For Tuition Express – Procare Software’s integrated payment processing solution – it’s not unusual to move more money by lunchtime than our competitors move in a month. Since 2003, Tuition Express has processed approximately 15 million safe, on-time transactions for Procare users. Billions in tuition and fee payments have been made. Every transaction has been automatically recorded onto ledgers in Procare.
Besides being built by the best software developers in the child care industry, Tuition Express also has a team dedicated to the day-to-day operation, administration and growth of the
service.
Before someone ever decides to process payments with Tuition Express, they likely have spent time with the Tuition Express Team. Once a customer has purchased Tuition Express, part of the team helps them through the paperwork process to get started. Then, Team Tuition Express spends time on the phone, configuring the software and doing some hands-on Tuition Express training.
Once a center begins processing payments via Tuition Express, the team keeps tabs on each file sent to Procare. Our Development Team built Tuition Express to dissect every transaction looking for anomalies – looking for anything that doesn’t seem right.
The system looks at an individual parent’s payment history and the history of the center, then throws a flag if something seems out of the ordinary. When a flag is thrown, part of the Tuition Express Team investigates the situation and contacts the center to be sure they meant to process the payments they sent us. Thanks to our Development Team, the system is ‘tight’ – very little (if anything) gets past us.
Everything Tuition Express – from emails you get announcing a new feature, to Tuition Express-specific tech support calls, to making sure your money is there on-time – is what Team Tuition Express does.
The newest member of our Tuition Express Team is John Fargason. John (or “Farg”, as we call him around here) spent four-plus years as a Procare Software Consultant and recently joined Tuition Express as a Customer Service Representative of sorts.
John’s job is to make your job easier – he’s there to help centers increase their Tuition Express usage, to help them get more parents on board and, in turn, become more efficient.
Imagine if every parent at your center used Tuition Express. How quickly would tuition and fees get paid? How fast would payments get posted to ledgers? Imagine Tuition Express being the ‘norm’ at your center or school. John Fargason is here to help you move in that direction.
When ‘Farg’ isn’t helping Tuition Express users grow their use of the system, he enjoys time with his wife and two daughters – camping, mountain biking, and playing basketball and softball.
Marlaina Steil has been a valuable member of the Tuition Express Team for two years. Her title is “Tuition Express Administrator”, but she wears many hats. And she wears them well.
Marlaina puts together Tuition Express Merchant Service Agreement packages when they come in; then she builds the Tuition Express Getting Started Kit we send out. More importantly, Marlaina provides great tech support for Tuition Express users. Marlaina does the majority of the Tuition Express Set Up and Training calls – where she literally walks a new Tuition Express user through configuring Tuition Express and teaching them A-Z how to run Tuition Express.
Marlaina loves to dance – which comes easy to the former college cheerleader. She also enjoys camping and fishing with her husband, James. The couple is expecting their first child in December.
Brad Olson came to Procare Software two and a half years ago from one of the company’s largest customers. Nearly a year ago he joined the Tuition Express Team and has since played a most valuable role in the daily routine that is Tuition Express.
Brad manages the daily Tuition Express ‘file’ – the collection of batches we receive from all over the country for processing. He is almost constantly looking for ‘flagged’ batches, then communicating with customers about those batches or ones they need to cancel. Brad also works closely with the bank we use to process payments. He, too, gives great Tuition Express tech support.
When Brad doesn’t have his finger on the button, ready to move millions of dollars for Procare users, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two children and coaching his kids in football, basketball and baseball. He is also a devout Nebraska Husker football fan.
The last member of Team Tuition Express is me, Dan Richards. I have been on this team since its inception in 2003. I have seen this project go from processing $25,000 a month to processingmillions daily.
In the beginning, we processed only ACH (bank-to-bank) transactions. Then we added credit card processing – but we had to use a third-party processor to do it. Next, we added POS/Card Swipe transactions. A year ago, we did away with the third-party processor and became our own.
Today, we’re about to launch Online Payments for parents.
Despite having great players on our team, Tuition Express could not run the way it does without our Development Team, our Procare Sales Team, our Marketing Team and our Administrative Staff– all of whom are responsible for Tuition Express’ success.
Contact us – and let us show you the Tuition Express Team in action.
How Do I Get My Families to Sign In?
By Shawna DeVore
Over the years I have had center owners and directors mention that only some of their families participate in signing their children in and out on a regular basis. This presents several issues for the center - the primary issue being that the center misses out on necessary accountability and the billing benefits of having accurate child attendance times. Parents, on the other hand, miss out on the easy communication tools available by using the check in computer.
Other benefits for the center include:
- The Procare Dashboard shows which staff members and students are currently signed in as well as classroom ratios. All this at a glance - on one easily viewable screen.
- Owners/directors can be assured only authorized adults are picking up the children. There are three different ways to sign children in and out via a Dedicated Check In Computer. The system I recommend most often utilizes a Finger Print/Biometric Reader. The authorized adult simply walks up to the computer, places their finger on the reader, then checks in any or all children for whom they are authorized. You can also allow them to view additional information such as messages from the center, account balances, schedules and immunizations due.
- Do you have a late pick-up or overtime fee? For example, extra fees when a child exceeds their scheduled hours or a dollar for every minute after closing? If so, Procare will help you pick up these extra charges automatically.*
Now back to the original question:
"How do I get my parents to reliably and consistently sign in?"
- Something that has worked wonders for thousands of centers is charging a penalty fee if the child is found in the facility, but not checked in, or not checked out at time of closing. This fee may be as much as $5 or $10 per incidence and curtails the problem almost immediately.
- Using a Ticket Printer provides parents with a receipt showing proof of check-in/out and that ticket could be required by your staff to accept or release a child.
Automating the check in/out process gives your parents greater security and peace of mind to both current and potential families.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call or visit our website.
*Family Data and Family Accounting modules required.