Xap provides multiple options for you to bill parents. Whether you bill in advance of care being provided, in arrears after the care is provided or bill your families by the term, we have everything sorted.

If you bill in advance…

• Charge 7, 14, 21 or 28 days in advance.
• Set your billing frequency like weekly, fortnightly or 28 days.
• Decide the day on which you would like to send the invoices to the families.
• Decide the day on which you would like to debit the families account
• Allow parents to choose their preferred direct debit days.

If you bill in arrears…

• Charge 7, 14 days in arrears.
• Set your billing frequency like weekly or fortnightly.
• Decide the day on which you would like to send the invoices to the families.
• Decide the day on which you would like to debit the families account
• Allow parents to choose their preferred direct debit days.

If you bill by terms…

• Charge for one term, two terms or all terms.
• Invoice before the start of the term or after the term starts
• Set invoice due dates however you like
• Schedule debit automatically.

The best of the Billing, Invoicing, Payments & Finance Features

1. Batch invoicing

Sending invoices to families shouldn’t need to take you hours and hours every month. With all the bookings and payments already entered to the payment accounts in Xap, we will estimate the charges and generate & send the invoices automatically.

• Batch invoices: Based on your settings, auto-generated invoices will be sent to the families. However, you still have an option to generate the invoices manually if you wish.
• Overview: Search invoices then click to download. You will also be able to track the status of the invoice delivery.
• Full flexibility: Total flexibility over how you would like to invoice your families.
• Auto-Schedule Direct Debit: Once the invoices are generated, due amount is automatically scheduled to be sent to the payment gateway.

What is it?

When it comes time to invoice, the Xap system will pull together the charges for each child’s booking and include any extra charges like late pickup fee, or late booking fees etc. The system will also account for any miscellaneous charges that you’ve added as you go.

Then, Xap will automatically generate an invoice for every bill payer in the system. All you have to do is configure when you join Xap and our system will generate the charges and invoices and it will be sent straight to their phone &  email.

What will it do?

This whole system is built around being easy to use for everyone and anyone. Getting your settings right is a simple process, and once that’s done, the system really does do the hard work for you.

2. Childcare Rebates Estimation

If your centre is connected with the CCS, our Fee Estimator will calculate an estimate of the cost of care for 1 or more weeks in advance when you charge in advance.

• The estimate is calculated based on bookings. Casual bookings & permanent bookings are automatically picked up in fee estimation.
• The estimate uses the parent’s CCS entitlement history.
• It is only an estimate, the actual rebates received can be different. The parent’s circumstances and therefore their entitlement can change from week to week.
• Even though a week of care may have been Submitted it does not become the actual result until the attendances have reached Processed.

Making sure that CCS rebates are estimated accurately is one of the biggest headaches for childcare managers. It’s complicated, it’s hugely time-consuming and it can play havoc with your revenue. That’s where we can help.

What is it?

With our smart fee estimator, Xap will automatically estimate the childcare rebates based on children’s bookings.

Using the CCS Entitlement, Xap can breakdown the estimation for each booking and calculate how many hours each child is receiving, what % of fees rebate needs to be estimated and how much will appear on the invoice after the CCS withholding amount.

What will it do?

For starters, we hope it’ll save you a heap of admin time. But more than that, we can help you to work out the shortfall between what you’re charging and what you’re getting from the CCS, making it easier to find ways to shorten that gap.

3. Payment Managements

Managing the payments and reconciling the parent accounts are the biggest time-consuming process. When families are requesting to pay using the fixed recurring schedule or have agreed to the payment plan, you need to manage spreadsheets and add reminders in your outlook.

Well, we have got that sorted for you. You do not need to worry about it.

• Auto-Query Online Payments & Bpay Payments: Xap will automatically query all online payments until it is processed or declined and also provide an option to settle the Bpay payments automatically. Families accounts are automatically reconciled with the payments.
• Automatically update the invoice status: When the payments are processed, our system will automatically settle the invoices and update the invoice status to paid or partially paid. If the invoice is overpaid, the amount is automatically is added to the credit.
• Schedule Fixed Recurring Payment Plans: You will be able to schedule fixed recurring plans for the families in need and system will take care of rest.
• Send Payment Receipts automatically: Once the payment is entered manually or queried from the payment gateway or Bpay, we will send the receipt to the guardian automatically.
• Failed payment alerts: When a payment fails, an email can be sent to your parent prompting them to update their payment information.
• Auto-Retry Failed Payments: When the payment is failed, our system will automatically retry based on your system setting.

What is it?

With our auto payment reconciliation and payment receipt feature, Xap will save you a lot of time. Xap can automatically send email receipts after a successful payment, or when you enter one.

Xap will also retry the payment based on your setting.

What will it do?

For starters, we hope it’ll save you a heap of admin time. But more than that,  it will improve the parent experience.

4. Bill payer information

One thing Xap prides itself on is keeping everything you need in one place. No more searching for lost emails and notes – all the bill payer information you need is right where you need it.

• Billing history: View billing history and payment details.
• Overview: Search invoices, download an invoice or resend the invoice to the family.
• Child Bookings: Add sessions or schedule changes in minutes.
• Payment Reminders: Reminders to bill payers in-app or via email

What is it?

Xap has profiles for every child in the centre, but there are also profiles for every billpayer too. Whether that’s mum and dad, grandparents, carers or companies, they’re a one-stop-shop for all the information you might need to run your financial machine more smoothly.

Lost an invoice and can’t find it? No problem. Just use the search function to find it or go into the invoicing overview and find all invoicing and payment activity

What will it do?

This is really about just making things run more smoothly. You have no idea how much time you’re wasting searching for information with your current system until you see how easy it can be.

5. Child Bookings

Being able to make changes to child bookings shouldn’t be a time-consuming process. Xap makes it easy to do just that, giving you the peace of mind that everything has been captured and your parents the flexibility that you crave.

• Child Bookings: Add sessions or schedule changes in minutes.
• Room switch in minutes: Easily move children between rooms.
• Availability: Manage availability by room and age.
• Add late pick-up, early drop off, late cancellation charges: Add miscellaneous charges to invoices.

What is it?

In Xap, every child will have bookings whether permanent or casual. You can add their sessions, apply discounts, and choose any extra misc charges.

Once you’re set-up, that doesn’t mean it’s fixed. If a parent wants to make a change, you can make that change in seconds, and everything will be reflected on the statement & invoice automatically when the change comes into effect.

Even better, Xap offers advanced automation, meaning that children bookings are automatically adjusted when they turn a certain age based on the rules you set.

What will it do?

This clever automation will save you so much time. Rather than having to recalculate your invoices and occupancy every time a child moves, it will all be done without you touching a button.

6. The parent experience

So far, all we’ve been talking about is the features that help to save you time and maximise the control you have over your revenue. But that all means nothing if it doesn’t work for the parents…

• Direct debit Set up & Reminder: Set up an account for direct debit payments or update when the card expires.
• Discount Codes or Promotions: Easily add discount codes, or set up discount rules to encourage parents to make the extra bookings on empty days.
• Invoice split: Split invoices between parents and bill payers.
• Reminders: Reminders to bill payers in-app or via email.

If we had to use one word to describe the financial experience parents have with Xap it would be smooth.

The invoices are clear and transparent.  We have the flexibility to accept discount codes and split invoices however parents want to or allow parents to make the payment using Bpay.

And we’re also calling an end to debt-chasing phone calls. Parents get their invoices straight to their email and news-feed without you doing a thing, and you can always send reminders to them with the click of a button.

What will it do?

The experience your parents have when it comes to billing time is crucial for your parent partnerships. If you can make the process easy and transparent, it reduces friction and opens up your time to talk with them about the ones that really matter. That’s right – the children.

Final Notes:

You send invoices to your customers and then they pay you. That’s exactly why your billing & invoicing process needs to very quick and efficient. Ultimately,  generating invoices automatically & schedule direct debit payments,  your business will get paid in a timely manner and it will have a positive impact on your revenue. Delays in payments can put businesses at a stake and that is why every business needs to have billing automation to keep the invoice process well managed.