With ClassForKids, you can offer childcare vouchers as a method of payment.
This can be recorded against a parent/carer's order even if you require payment to be made at the point of booking.
Although you can record an order as paid by childcare voucher, the processing of this would be dealt with outwith the system.
Please contact your local council for further information on accepting these.
How to Take Payment with Childcare Vouchers
If you opt to allow parents/carers to book in and pay later, you can read more about setting up offline payment for collecting childcare vouchers from here.
However, we understand the importance of keeping the 'Payment Secures Booking' feature on to ensure other parents/carers are still making payments upfront and you are not chasing outstanding balances.
Therefore, our instructions below will guide you through accepting childcare vouchers with the 'Payment Secures Booking' feature switched on.
Firstly, to allow the parent/carer to bypass making payment at checkout as they will paying through the childcare voucher, you must create a 100% discount code.
To do this, access the 'Settings' tab from the left-side menu:
Then click on the 'Discounts' section:
Then on the 'Discount Codes' option:
Within the discount codes section, click the 'Add a Discount' button to create a new code:
From here, you can add in the name for your code (please note that this name is just for your records, this will not be the code you share with parents and carers)
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As the name of the discount code is only for your record, you can name the code 'Childcare Voucher' to allow you to easily keep track of the uses!
Then set the discount to provide 100% off to allow parents/carers to book in without making payment through the system.
Next, set the discount to never expire.
When you're ready, click the 'Generate Code' button:
Once you generate the code this will appear in the discount codes section:
The discount codes are system generated which means that the code itself cannot be customised.
This is just to reduce any issues with multiple clubs creating discounts of the same name and errors occurring when parents/carers apply the code at checkout.
Once generated, the discount code can be distributed to parents and carers who will be paying through childcare vouchers through:
Your class description
Email/ SMS
Social Media
How Parents and Carers Enter the Discount Code
Parents and carers will be able to enter the discount code at checkout using the 'Discount Code' box:
This will reduce the cost of the class to £0 and allow the parent/carer to book on:
Discount codes can only be applied when the parent/carer is booking through the public booking page.
They must insert the discount code before they complete their order, discounts cannot be applied after the order is made.
Discount codes cannot be applied if bookings have been made manually or auto-enrolled. As discount codes are added during booking, and manual bookings/ auto-enrolling bypass the booking process, parents/carers won't be able to add any discounts when paying.
How to Report on the Discount Code
Click onto the 'Financials' tab:
Then the 'Analysis' tab:
From there, click the 'Discount' dropdown and click on the name of the childcare voucher discount code:
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The other filters within the 'Analysis' section can also be used to view more specific information, such as:
The date range and specific parent:
The term, venue, class and day:
Once you have selected a childcare voucher discount code, you can view the parents who have opted to pay via childcare voucher:
Other details of the booking can also be viewed:
The 'Export' button above the financial records can be clicked to export this information into a spreadsheet outwith the system:
Payment can then be taken through childcare voucher for these parents.
How to Record the Payment
From the financials record shown above, click the record:
This will take you to the parent/carer's order:
Click the 'Change Invoice Amount' button:
Then change this to the original cost of the order and click 'Change':
From the order, click the 'Record a Payment' dropdown:
For the payment method, select 'Childcare Voucher'
Record the date this was paid on, which you can backdate up to two weeks:
Then choose whether or not to send a receipt to the parent/carer via email:
This is an example of the email they will receive if sent:
Once you have entered in the details, click the 'Add' button:
The payment will then display as paid by childcare voucher in the 'Payment Record' for their order:
A new financial record will be added to show this order as paid:
This record will be viewable when filtering with the childcare voucher discount code.
Taking these steps will also ensure that your financial information is accurate for your overall revenue:
