Tuition billing

Subsidy authorizations and billing

1. 1

   Open Tuition → Childcare assistance and choose the child. Choose Add letter, copy the approval letter, review and save. Bill family sends the parent their share.

2. 2

   For a non-relative Texas provider, open Texas payment periods. Copy the full 14-day period from the official statement, approved enrolled days, parent share, other funding and evidence reference. Review the expectation before saving. Correct or withdraw a review with a reason; ask an owner to review retention again.

3. 3

   For a NYC voucher agreement serving both voucher and private-pay children, open Published rate comparison and choose New York City. Copy the approved city county, provider, age and daily/part-day category, comparison date and matching private-pay rate. DOE/local-district contracts, enhancements and hourly or weekly conversions need separate review.

4. 4

   For a Washington licensed center, open Published rate comparison and choose Washington. Copy the county, approved age and full-day or half-day category, then choose a date within the agreement and reviewed table period. Compare the saved rate with the base reference; home care, tiered reimbursement, special needs and supplements need separate review.

5. 5

   For a Pennsylvania or Illinois licensed center, choose that state in Published rate comparison. Copy the approved ELRC region or county group, age and daily category, then compare the saved rate with the published base reference. This does not calculate the provider’s payable amount; private-pay limits, quality enhancements, extended care and other adjustments need separate review.

6. 6

   For a Florida licensed center, open Published rate comparison and choose Florida. Copy the approved county, age and full-time or part-time daily category. Compare the saved rate with the standard School Readiness reference. Gold Seal, QPI/local quality increases, child assessments, special needs, contracted slots and VPK wrap care need separate review.

7. 7

   For a Michigan licensed center, choose Michigan in Published rate comparison. Use an hourly agreement and copy the approved quality and age category. Compare the hourly reference only; do not multiply it by hours to estimate the separate two-week payment.

8. 8

   For a Texas daily agreement within October 2025–September 2026, open Published rate comparison and choose Texas. Copy the approved Board, provider, rating, age group and care time, enter your published daily rate and review the comparison against the Board’s rate addendum.

9. 9

   For an unadjusted California voucher agreement, choose California in Published rate comparison. Copy the county of care and approved provider/age category, choose a date within the agreement and table review period, and enter the published daily or hourly rate. Direct-service/SRR contracts, adjustments and supplements need separate review.

10. 10

    Open Invoices and receipts. Choose Issue invoice, the family payer and period; enter the total and each funding share, then review before confirming.

11. 11

    Record agency funds after they arrive, using the exact receipt line reference, amount, date and evidence file. Review the shortfall or overpayment.

12. 12

    To review a CSV, download the template in Review CSV, copy up to 200 lines for this authorization, then preview. Select and confirm one matched receipt at a time; review the file again after saving.

13. 13

    Use Reverse receipt with a reason for a correction; this sends no refund. Ask an owner to review retention again after new financial history.

How it works

Authorization saving alone creates no charge. Monthly agreements use whole months without daily conversion or partial-month calculation. Published rate comparison asks for the original agreement state; unknown, unsupported or changed school states stay with manual records. Selecting a state never rewrites history. A separate invoice action preserves the original total and all funding shares; only the family portion enters family payments, fees, autopay and unpaid-balance reminders. Agency receipts carry no Ashby fee and never change family debt. A zero family share needs no payment even if agency money is outstanding. Issued amounts do not change when an authorization is amended. Exact receipt references stay reserved after reversal. Ordinary invoice preparation skips an already billed identical period and refuses different overlapping periods. Texas rate check compares the saved daily rate with the published Board table and your entered private-pay rate. It does not approve a rate, change an agreement or calculate a payment. California rate check uses the base Regional Market Rate for the agreement’s daily or hourly unit; it never divides weekly/monthly rates. The review date limits the available evidence, not the legal life of the rates. Local changes and enhanced rates still need review. Texas non-relative providers are paid prospectively from enrollment and do not submit attendance reports or invoices for payment. Relative providers are paid afterward using verified attendance. Ashby’s family-share invoice is an internal billing record, not a Texas agency claim. The workflow does not submit claims. Texas payment-period reviews preserve the approved daily rate and funding basis separately from invoices and receipts. Absences do not reduce approved enrolled days. Partial periods, relative care, multiple rates and inferred monthly parent-share allocations need separate review. A saved expectation creates no invoice, payment or agency claim; corrections and withdrawals preserve earlier evidence. State comparisons and new Texas expectations need a saved original school state matching the current school. Older agreements with an unknown original state use the manual records. Changing the school state does not rewrite history; existing Texas reviews remain readable and can be withdrawn. The accountant spreadsheet covers family invoices/payments; reconcile agency funding using its separate history. Amendments, invoices, receipts and reversals need another owner retention review, which cannot shorten an earlier decision or precede the complete history. Child holds still apply.

