Running a successful childcare business requires more than just a passion for nurturing and educating children. It demands seamless organization, efficient communication, and streamlined administrative processes. This is where childcare software comes into play. With a wide range of options available in the market, choosing the right software that aligns with your business needs can be a daunting task.

However, by understanding the essential features that make childcare software invaluable, you can make an informed decision that will propel your business forward. In article, we delve into the must-have features of childcare software and provide insights to help you select the perfect solution for your unique business requirements.

1. Enrollment

• Forecast for future sessions, allowing you to see how many (or few!) spots you will have available so you can allocate resources appropriately
• Allow families to quickly update information when needed by updating their child's profile from any connected device—great for families that keep children in your care from one session to the next, who won't have to manually fill out another set of forms
• Act as a roster hub that staff can access anywhere, giving employees the convenience to write notes and check their classroom status from the comfort of home or on the go

Giving a digital upgrade to your childcare enrollment forms means secure and convenient roster management at your fingertips.

2. Billing

• Automate billing so invoices automatically get sent to families on a date of your choosing through a safe, secure platform
• Offer convenient methods of payment, such as autopay and direct deposit, that make payment easier for families. No more remembering checks or cash to hand off during drop-off; families can connect their accounts and never worry about being late
• Send bill reminders to families before their payments are due, right from the system they pay in—no more emails getting buried

Having an efficient billing system can help you get paid faster, provide an easy and convenient experience for your families, and give you a complete view of your center's finances in one centralized place. 

3. Virtual child profiles

• Store emergency information, including contacts, medical information, and allergies, that can be accessed with a tap on any connected device. In an emergency, being able to pull up a child's information from anywhere in seconds can make all the difference
• Keep track of additional staff notes for each child in one central location, so staff can get the full, historical picture of a child at any time—particularly helpful when conducting family meetings, welcoming new staff, and starting new sessions
• Log observations using developmental frameworks to keep a child's progress record in one place, which is easier for staff and families to reference

Virtual child profiles combine the functionality of paper files with convenience that will reduce the time you and your staff spend curating profiles.

4. Sign-in

• Implement parent-led sign-in that uses unique passcodes that parents can enter into a device to mark their child as dropped off, leaving staff to get everyone set up for the day
• Store records of pick-up and drop-off permissions that your staff can reference on any connected device. So when a neighbor comes to pick up a child, the process isn't held up, and you can get children home safely and quickly
• Eliminate the need for paper, which is environmentally friendly and lowers administrative costs by reducing the need for multiple sign-in sheets

Using a childcare sign in and out app is a change that can make a big difference in the day-to-day of your operation and has a clear edge over paper sheets.

5. Attendance

• Compile attendance reports for billing by selecting any child and seeing exactly which days they were present in any billing period. When you have software that deals with attendance and billing, like brightwheel, you can automatically run attendance for each period
• Easily track absences by child by looking at the profile of that child
• Reduce administrative paperwork by saving all historical attendance records in one place while still being able to separate them out by time period, classroom, or child

Making attendance sheets easier to manage reduces the workload for you and your staff, especially around billing.

6. Child portfolios

• Store video and photos to use in childcare development portfolios to make milestones come alive and show how children are progressing and developing, rather than just relying on notes
• Act as a hub for staff notes and observations on each child so each staff member can add observations and see each child's progress from anywhere
• Make sharing and keeping child portfolios easier for childcare centers and for families by digitizing important recordings, pictures, and notes. Parents love to share their child's work and development with family and keep a record of their child's progress for their own memories—digital files are much more convenient than binders or physical folders

Take your child portfolios into the 21st century with digital collection and management that can streamline your efforts.

7. Daily report forms

• Automatically send out detailed daily reports for each child, which streamlines pick-up times
• Keep an extensive historical record of each child's daily reports in their profile, which helps with building child portfolios and is good to have on hand when discussing a child with their parents
• Make menu and activity updates for every child in a single group at once, lowering the amount of work your staff has to do if your plans change

All of this makes working with daily report forms simpler than ever.

8. Payroll

• Act as a time-tracking system for staff so you can have the software accurately tally hours worked for you
• Create payroll reports in a fraction of the time, without having to pull out a calculator or an overflowing folder of papers
• Be securely accessed from anywhere so you can get your payroll done whenever it is convenient, not just when you are sitting at your desk at the end of a long day

A digital payroll system can help your bottom line and can significantly cut down on the time you spend on payroll.

9. Family communication

• Store all parent and guardian info in one secure place that staff can access anywhere. Work phone, home phone, emergency contacts, emails—any way you can connect with a parent is accessible from any connected device, making it easy to reach out to parents on any channel
• Give parents push notifications on an app. When parents see a notification from their child's care center, they'll pay attention to it. No more messages getting lost in email or dismissed/blocked because they're from an unknown number
• Automate critical reminders, like invoices due, so that you can take care of recurring notifications without having to contact each parent individually

Be proactive about how you communicate with families, and consider software as a communication tool, not just something for information storage.

How can I tell if a software is right for me?

Once you have decided what features are important to you, it's time to look for a software that meets your business needs. With brightwheel's center management feature, you can customize reports, schedules, observations, and more to suit your program.

Evaluating multiple software solutions can seem intimidating, so break down the process into a few steps that you repeat for each software you consider. If anyone can successfully evaluate what will be right for your business, it's you.

• Explore the website: What features do they have? What is the price? Do they have a demo or a video and if so, does their software seem user-friendly?
• Sign up for a trial: If a company offers a free trial, go ahead and play around with the software for a week or two to get a feel for it. Ask your staff to have a look around, and get their feedback.
• Talk to customer service: Software companies know the ins and outs of their product, so don't be shy—ask questions, and dig into how a company can solve your problems. (Look at our list of key questions to ask about childcare software here.)
• Read testimonials and reviews: This will give you a sense of how other people use the product. Are their businesses the same size as yours? Do they talk about the same pain points?
• Look for software that bundles features: Having billing, sign-in, attendance, and child profiles integrated into one software increases how much use you will get out of the software and how much time you will save by using it.

You don't have to be a software expert to use digital tools to transform your business. Look for user-friendly platforms with the features that matter most to you, and don't be intimidated by going digital. The benefits will be clear from day one.

Brightwheel is the complete solution for early education providers, enabling you to streamline your center’s operations and build a stand-out reputation. Brightwheel connects the most critical aspects of running your center—including sign in and out, parent communications, tuition billing, and licensing and compliance—in one easy-to-use tool, along with providing best-in-class customer support and coaching. Brightwheel is trusted by thousands of early education centers and millions of parents. Learn more at mybrightwheel.com.