Childcare billing software that matches tuition to attendance.
Weekly or monthly tuition on autopay, subsidy and parent co-pay split on every invoice, check-in and check-out at the door feeding both attendance and billing, and a live view of children and staff in each room against your state's ratios.
Reply within one business day · Written scope and fixed price before any work starts
Built on a platform our team runs in production. The U.S. edition is being configured with design partners.
Status as of November 2026. How we label products
Children present
86
of 94 expected
Staff on floor
15
Rooms near ratio
1
Late pick-ups (wk)
4
Children and staff by room
| Room | Age group | Children | Staff | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seahorses | Infants | 8 | 2 | Within your ratio |
| Starfish | Toddlers | 13 | 2 | At ratio · break 11:00 |
| Dolphins | 2-year-olds | 16 | 2 | Within your ratio |
| Pelicans | Pre-K | 22 | 2 | Within your ratio |
Alerts
- Starfish: cover needed for 11:00 breakSuggest: M. Ortiz (float)
- Noah P. checked out by authorized grandparent10:31 · ID verified
- 2 authorizations expire this monthSubsidy
Tuition billed
$118,420
Family payments
$71,960
on autopay 74%
Subsidy expected
$39,880
Past due families
6
$4,215
Invoices
| Family | Tuition | Subsidy | Family co-pay | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvarez (2 children) | $2,480 | $1,610 | $870 | Autopay Nov 1 |
| Brooks | $1,240 | - | $1,240 | Paid |
| Nguyen | $1,240 | $1,045 | $195 | Co-pay 9 days late |
| Okonkwo | $980 | $910 | $70 | Auth. ends Nov 30 |
Subsidized children
37
Claimed
$41,260
Paid by agency
$39,905
Short paid
$1,355
4 children
Exceptions
| Child | Approved hours | Attended | Issue | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mia A. | Full-time | 19 days | - | Paid in full |
| Liam N. | Part-time | 17 days | Over approved schedule | Bill family difference? |
| Ava O. | Full-time | 12 days | Near absent-day limit | Review |
| Ethan R. | Full-time | 20 days | Paid at old rate | Short $412 |
In short
Agenbord Recur for Childcare Centers is tuition billing and attendance software for independent childcare and daycare centers with 1-5 locations. It runs tuition autopay, splits subsidy and parent co-pay amounts, records check-in and check-out, shows staff-to-child counts per room against the ratios you configure for your state, and sends parent messages. It is built on a billing and attendance engine we run in production; the U.S. childcare edition is in early access.
What slows childcare & daycare centers down today.
Subsidy and co-pay don't add up
The state pays part of a child's tuition, the family pays the rest, and the state's rate, the center's rate and absent days all change the math. Directors rebuild it in a spreadsheet every month and still find short payments weeks later.
The sign-in sheet is the attendance record
Paper sign-in sheets get lost, are illegible, and can't tell you who is in the toddler room right now. Licensing visits and subsidy attendance reports both depend on records nobody fully trusts.
Ratios are checked by walking the hallway
When a teacher goes on break or two children are moved up, the director finds out the room is over ratio by looking in the door. There's no screen that shows children and qualified staff per room at a glance.
How the work flows through the system.
Each workflow runs on one shared record, so nobody re-types numbers between steps.
Morning drop-off to monthly invoice
Parent → front desk → director
- The parent checks the child in at a kiosk or on their phone with a PIN or QR code; authorized pick-up people are verified at check-out.
- Each check-in places the child in a room, and the room's live count updates for teachers and the director.
- Late pick-ups after closing time add the center's late fee automatically, with a note the parent can see.
- At the billing date, tuition, fees and credits are invoiced, with the subsidy portion and the family co-pay on separate lines.
- Families on autopay are charged by card or ACH; others get a payment link by email or SMS (with consent).
Subsidy reconciliation
Billing coordinator → director
- Each subsidized child has an authorization with its dates, approved hours and state rate.
