I do up 2 fee schedules for the year. Each one has 6 months listed with all the care days and fee per day, and a monthly total. They give me 6 months of postdated cheques at a time, and payment options are always the 1st of the month, or divided btwn the 1st/15th of the month.
That way I'm not hunting them down, and the fees are paid 2 weeks in advance of care in case they decide to skip out. After 5 yrs of doing this, I've never had to chase a parent, and never had a NSF cheque. I guess I'm fortunate.


@superfun- in the future, make sure all families get a paper copy of the new fee/payment changes in person with you summarizing the changes verbally as you hand them the payment schedule. Some people don't check emails daily, and it might be an honest mistake. That being said, make sure your contract has daily late payment fees imposed, so this won't happen again. Take post dated cheques in advance for several months at a time. If payday was Friday, then pick up the phone and let them know that payday was Friday, and they need to dropoff a cheque before care resumes for next week. Refuse entry to the child if they don't pay. Don't worry about being rude, just be direct. You're entitled to be paid on time just like anyone else.