The Netherlands has almost 5,000 organisations that offer day care and/or after-school care. Yet invoices sent by these organisations are paid on time in only half of all cases. At Payt, we understand why – and more importantly, we know how to improve payment behaviour, in this case among parents.
The same challenges as other sectors – but with different causes
“In terms of payment behaviour, the childcare sector isn’t that different from other industries, but the underlying causes are,” says Sander Kamstra, director of Payt.
“In general, childcare organisations have to wait a long time for invoice payments – on average around 22 days. What’s more, over a third of all invoices are only paid after one or two reminders, and a portion remains unpaid even after three months. That means a lot of money has to be advanced, which can negatively affect liquidity. Fortunately, the sector takes this into account quite well.”
Payment behaviour in the childcare sector
- Invoices are paid after an average of 22 days
- 38% of all invoices are only paid after one or two reminders
- 2.13% of all invoices remain unpaid after three months
Why do payments get delayed?
According to Kamstra, there are several reasons why payments are often late:
“As a childcare organisation, you run into a range of situations. For example, parents who only pay once they have received their childcare allowance. Or bank accounts that don’t have sufficient funds (or don’t have them in time) for direct debit. And reminders that are sent to the wrong address because parents have separated.”
Want to get paid faster? These tips will help you:
In no particular order:
- Offer parents the option to pay via iDEAL.
“Our data shows that this payment option genuinely leads to faster payments,” says Kamstra. - Use childcare software that allows you to send automated but personalised payment reminders via email or SMS.
- Following on from that: send an SMS reminder well before the direct debit date to parents who pay by automatic debit, so they can make sure there are sufficient funds in their account.
- Automate reversals and payment arrangements for a more consistent – and therefore more effective – debtor management process. This can be done very easily with_attach Payt’s software.
- If you work with a parent portal and/or planning tool, link your debtor management software to it.
This means parents can view their invoices, and invoices are automatically adjusted when extra childcare days are booked.
“It creates more convenience and fewer misunderstandings for both parties,” says Kamstra.
Customer story: “Payt makes debtor management child’s play”
After the departure of their financial administration employee, Dennis Vermeulen of Njoy – a provider of day care and after-school care for children aged 0 to 13 – had two options: hire someone new or switch to automation software. He chose the latter, and he experiences the benefits every day, as do his colleagues and the parents who entrust their children to Njoy.
