Financial Management and Record Keeping

Financial Improvement of Struggling ECE Services. On this page you can find out what centres and home-based services are doing in respect of: fees,staffing,ways that

Opting-In to Pay Parity Funding. Some service may opt-out and then lose their teachers to other services that have opted in. Others opting-in to pay parity funding could risk becoming insolvent. It’s bonus money for services already paying all their […]

Retention of Records: Paperwork and what’s Required to be Kept by the Ministry and Various Agencies, including IRD and the Charities Commission. Issues of safety, privacy, and storage. Early childhood service reports and records should always be kept in a […]

20-Hours ECE Changes. When a service is closed for statutory holidays and is not providing care for children it does not receive funding. Unfortunately this can mean a loss of income for a service, which is difficult especially when there […]

Early Childhood Service Fundraising Guide. Hi, can you please help me and my kohanga. I don’t know how or where to get funding for an outside playground!!!! This is my first time trying to get a grant…….I’m really on the […]

Late Fee. Should you charge a late fee for late collection of children?  Or charge the parents of children who arrive early? Some early childhood services ‘fine’ parents to try to deter them from leaving their child outside of hours that […]

Preparing for a Funding Claim Audit. The purpose of a visiting audit from the Ministry of Education is to: Verify that the service is claiming and receiving the correct amount of MoE funding, Verify that a service is meeting the […]

15 Funding Questions put to the Ministry of Education. Has the MoE considered using the school payroll model to pay teachers? If the government paid the teachers to ratio and gave each centre an ops grant, in a similar fashion […]

Charging Fees When Closed. We asked ECE Service providers about their practices of charging fees when closed. A selection of comments is provided below. Add your comment on this topic and reply to any of the comments posted here. See […]

ECE Service Financial Reserves. The Ministry of Education does not mind if a service builds up financial reserves. It will not affect funding.  Non-profit services can however face a dilemma – should they be spend the money earnt or build […]

Accounting and Financial Terms Explained for ECE Service Providers. Accounts Receivable or Accounts Payable:   See “Ledger” below. Accounting Reports:  See definitions below for each of: Balance Sheet – same as Statement of Financial PositionCash flow reportFlow of Funds   Income and Expenditure […]

Early Childhood Service Internal Financial Control Systems. By Bevin Fitzsimons. Why internal control?  Internal control systems are normal in business and society and will be expected of you by your staff, fellow owners, parents, board members, bankers and financiers.They help […]

Early Childhood Service Financial Sustainability. Unless as much or more money is coming in than is going out, your service could come to be at risk. Here are some strategies for financial sustainability and increasing your revenue stream when necessary. […]

Managing arrears in fees can be a headache for service providers, and especially when parents are on the WINZ subsidy. Several centre and home-based service providers have mentioned a problem they have when parents who are receiving a WINZ subsidy […]

Parents Wishing to Bargain Over Childcare Fees. Do you find some parents who are used to bargaining in their own countries are less accepting of price increases and accepting set prices? Are you cautious when increasing fees or other charges […]

Cashflow Management. How do we cope with huge cash inflows from the MoE three times a year then famine in between? The simplest way is to put into a separate bank account all the advances received each four months and […]