Whether you work in an OSHC service, daycare, or vacation care camp that handles child and family information, booking schedules, or payment records, your staff is going to bear the burden of data entry to keep your system up to date. If you collect, enter and organise information on a regular basis, using online forms to capture that data and import it directly into your childcare management system can save you hours of time and headaches.

Here are five ways organisations just like yours are using online forms to make manual data entry a thing of the past:

1. Enter Family and Child Data Using Online Registration Forms

Online registration is a great way to save time and money, and online forms can help you achieve that. Online child enrolment allows OSHC service and centres to capture personal information quickly and accurately without hours of staff time spent on manual data entry.

Put an end to the guessing games when trying to decipher hastily scrawled penmanship on paper forms, and leave translating handwriting hieroglyphics to the archaeologists. Use online forms that, if integrated with the right childcare management system like Xap can bring parent and child information directly into your system with a few clicks of the mouse.

Privacy is also key – when choosing an online registration tool, make sure the data security policy is what you need. Xap can provide a security badge for your online registration forms and website to reassure parents that their personal information is kept protected.

2. Keep Emergency Contact Information Up to Date with Online Forms

In an emergency, the last thing you need is an obsolete list of emergency contacts for a child. OSHC services and childcare centres simply must have accurate, up-to-date contact information for each and every child in their charge. What’s the quickest and most convenient way to get this information directly in your childcare management system? Online forms!

Parents appreciate when childcare organisations can accommodate the ways they need and like to get things done, and being able to update information from anywhere does just that. Giving on-the-go parents the option to update this information from the comfort of their homes or offices online will make a huge impact on your record-keeping processes, too. If you keep track of emergency and authorised pick-up contacts in your childcare management system, having parents enter this information online will save you time and give you peace of mind.

3. Use Online Forms to Manage Enrolment and booking Data

Even registering for extra casual days and special programs such as excursions, incursion or a photo session can be made easy using online enrolment forms. Parents can click a link, complete the information requested, and select the programs they want. That information will populate directly into the bookings tab!

You can review the information to make sure it’s correct, then import it all at once directly into each child’s schedule in your childcare management database. Using online enrollment forms makes managing classes and schedules so much easier, you won’t ever look back and miss those paper forms and all that data entry.

4. Keep Track of Immunisation Records to Stay in Compliance

We’ve all had the experience of filling out or updating a medical history form at the doctor’s office, and it’s a pain, to say the least. The last thing parents want to do is fill out yet another paper form for immunisations, and the last thing we want to do is have to manually enter that information. Keep immunisations, allergies and other health issue current through an easy-to-use online form instead!

The information you collect on this type of forms—such as a child’s allergies, current medications, and past health issues—can be crucial in an emergency or even just to stay in compliance with regulatory agencies. If you use a childcare software like Xap, you can compile that information into custom reports to keep on hand so it is always readily available when you need it.

Giving parents the option to enter child immunisation records online can streamline the process of maintaining accurate records so you can get out from behind your desk and focus on providing a nurturing learning environment.

5. Collect Registration and Other Fees through Online Forms

When parents register kids for a new class or activity using paper forms, you not only have to enter all the information into your system by hand, but you have to post all the charges and payments manually as well. If this is what you are doing now, there may be a faster and better way to enter all of that data.

Using online forms allows you to collect information without the time or hassle of manual data entry, and when you use these forms to allow parents to pay any associated fees or charges electronically, you’re saving a significant amount of time and money on your accounting.

Using online registration, payment and other forms for your childcare business help take the guesswork out of data entry for your staff. No more typos, no more head-scratching handwriting! You’ll see an immediate difference in the amount of time your staff spends behind a computer screen, and your parents and families will thank you for the convenience!