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Making and taking payments should be easy. 

As a nursery owner or manager, we know that you spend a lot of your time and resources ensuring the safe running of your setting. As we look forward to the new year and a fresh start, it is important for us to consider new ways to streamline our nursery management processes.

In this article we share how childcare settings can reduce their admin time by up to 80% by using Connect Cashflow.

What is Connect Cashflow?

Connect Cashflow is our contactless payment solution that allows you to take instant card payments and collect direct debits from parents. We know how difficult it can be to balance the day to day running of a nursery setting and keep up to date with invoices and payments – which is why we developed a quicker and safer way to make and take payments in your childcare setting. 

Our Connect Cashflow system integrates seamlessly with Connect Childcare and ParentZone, allowing smooth cashflow within your business. It even does the allocations for you.

One of the most tedious aspects of managing the finances of your childcare business is sifting through countless bank statements to record and reconcile payments against each bill. With Connect Cashflow, when a payment is made by a parent it is automatically reconciled against the bill, reducing your admin time by up to 80% and allowing you to stay on track during these trying times. 

How Does Connect Cashflow Save You Time?

Bills will be sent directly to parents within their app to allow them to make instant payments – so you don’t have to spend time chasing invoices. All of the admin and payment allocation is taken care of for you, freeing up more precious time to spend with the children in your setting. 

Being able to digitise and automate lengthy paperwork tasks helps with job satisfaction and fulfilment for your staff too. That is not to say that technology can remedy the dissatisfaction with government underfunding and low-pay, but it can provide more time for staff to do what they are most passionate about, developing children and positively shaping the future of the sector.

Connect Cashflow Features

Connect Cashflow provides you with two different types of payments for your childcare business: In-App Payments and Direct Debit Payments. Here are the benefits of both of these processes:

In-App Payments

Enjoy the quickest and most affordable way to receive payments with online payments at the tap of an app.

• Safe and Secure – Level 1 PCI DSS Compliant. Guarantee debit and credit card transactions are processed safely and securely with fraud protection.
• Reduced Admin – payments are automatically reconciled against the bill, reducing your admin time by up to 80% (compared to Direct Debit and cash).
• Easy to Set Up – create your Total Processing account and start taking online payments through ParentZone today.

Direct Debit Payments

A reliable and trusted direct debit service with seamless two-way integration into your Connect Childcare system.

• Automatic Payment – Automated payment collections ensure you get paid on time.
• Two-Way Integration – Manage from your existing Connect Childcare platform and eliminate hours spent reconciling bank statements.
• Trusted and Reliable – An excellent alternative to in-house management, with significantly lower cost and highly secure.

The cost of living crisis has impacted every aspect of our country, however it is childcare businesses that have been amongst those most affected. We know how hard it is to keep a childcare business afloat and that’s why we are doing everything we can to make your nursery admin processes quicker and easier to manage. With the admin out of the way, it will allow you to have a bird’s eye view of your finances, in turn affording you the insight to make decisions that benefit your setting. 

How Can Technology Help Your Childcare Setting?
Technology can have a profound effect on nurseries and is there to help alleviate some of the burden placed on childcare professionals. Whether that be too much time spent on admin, worrying about whether data is safe and secure, wondering whether parents receive enough dialogue, or managing cost visibility – nursery management software is there to make life easier for the user.