- Attendance is compared with the authorization, and absent-day limits are flagged before the claim is submitted.
- The attendance report is exported in the format your state agency or portal requires for the claim.
- When the agency's payment arrives, it is matched to each child; short payments are listed for follow-up.
Live ratio view
Teachers → director
- Teachers clock in to a room; children check in to a room. Moves between rooms are one tap.
- Each room shows children present, staff present and the ratio you configured for that age group under your state's rules.
- If a room is about to exceed the ratio (a teacher's break, a late arrival), the director gets an alert to move staff.
- The day's room-by-room counts are kept with timestamps for licensing visits.
What's included in Agenbord Recur for Childcare Centers.
Tuition plans
Weekly, biweekly or monthly tuition by age group and schedule (full-time, part-time, before/after school), with sibling discounts and registration fees.
Subsidy & co-pay billing
Authorizations, state rates and family co-pays split per invoice, with absent-day tracking and short-payment follow-up.
Autopay & payments
Card and ACH autopay through your processor, payment links and year-end childcare payment statements for families.
Check-in / check-out
Kiosk or phone check-in by PIN or QR, authorized pick-up list and timestamps for every child.
Room & ratio view
Children and staff per room in real time against the ratios you set by age group, with alerts before a room goes over.
Staff hours
Teacher clock-in by room, hours for payroll export and qualification notes per staff member.
Parent messaging
Announcements, closures and billing reminders by app, email or SMS (with consent), in English and Spanish.
Parent app
Balance, invoices, receipts, attendance history and pick-up authorizations in one place.
Owner dashboard
Enrollment, occupancy by room, tuition collected, subsidy outstanding and staff hours by location.
AI that does specific jobs and shows its work.
Every AI feature is tested on your own records before it's switched on, and a person approves anything that moves money or goes to a customer.
Subsidy mismatch check
Compares attendance with each child's subsidy authorization and highlights children over approved hours, near absent-day limits or with an expiring authorization. Limits: it flags; the billing coordinator decides what to submit. Rules come from your state's program as you configure them.
Parent message drafts
Drafts replies to parent questions about balances, invoices and closures from the family's real account, in English or Spanish. Limits: staff approve every reply. It does not answer questions about a child's health, behavior or development.
Who it's for and who it isn't.
A good fit if you are
- Independent centers with 40-400 enrolled children across 1-5 locations
- Centers where a large share of families pay through a state subsidy program plus a parent co-pay
- Directors who reconcile tuition, late pick-up fees and subsidy payments by hand each month
- Owners who want attendance, billing and staff hours in one record, not three apps
Probably not the right fit if you are
- Family childcare homes with a handful of children - a simpler app will do
- Large chains with enterprise systems and dedicated subsidy billing teams
- Programs that mainly want a lesson-planning and daily-photo app and handle billing elsewhere
Designed around the rules you work under.
Plain-English notes, not legal advice. Software supports your compliance process; it doesn't replace your attorney, CPA or compliance lead.
Staff-to-child ratios vary by state
Ratios and group sizes are set by each state's licensing rules and differ by age group, and states keep revising them. The ratio view uses the numbers you enter for your state and license type; it does not decide them. ACF - Trends in child care center licensing regulations.
Subsidy payment rules changed in 2026
HHS's final rule "Restoring Flexibility in the Child Care and Development Fund" (published May 12, 2026) rescinded several 2024 requirements, including the 7% family co-pay cap. From July 13, 2026, states may pay providers prospectively or reimburse them within 21 days of a completed invoice. Co-pay and payment practices now vary more by state, so the billing rules are configured per state. Federal Register 2026-09382.
Biometric check-in needs consent where the law requires it
The engine supports fingerprint and face check-in, but some states regulate biometric data. Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, for example, requires informed written consent before collecting it. U.S. centers default to PIN or QR check-in; biometrics are off unless you enable them with consent forms your counsel approves. 740 ILCS 14.
What exists today and what's being built.