What this is

Do this

1. 1

   After you sign in, open More, then Tuition. Use Overview to check payments this month, money still owed, and invoices to review. Review drafts and View unpaid open the matching invoices. Review payment problems opens this month’s failed or returned payments.

2. 2

   On Tuition Overview, check the ready children in Upcoming tuition bills, choose Start billing, and confirm once. Select a child’s row to review dates and who pays. A first bill sent after its usual day gives the family a week to pay. When billing starts part-way through a week, the first bill covers only those days, and Start billing? names them (part of the week). A child with a planned last day shows Last day and the date: their last bill charges through that day (its care dates end there), and after it their billing says what the last bill covered and that no more bills come, with nothing to start. Existing children start with the next unbilled period after the current period ends; a new school year is not required. Fixed tuition repeats automatically. Review attendance-based bills after care, and use Add a charge for extras, such as a field trip fee: choose who pays, then which child it is for (or The whole family), the amount and what it’s for.

3. 3

   When a child is picked up late, your late pickup fee waits for the family’s next bill, at most once a day for each child: Upcoming tuition bills shows + $15.00 late pickup under the child’s name. Open the child’s billing to waive a fee before the bill goes out (Ashby asks first). A child without automatic bills has Bill now, which makes one bill for the family with every waiting fee. When you start billing for a child with a waiting fee, Start billing? says the first bill carries it and what that bill comes to. Fees of a child who has left the daycare are on Your rates → Late pickup fee, under Fees waiting for children who left: choose Bill now or Waive (Ashby asks first).

4. 4

   Select an invoice to record a check or cash payment. For a check, add its number if you like (never a bank account number); Date received starts at today.

5. 5

   A bill went out by mistake or with an old price? Open it and choose Void bill (Void invoice at a center). When Ashby can make the right bill, Make a new bill for the same dates at today’s prices is already chosen; choose Void and resend. To undo a cash or check payment recorded by mistake, open the payment’s menu and choose Undo payment. Print receipt is in the same menu. A bill that covers closed days families don’t pay for offers Make a new bill without the closed days families don’t pay for instead. When you add closed days, answer Do families pay for these days? With No, families don’t pay for these days, tuition invoices (bills at an in-home daycare) leave those days out, and the invoice says Closed Mon Dec 28 – Wed Dec 30 (Vacation week): not charged. If invoices for those days were already sent, Ashby lists them after Save; Fix invoices voids and sends again the unpaid ones and puts a credit on the family’s next invoice for paid ones. Use Change who pays to change a closure.

6. 6

   On Tuition Overview, choose How parents pay you and write who checks are made out to, or how else you take money. Parents see it on Billing and under each bill they still owe. Do not add bank account numbers.

