How to Create and Manage Fees

In Kangarootime, fees are defined as tuition or program costs. Once created, fees are utilized within a student's enrollment to determine tuition program pricing based on the family's billing cycle. Fees can also be configured for programs that offer drop-in care. 

Kangarootime currently offers two types of fee structures:

School Level Fees (Legacy): School Level Fees require fees to be created and managed separately for each school. Users assign one or more classes to the applicable fees within a school, resulting in a school-specific fee structure.  

Business Level Fees (Current): Business Level Fees streamline fee management by allowing you to create a fee once and apply it across multiple schools rather than creating and maintaining separate fees for each location. For example, if two or more locations within your business use the same Infant fee or Drop In fee, you can create the fee once and apply it to all relevant locations using school tags. This centralized approach reduces duplicate setup, promotes consistency across locations, and makes ongoing fee maintenance easier.    

As a prerequisite, Business Level fees are no longer tied to specific classes; school tags are recommended to control where fees are available. School tags provide a flexible way to organize fees and determine which fees appear for a given school or enrollment selection without reverting to a one-fee-per-school model. 

Interested in upgrading to Business Level Fees? Please contact helpdesk@kangarootime.com to start the process!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• How to Create a Fee
• How to Configure Early Drop-off and Late Pick-up Fees
• How to Set Default Fees for Classes
• How to Schedule Fee Changes
• Examples and Additional Resources
  • Late Pickup Configuration Example
  • Configuration of Fee Types and Fee Structures

How to Create a Fee

1. Select Billing from the navigation menu
2. Select Fees
3. Select + Add Fee button
4. Enter a Fee Name
5. Set the Class(es) Assignment(s) OR Tag Assignment(s)
6. Set the Fee Type*
7. Set the Fee Structure**
8. Set Utilization to 100%
9. Set the Fee Start and End times
10. Enter fee Cost
11. Configure the optional Early Drop-Off/Late Pick-Up rules
12. Select Save

How to Configure Early Drop-off and Late Pick-up Fees

The Early Drop‑off and Late Pick‑up fee feature automatically charges families when a child arrives before their scheduled fee start time or is picked up after their scheduled fee end time.
These fees will appear on the family’s next bill and can be waived before the invoice has been sent. 

Set an Early Drop-Off Fee 

1. Follow steps 1-10 of the Create a Fee instructions and scroll to the Early Fee Rules section. 
2. Enter the Maximum Amount to Be Charged
   • This step is optional but encouraged for best practice
   • The amount entered will limit how much an account may be charged for the early drop-off fee
3. Enter a Grace Period time (optional)
   • The Grace Period is a set amount of "free" time before the early fees begin accumulating.   
4. Select + Add Rule button
5. Configure the first rule
   • Enter 1 min in the Start Charging field
   • Enter at what minute you would like this rule to End 
     • Ex. to stop charging this rate at 30 minutes, enter 30 min.
   • Set the Rate per minute
6. Select the +Add Rule to add additional rules
   • Multiple rules may be added to each fee type, but their set timeframe must not overlap 
     • Ex. Rule #1 - 1 min - 30 min, Rule #2 - 31 min -60 min.
   • When the configured timeframe reaches the next rule, the new rule takes precedence and replaces the previous rule's rate calculation.
7. Select Save 

Set a Late Pick-Up Fee

1. Follow steps 1-10 of the Create a Fee instructions and scroll to the Late pick-up Fees section. 
2. Enter the Maximum Amount to Be Charged
   1. This step is optional but encouraged for best practice
   2. The amount entered will limit how much an account may be charged for the late pick-up fee 
3. Enter a Grace Period time (optional)
   1. The Grace Period is a set amount of "free" time before the early fees begin accumulating.   
4. Select + Add Rule button
5. Configure the first rule
   1. Enter 1 min in the Start Charging field
   2. Enter at what minute you would like this rule to End 
      1. Ex. to stop charging this rate at 30 minutes, enter 30 min.
   3. Set the Rate per minute
6. Select the +Add Rule to add additional rules
   1. Multiple rules may be added to each fee type, but their set timeframe must not overlap 
      1. Ex. Rule #1 - 1 min - 30 min, Rule #2 - 31 min -60 min.
   2. When the configured timeframe reaches the next rule, the new rule takes precedence and replaces the previous rule's rate calculation.
7. Select Save 

How to Set Default Fees for Classes

An individual default fee may be set for both a permanent class placement and drop-in care.  When a permanent fee is assigned to a class, it will automatically populate the billed fee when building manual enrollment contracts. When a casual fee is set for the class, families will be charged the drop-in rate. For more information on Drop-in Care configuration, please reference How to Set-Up Drop-In Care.

