Daycare Billing Software vs Venmo, PayPal and Checks
Most small daycares collect tuition the way they started: a check on the counter, a Venmo request, a PayPal invoice, or a mix of all three. Each works. The question is what each one costs you, in fees and in hours, once you have more than a handful of families. This post lays out the published fees for Venmo and PayPal, what checks cost in time, and what daycare billing software does differently.
What is daycare billing software?
Daycare billing software issues each family's tuition invoice, takes the payment, and records who has paid and what is still owed. It is tied to your roster, so the invoice follows the child's enrollment and the rate you set rather than a note in your phone.
The difference from a payment app is that a payment app only moves money, while billing software also knows what each family owes, issues the invoice and the receipt, and keeps the record.
How much does Venmo charge a daycare to receive tuition?
It depends on how the payment is sent. Venmo's own fee page lists these, as read on October 27, 2026:
| Venmo fee | Rate |
|---|---|
| Payment to a personal account, identified by the sender as goods and services | 2.99% seller transaction fee |
| Payment to a business profile | 1.9% + $0.10 (2.29% + $0.09 through Tap to Pay) |
| Standard transfer to your bank | No fee |
| Instant transfer to your bank or debit card | 1.75% (minimum $0.25, maximum $25) |
On a $500 monthly tuition payment, that is $14.95 at the goods-and-services rate or $9.60 on a business profile, paid by you, the receiver. An instant transfer of that $500 to your bank would add $8.75.
How much does PayPal charge to receive tuition?
PayPal's US business fee page, last updated October 1, 2026 and read on October 27, 2026, lists:
| PayPal fee | Rate |
|---|---|
| Send/Receive Money for Goods and Services | 2.99% |
| PayPal Checkout (domestic commercial transactions) | 3.49% + 0.49 USD fixed fee |
| Standard withdrawal to a linked bank account | No fee, when no currency conversion is involved |
| Instant transfer to a bank account | 1.50% of the amount transferred, minimum 0.50 USD |
On the same $500, a goods-and-services payment costs you $14.95; through PayPal Checkout it would be $17.94. Fees change, so check both pages before you decide; the links are listed at the end of this post.
What does it cost to take tuition by check?
Checks have no processing fee, which is why many providers prefer them. The cost is your time and your risk:
- Someone has to collect, log and deposit every check.
- A check can bounce, and you find out after the fact.
- You keep track of who has paid and who still owes, from your own notes.
- At tax time, you build each family's payment statement from your own notes.
For three families, that is a few minutes a month. For fifteen, it is a regular evening.
Is it OK to use Venmo or PayPal for daycare payments?
Yes, many daycares do, and it is a reasonable starting point. The trade-offs show up as you grow:
- The fee usually lands on you. On a goods-and-services or business payment, the seller fee is charged to the receiver.
- You are still the billing department. You work out each amount, send each request, and notice who has not paid.
- Records live in a payment feed. Matching transfers to children, months and part-time days is manual.
- No connection to enrollment. When a child changes from five days to three, the app does not know.
What does daycare billing software do that payment apps do not?
It keeps the amount, the invoice, the payment and the record in one place. Here is how it works in Zukeepr, as an example of what to look for:
Rates you set, invoices Zukeepr issues
You set each family's tuition rate in Zukeepr, including part-time rates. Zukeepr issues the tuition invoices, and tuition is charged automatically on the 1st of each month from the family's saved card, or US bank account where available. You are not sending a payment request to each family every month.
A record of who has paid
The accounting view shows who has paid and what is still owed, so you are not matching transfers against a list. Families get a receipt for each payment, receipts can carry your legal business name, and after each year ends, families get an annual tuition receipt built from the payments already recorded. Payouts to your bank can be checked from your dashboard (amount, arrival date and status).
Who pays the fees with daycare billing software?
With Zukeepr, the family pays them, and the daycare receives its full set amount. The rules are:
- Processing: whoever pays a charge bears the Stripe processing fee (card 2.9% + $0.30; for US families paying by bank debit (ACH), 0.8%, capped at $5).
- Platform fee: $3 per invoice, on post-enrollment invoices only, never on the acceptance transaction, and once per invoice regardless of line items.
- Admin fee: $10, one-time, per child per daycare, charged to the parent at acceptance.
- Your plan: free for up to 20 enrolled families; Daycare Premium is $11.99/mo (first month free).
Tuition flows to the daycare through Stripe Connect, and Zukeepr never holds it. On a $500 tuition invoice, the daycare receives $500; the family pays the $3 platform fee and the processing fee for the method they chose.
That is a real cost for families, and it is worth being upfront with them about it. In the US, where bank debit is available, it keeps that cost lowest.
Venmo vs PayPal vs checks vs billing software: which should a daycare use?
Choose by size and by how much time you want to spend on billing:
| Fee you pay to receive $500 | Who issues the invoice | Who has paid, at a glance | Year-end statements | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Check | None | You | Your own notes | You |
| Venmo (goods and services) | $14.95 | You | The payment feed | You |
| Venmo (business profile) | $9.60 | You | The payment feed | You |
| PayPal (goods and services) | $14.95 | You | The payment feed | You |
| Zukeepr billing | None; the family pays the $3 platform fee and processing | Zukeepr, at the rate you set | The accounting view | Annual tuition receipt, built from recorded payments |
Figures for Venmo and PayPal are from their own pages as read on October 27, 2026, and do not include instant-transfer fees.
If you have two or three families who always pay on time, checks or a payment app are fine. Once you are reconciling a dozen transfers a month, or chasing the same family twice, billing software usually pays for itself in time. For how billing fits with attendance and daily logs in one system, see our guide to the best daycare management software.
How do I switch my daycare from Venmo to billing software?
Pick a month, tell families in advance, and switch everyone at once:
- Enter each family's rate, including part-time rates.
- Connect your bank account for payouts.
- Invite your current families.
- Tell families that tuition will now be charged automatically each month through Zukeepr, from the card or US bank account they save, and which payment method costs them least.
- Once the first Zukeepr invoices are out, stop sending payment-app requests.
Running two systems side by side for more than a month is where most of the confusion comes from.
Bill tuition on Zukeepr
Zukeepr handles tuition from the same place you run the day: your roster of enrolled children, check-in and check-out, daily logs, and tuition invoices and receipts at the rates you set, with a clear view of who has paid and what is still owed, and payouts straight to the daycare. It is free for up to 20 enrolled families, and your daycare receives its full set amount on every invoice.
See how Zukeepr billing works for daycares
Sources
- Venmo, Our fees, read October 27, 2026.
- PayPal, PayPal business fees (US), last updated October 1, 2026, read October 27, 2026.
