Set up deposits with a deposit policy

A deposit policy sets the deposit a family pays when a child joins a program, and what happens to it when care ends. Set up the policy once, give it to a program, and AmalynCare suggests each child’s deposit when you approve their application.

You need access to billing settings to create policies and give them to programs.

How a deposit policy works

Each policy has three settings:

• Amount: a Fixed amount, or a Percentage of net monthly parent fee.
• Currency: the currency the deposit is agreed and collected in. You choose it when you create the policy, and it never changes.
• At the end of care: Apply to the last billing cycle, or Hold until refunded or forfeited.

A fixed amount follows the child’s schedule. It is prorated by the weekdays the child is scheduled, out of the program’s weekdays. A percentage uses the parent’s share of the first full month of care, after public funding such as CWELCC.

For example, with a $500 fixed amount, a program open Monday to Friday and a child scheduled three days a week:

Part of the calculation	Amount
Policy amount	$500
Scheduled weekdays	3 of 5
Suggested deposit	$300

With a 50% policy instead, a parent share of $484 for the first full month suggests a $242 deposit.

These amounts are examples. Use the deposit your program agrees with families.

Create a deposit policy

1. Open Organization Settings → Billing → Deposit Policies.
2. Choose Create Policy.
3. Enter the Policy name.
4. Choose the Amount type, then enter the Fixed amount or the Percentage (%).
5. Choose the Currency and what happens At the end of care.
6. Choose Create Deposit Policy.

To change the amount or the end-of-care choice later, open the policy and edit it. Saving publishes a new version of the policy. Children who were already approved keep the version they were approved with. A name change alone renames the policy.

Give a program its deposit policy

1. Open Organization Settings → Site Setup → Programs, then open the program.
2. In Deposit Policy, choose the edit button.
3. Select the policy, then choose Save Deposit Policy.

A program has one deposit policy or none. A program without one shows No deposit policy — no deposit is asked, and its applications are approved without a deposit.

Agree the deposit when approving

When the program has a deposit policy, the approval form includes an Enrollment deposit section. It shows the policy and version, the currency and what happens at the end of care.

The Agreed amount starts with the policy’s default, and the line under it shows how that default was worked out. Change the amount if you agreed a different deposit with the family, for example a lower deposit for a sibling. The agreed amount must be more than zero.

If the default cannot be worked out, for example because care does not include a full month, the form explains why. Enter the agreed amount yourself.

Change a child’s deposit later

You need billing access to change a child’s deposit. Open the child’s enrollment and edit the Enrollment Agreement. In Enrollment Deposit, change the Agreed amount, then choose Save Deposit. The currency and the end-of-care choice stay as the pinned version sets them.

If the program has since published a new version, you can choose Use the Program’s current version before saving. A child’s deposit cannot be removed, and it always stays in its original currency.

Troubleshooting

• You cannot archive a policy: a program still uses it. Give those programs another policy, or none, and then archive it.
• The current version cannot be applied to a child’s deposit: the program now uses a policy in another currency. The child keeps the version they have.
• A child approved before their program had a deposit policy has no deposit: edit the enrollment agreement and save a deposit. Saving gives the child the current version of their program’s policy.

Related help

• CWELCC and child care subsidies
• Set up an enrollment’s billing and funding
• Create, review and approve an application