1. Select Enrollment from the navigation menu
2. Select Classes
3. Select a Center
4. Select a Class
5. Use the drop-down menu to set your Permanent and Casual Fees*
6. Click Save

*You can also create fees specific to this class by clicking the Add Fee button.

How to Schedule Fee Changes

1. Select Billing from the navigation menu
2. Select Fees
3. Select the fee you would like to edit
4. Select the + button within the schedule box
5. Select the date you would like the change to take place
6. Update the price that corresponds with the schedule change
7. Click Save

Configuration of Fee Types and Fee Structures

*Fee Types

Session Fee - Tuition is calculated as a daily charge rate.
Flat Rate Fee - Tuition is calculated for a specific time period based on your billing cycle (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly).
Per Week - Tuition is calculated on a weekly service period (Sunday to Saturday).
Per Month - Tuition is calculated on a monthly service period (August 1st - 31st).

**Fee Structures

Fee Type	Fee Structure	Definition and Example	Screenshot Example
Session	Single Session	This fee charges for each scheduled session.   A student attending one scheduled day will be charged $80.00.
Session	Number of Days	This fee charges on a sliding scale based on the number of individual sessions scheduled each week.  As the number of scheduled sessions increases, the per-session rate can decrease according to the configured pricing structure.  A student who attends 1 day/week will be charged $115.00 per day. A student who attends 2 days/week will be charged $113.00 per day. A student who attends 3 days/week will be charged $112.00 per day
Session	Hourly	*Recommended for arrears billing cycles This fee charges based on how many hours a child attends in one day. A student who attends 1 day for 2 hours will be charged $60.00. A student who attends 1 day for 4 hours will be charged $120.00. A student who attends 2 days for 4 hours each will be charged $240.00. Pro-Rated Charges: Students who attend beyond a full hour will be charged a pro-rated increment based on the additional time attended.  Example: A student who attends for 1 hour and 3 minutes will be charged $31.50.
Session	Per 15 Minutes	*Recommended for arrears billing cycles This fee charges based on the total number of 15-minute increments a student spends in care each day. Families are charged the configured amount for each 15-minute increment of attendance.  A student who attends 1 day for 15 minutes will be charged $20.00. A student who attends 1 day for 30 minutes will be charged $40.00. A student who attends 2 days for 30 minutes each will be charged $80.00. Grace Period: A Grace Period can be configured to prevent the next charge increment from being applied when attendance exceeds a billing threshold.   Example: A configured 3-minute grace period will charge $20 for a student who attends for 18 minutes. A student who attends 20 minutes will be charged $40.
Session	Per 30 Minutes	*Recommended for arrears billing cycles This fee is based on the total number of 30-minute increments a student spends in care each day. A student who attends 1 day for 30 minutes will be charged $45.00. A student who attends 1 day for 60 minutes will be charged $90.00. A student who attends 2 days for 60 minutes each will be charged $180.00. Grace Period: A Grace Period can be configured to prevent the next charge increment from being applied when attendance exceeds a billing threshold.   Example: A configured 3-minute grace period will charge $45 for a student who attends for 33 minutes. A student who attends 34 minutes will be charged $90.
Session	Per 60 Minutes	*Recommended for arrear billing cycles This fee is based on the total number of 60-minute increments a student spends in care each day. A student who attends 1 day for 60 minutes will be charged $60.00. A student who attends 1 day for 120 minutes will be charged $120.00. A student who attends 2 days for 120 minutes each will be charged $240.00. Grace Period: A Grace Period can be configured to prevent the next charge time increment/bucket from being applied when attendance exceeds a billing threshold.   Example: A configured 5-minute grace period will charge $60 for a student who attends for 65 minutes. A student who attends 66 minutes will be charged $120.
Flat Rate	Single Flat Rate	This fee charges a fixed amount per billing cycle, regardless of the number of scheduled days.   A student will be charged $125 per billing cycle (Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly)
