a penny. A business account is different but as we aren't registered businesses this is not an issue. You don't have to set foot in a bank to pay cheques in, drive thru cash machine and deposit them that way and they are available immediately. You could do this while grocery shopping etc. EMT's are fine until you get that parent who innocently gets side tracked and you can't get hold of them to remind them to pay. You may not have come across this problem yet, but ultimately they are the ones in control of when they pay you, not you, versus cheques which are banked prior to any care being given, so there is never an issue with late payment as you have the cheques in hand from the start and if they don't bring them, then there is no care provided.

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As 5 monkeys stated some banks do charge NSF fees to the receiving party but what if I had money coming out based on the money that was going in and now my cheque bounced ? Then I would be charged fees for that as well .....plus when you get an emt you never have to worry that it will bounce ever. Fortunately I do not live paycheque to paycheque but I do know that some providers do. In the 4 years that I have been operating I have not had one issue with emts.... For me it works.... I have very stand up, honest, responsible clients. They respect and are grateful for what I do, day in and day out. I also have a two week deposit to be applied to the last two weeks of care from each family .... So I have no worry about being stiffed. I like the convienience of receiving my pay without leaving my house. With five of my own kids time is always of the essence and I prefer not having one more errand to run on weekends.

I create an invoice and give it to the parents the day before the payment is due. This way they don't forget any late pick-up fees they may have from the previous/current week. I also encourage for them to use e-transfer from their bank account to mine via a secret password given by e-mail. Helps eliminate the bounced cheque and counting cash in front of them.

If this is something that happens often you need to change your policies.

Get paid in advance always. You could make payment due on Friday for the following week. That gives you the weekend to count the money and send a quick text if amount is incorrect. They bring the balance in cash at drop off on Monday or they don't come in. Easy. Bet it won't happen again.

I would definitely start emailing them a total for each week, in advance, with a reminder of when it is due.