Runs in production today
Capabilities of the engine this edition is built on.
- Automated scheduled invoicing in two languages
- Payment reminders over WhatsApp
- Digital payment collection with automatic reconciliation
- Self-updating ledgers per account
- Biometric attendance and door access
- Staff attendance, salaries and expenses
- Parent app and owner dashboard
What this edition adds
In development with design partners.
- U.S. card and ACH autopay and year-end payment statements
- PIN and QR check-in with authorized pick-up lists
- Subsidy authorizations, co-pay splits and state report exports
- Room-level ratio view with configurable state ratios
- SMS and email messaging with TCPA consent records
- Biometric consent capture for states that require it
Connects to the systems you already run.
Systems we integrate with
Named platforms are examples we build against through their public APIs - not partnership claims.
How it compares - honestly.
Established products are often the right answer. Here's when each one is the better choice.
| Product | What it is | The better choice when |
|---|---|---|
| brightwheel | A widely used childcare app covering check-in, parent communication, daily reports, lesson plans and billing. | You want one polished app for classroom engagement, daily photos and billing that you can sign up for today. |
| Procare | Long-established childcare management software with tuition billing, attendance, staff and family management for centers of many sizes. | You want a mature, packaged childcare system with a large user community and established subsidy reporting features. |
| Kangarootime | Childcare management software for centers and multi-site operators covering billing, attendance and family engagement. | You run several sites and want a packaged multi-site product rather than a configured build. |
Detailed comparisons: Procare alternatives
What it costs, up front.
During early access the childcare edition is a configured build on the Agenbord Recur engine at a fixed price, plus your payment processor's own fees. It is priced as a build, not per child. Design partners get a reduced build price.
Tuition & check-in
From $12k
Tuition plans, autopay, check-in/out with pick-up authorizations, the parent app and QuickBooks sync for one center.
6–10 weeks
Full center edition
$25k–$60k
Adds subsidy and co-pay billing for your state, the room and ratio view, staff hours, parent messaging and the AI subsidy check.
3–5 months
Multi-location
$60k+
Two to five centers, consolidated reporting, different subsidy programs by state and data migration from your current system.
Phased
Childcare & daycare centers: common questions.
Does the software know my state's ratios?
You enter them. Ratios and group sizes differ by state, age group and license type and change over time, so the system uses the numbers you configure from your state's licensing rules and alerts you against those.
Can it handle families who pay part and the state pays the rest?
Yes. Each subsidized child has an authorization with dates, approved schedule and state rate. Invoices split the subsidy portion from the family co-pay, and agency payments are matched child by child.
Do parents need to use fingerprints to check in?
No. U.S. centers default to PIN or QR check-in. Biometric check-in exists in the engine but stays off unless you turn it on with consent forms, which some states, such as Illinois, require.
Can families get a year-end statement for taxes?
Yes. Families can download a year-end statement of what they paid, with the center's details, for the federal child and dependent care credit or a dependent care FSA claim.
Will it replace our daily-report and photo app?
Not necessarily. This edition focuses on billing, attendance, ratios and messaging. If you love your classroom app, we can keep it and connect where it offers an API.
Is the childcare edition available today?
The engine - scheduled invoicing, reminders, payment collection with automatic reconciliation, ledgers, biometric attendance and door access, staff attendance and a parent app - runs in production today. The U.S. childcare edition adds autopay, subsidy billing, PIN/QR check-in and the ratio view; it is in early access with design partners.
Sources
- ACF Child Care Technical Assistance - Trends in child care center licensing regulations
- Federal Register - Restoring Flexibility in the CCDF (May 12, 2026)
- ACF - 2024 CCDF final rule fact sheet
- Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14)
Regulatory notes are plain-English summaries, not legal advice.
Early access
Become an early-access customer of Agenbord Recur for Childcare Centers.
Early-access customers get a reduced build price, direct input into the roadmap and a fixed scope in writing before work starts. Tell us how you work today and we'll reply within one business day.
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