Flat Rate	Number of Days	This fee charges a fixed rate based on how many the number of days a student is scheduled to attend each week. The scheduled days per week determine the fee charged for the billing cycle.  A student attending 1 day a week will be charged $100.00 per billing cycle. A student attending 2 days a week will be charged $1145.00 per billing cycle. A student attending 3 days a week will be charged $175.00 per billing cycle.
Per Week	Single Flat Rate	This fee charges a fixed amount per week, regardless of the number of scheduled days. The total amount charged for a billing cycle is determined by the number of billable weeks within that cycle.   A weekly billing cycle invoices one week of service A bi-weekly billing cycle invoices for 2 weeks of service.  A monthly billing cycle invoices all billable weeks within the calendar month. The system determines the number of billable weeks by counting the Sundays that occur within the month and calculates the total charge. A custom billing cycle invoices based on the number of billable weeks in the billing cycle. The system determines the number of billable weeks by counting the Sundays that occur within the billing cycle and calculates the total charge accordingly.
Per Week	Number of Days	This fee charges a fixed weekly amount based on the number of days a student is scheduled to attend each week. The total amount charged for a billing cycle is determined by the number of billable weeks within that cycle.   A weekly billing cycle invoices one week of service based on the number of scheduled attendance days defined in the enrollment contract.  A bi-weekly billing cycle invoices two weeks of service based on the number of scheduled attendance days per week defined in the enrollment contract.  A monthly billing cycle invoices all billable weeks within the calendar month. The system determines the number of billable weeks by counting the Sundays that occur within the month and calculates the total charge using the student's scheduled attendance days per week defined in the enrollment contract.      A custom billing cycle invoices based on the number of billable weeks within the billing cycle. The system determines the number of billable weeks by counting the Sundays that occur within the billing cycle and calculates the total charge using the student's scheduled attendance days per week defined in the enrollment contract.
Per Month	Single Flat Rate	This fee charges a fixed monthly amount regardless of the number of scheduled days or weeks in the month.    A weekly billing cycle invoices the monthly charge during the week that contains the first day of the month. The system considers Sunday as the start of the calendar week.    A monthly billing cycle invoices the monthly charge on the configured monthly billing date.    A custom billing cycle invoices the monthly charge based on the number of first-of-the-month dates that fall within the billing cycle. The monthly charge is applied once for each first-of-the-month date included in the billing cycle.
Per Month	Number of Days	This fee charges a fixed monthly amount with the rate determined by the number of days a student is scheduled to attend each week.  The monthly charge is billed once a month, regardless of the number of days or weeks in the month.  A weekly billing cycle invoices the monthly charge during the week that contains the first day of the month. The system considers Sunday as the start of the calendar week and calculates the total charge using the student's scheduled attendance days per week defined in the enrollment contract.      A monthly billing cycle invoices the monthly charge on the configured monthly billing date. The amount charged is based on the scheduled attendance days of the week.    A custom billing cycle invoices the monthly charge based on the number of first-of-the-month dates that fall within the billing cycle. The monthly charge is applied once for each first-of-the-month date included in the billing cycle, calculating the total charge using the student's scheduled attendance days per week defined in the enrollment contract.

Late Pickup Configuration Example 

• Fee end time: 5:00 PM
• Maximum fee: $100.00
• Grace Period: 5 min
• Rule 1 - 
  • Start Charging: 1 min to End: 30 min
  • Rate: $1.00 per 1 min
• Rule 2-
  • Start Charging: 31 min to End: 120 min 
  • Rate: $2.00 per 1 min

A Student picked up at 5:25 PM will be charged $20.00 (5:00 PM-5:05 pm grace period, 5:06 PM-5:25 PM $1.00 x 20 minutes = $20.00)

A Student picked up at 5:45 PM will be charged $80.00 (5:00 PM-5:05 PM grace period, 5:06 PM-5:45 PM $2.00 x 40 minutes= $80.00)

A Student picked up at 6:00 PM will be charged $100.00 (5:00 PM-5:05 PM grace period, 5:05 PM-6:00 PM $2.00 x 55 minutes =$110.00, but the max amount they can be charged is set to $100.00)

Please contact helpdesk@kangarootime.com with any questions.