7. 7

   For year-end statements, open Tuition → Reports, choose Add tax ID once, pick EIN or Social Security number, and save. Parents need it to claim the child care tax credit. Ashby keeps it encrypted, shows only the last four digits, and uses the full number only to print every family’s year-end statement, including the ones parents print themselves. Each paper is the same whoever prints it. Receipts and monthly statements show your school’s name and, at an in-home daycare, its home daycare address (at a licensed center, the ones the owner or an organization admin prints also show the legal business name, when it’s different, and the mailing address). The year-end statement for taxes shows only your school’s name until you save your tax ID. Then it also shows your legal business name, when it’s different, your mailing address and your tax ID, so they match the parent’s tax form. On Ashby’s screens only the owner (at a licensed center, also an organization admin) sees the legal business name and mailing address.

8. 8

   Use School setup → Tuition plans for rates and Bank connection for online payment fees. Use Tuition → Who pays tuition for payment splits. Reports shows collections, unpaid balances, payment activity, and the accountant spreadsheet.

How it works

Invoice

what a payer owes for a period. Drafts stay private until you approve them. A period that is already billed is not charged again. For overlapping dates, review the existing invoice and use an adjustment if needed. Wait for a processing payment to finish before adjusting or voiding an invoice. A credit cannot exceed the unpaid balance. A full credit closes an unpaid invoice without recording a payment. A bank payment can be returned after it first shows as successful. Returned or fully refunded payments no longer count as collected. Open Payment activity to review the current status.

Payer

who owes the money. Not always the same person who picks up the child.

One-off charge

an extra you add with Add a charge, such as a field trip fee. It names the child it is for, so the list, statements and the parent’s Billing say whose it is (Field trip fee — Mia). Ashby offers only the children that payer pays for. Both of the child’s parents see it, and reminders reach them, but reminder emails never name a child. Home daycares say bill; centers say invoice.

Late pickup fee

one flat fee when a child is picked up after you close, set once in Tuition plans (Your rates for a home daycare). A pickup is late when the check-out is after that day’s closing time in your hours, plus the minutes you chose. Only pickups after you turned the fee on are charged, each at the amount of that day. A child has at most one late pickup fee a day: the day’s last check-out counts, and a day that already has a billed or waived fee never gets another. Each fee goes on the family’s next automatic tuition bill, on the bill of whoever pays the largest part of that child’s care (a parent before an agency). Waive it until that bill goes out; after that, void the bill and send the right one. A fixed check-out time moves a waiting fee, or removes it when the pickup is no longer late. A child who has left gets no next bill, so their waiting fees are listed under Fees waiting for children who left, one row per child, with Bill now (one bill to the family, due in a week) and Waive (all of that child’s waiting fees at once). Parents see only the line on the bill, such as Late pickup on Oct 12 (5:52 PM).

Void and send the right bill

the voided bill stays in Ashby, marked Voided with who and when, and disappears from the family’s Billing. The new bill has the same family, children and care dates, with tuition at the price for each care day; other charges are copied and late pickup fees move to it. It keeps the old due day unless that has passed (then a week from today), says Replaces the bill sent and the day, and is emailed like any bill. A bill with a payment on it is not voided until a mistaken cash or check payment is undone.

Undo a payment

only cash and checks recorded by mistake. The payment stays on the bill, greyed, with who undid it and when; the bill is owed again, and statements, year-end totals, reports and the accountant spreadsheet leave it out. Card and bank payments are refunded in Stripe, not in Ashby.

Check details

a check number and date received show on the bill, the parent’s Paid line, their receipt and statements. Year-end statements count cash and checks on the date received, so a check received on December 30 but recorded in January counts in December.

Plan

a named tuition rate at this location (for example full-time monthly). Drafts prorate starts, stops and payer changes using calendar days in the plan’s billing cycle.

Who pays tuition

links a child to one or more payers with a percentage or fixed amount and start and end dates. Select a payer’s row to change a share or remove them. Fixed amounts apply each tuition cycle and are prorated for partial cycles. Existing invoices keep their saved amounts.

Export

a spreadsheet of invoice and payment lines for your accountant, for up to 366 days. Draft invoices are excluded. Payments in the selected dates remain included when their invoice was issued earlier, without repeating the earlier charge. Changing the dates or leaving the page cancels a pending download. Ashby is not your general ledger.

Hours worked