Industry
Payments software for child care centers and preschools
Child care is a subscription business that is usually billed like a shop. Tuition repeats every week or month, registration needs a deposit to hold a place, and a failed card in week one becomes an awkward conversation in week three. Enterprise Pay Gateway bills tuition on a schedule with automatic retries, takes registration deposits through hosted checkout, and pays out to your own bank account — a fixed monthly subscription plus a platform fee from 0.20% to 0.75%, with Stripe's processing billed separately by Stripe.
Last updated 9 September 2026
Typical monthly tuition
$800–$2,200
Per child, per month, repeating for years. Lifetime value per enrolled family is among the highest of any local service business.
Recurring fit
Very high
Almost all revenue is recurring by nature, which makes reliable scheduled billing the single most important system in the building.
Average tenure
2–4 years
Long tenure means a small improvement in payment reliability compounds into a large annual revenue difference.
Where the money leaks
Tuition is chased manually
Directors spend hours each month reminding families about payments. Scheduled card billing removes the chase entirely for the large majority of families.
Places are held without a deposit
A registration deposit converts a casual enquiry into a commitment and covers the cost of holding a place that is later dropped.
Failed cards become arrears
One declined charge quietly becomes three months of arrears. Retries plus an email linking to a billing portal resolve most failures before anyone has to have a conversation.
Extras are invisible
Late pickup, meals, field trips and holiday cover are billed inconsistently or not at all. Selling them as products captures revenue already being delivered.
The four payment flows you need
- 1
Registration deposit
Take a deposit at enrolment through a checkout link, credited against the first month's tuition.
- 2
Recurring tuition
Bill weekly or monthly on a schedule, with automatic retries and a portal where families update their own card.
- 3
Extras and add-ons
Sell meals, extended hours and trips as separate products so the delivered service is actually billed.
- 4
Reporting
See enrolled revenue, failed payments and arrears in one view instead of reconciling a spreadsheet each month.
What child care payment processing costs
Stripe bills card processing directly to your account — the published US online card rate is 2.9% plus 30 cents at the time of writing. ACH bank debits, where supported, are materially cheaper for large recurring tuition and worth enabling.
Enterprise Pay Gateway charges a fixed monthly subscription from $49 plus a platform fee that drops as volume rises: 0.75% on Starter, 0.60% on Growth, 0.40% on Pro and a negotiated 0.20%–0.35% for multi-site groups.
A center billing $120,000 a month in tuition fits Pro: $199 plus roughly $480 in platform fees, alongside Stripe's processing.
Making tuition billing reliable
Bill on a fixed date, communicate that date at enrolment, and email a receipt each time. Predictability reduces disputes far more than any policy document.
When a card fails, retry over several days and send a single clear email linking to the billing portal. Escalate to a human conversation only after automated recovery has failed.
Publish your late-fee policy at enrolment and apply it consistently. Inconsistent enforcement is the main source of family complaints and chargebacks.
Records and compliance
Card details never touch your systems with hosted checkout, keeping your PCI obligation at the simplest self-assessment level — appropriate for a center with no IT department.
Keep child records in your child care management system. Payment records only need amount, date, product name and the payer's email.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a preschool bill tuition automatically each month?
- Yes. Tuition is set up as a recurring product billed weekly or monthly. Declined cards are retried automatically and families can update their own card through a billing portal, which removes almost all manual chasing.
- Can we take a registration deposit to hold a place?
- Yes. Create a deposit product at the amount you want to hold and share its checkout link at enrolment. Credit it against the first month's tuition and publish the refund window in writing.
- Is bank debit cheaper than card for tuition?
- Usually yes for large recurring amounts, because bank debit fees are typically capped rather than a percentage. Stripe sets and bills those processing rates directly.
- What does it cost?
- Stripe's processing fee plus a platform fee. Enterprise Pay Gateway charges $49 to $199 a month plus 0.75% down to 0.40%, with negotiated 0.20%–0.35% pricing for larger groups.
Start taking deposits this week
Create your account, verify with Stripe, and share your first checkout link. Card processing is provided by Stripe under its own agreement with you.