media release
Ezidebit Pty Ltd
National: 1300 763 256 Local: 07 3124 5500 Fax: 3124 5555 Email: info@ezidebit.com.au
PO Box 1388, Milton QLD 4064
January 6 - 2010
Victorian-based Time-Out Childcare reveals secrets to time & cashflow
Child care centre success story unveiled as enrollments for 2010 begin
Manually managing payments from just over 400 families was turning into an administrative and financial
nightmare for Victorian-based childcare provider Time-Out Child Care. The front counter was being swamped
every morning, reconciliation of payments was taking up to two days a week, and chasing up non-payments was
becoming a bigger and bigger issue.
Enter the electronic payment powerhouse Ezidebit and in just five months the organization has significantly
reduced administration time and costs, and importantly it has turned around the cashflow inconsistencies it was
experiencing; making effective management and business growth now realities.
The initial trial of Ezidebit has led to its time saving solutions for collecting and processing payments being
adopted in Time-Out Child Care centers in Bentleigh and Doncaster East, both long care centres. It is a business
decision that childcare operators around the country are making – turning to Ezidebit for a range of reasons.
Integral to the success of Time-Out Child Care in a notoriously difficult business sector is their commitment to
every individual child in their education and care, to their staff and to maintaining parent involvement and
empowerment.
“Time-Out Child Care is a carefully run business, one which sees us employing 50 people and caring for children
from almost 400 families. This requires sound business management principles, a clear understanding of our
sector, and sensible, careful cashflow management,” said Company Director Adam Agosta.
Mr. Agosta said by signing close to 100% of families onto a tailored customer payment plan from Ezidebit, the
group had benefitted in three key ways.
“Firstly, the Ezidebit system won back at least two full administrative days per week. This is a significant
achievement as previously the front counter was inundated every morning with payment processing, followed
by reconciliations. This time-win allows us the time and space to do what we do well which is focusing on the
welfare and development of children, as well as staff training and general business development,” said Agosta.
“Secondly, by rolling out all of our families onto Ezidebit, it meant day care fees are directly debited from either
bank accounts or credit cards and then seamlessly administered by Ezidebit. This translates into a remarkable
cash flow increase, and also makes cashflow more predictable.
“In fact, the system has reduced our debtor days from a previous average of 14 to now just 7.7 days, meaning
cash is now flowing far more freely for the group, allowing us to reinvest more into the centres.”
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Agosta said the childcare sector was made up of businesses with historically poor cash flow and payment
cultures, and he was well aware of this, having experienced it firsthand. “Busy parents were simply forgetting to
pay their fees and this caused major cash flow interruptions for us, not to mention time spent chasing fees,” he
said.
“These days, time spent perusing Customer Account Balances or chasing balances is almost non-existent. In
addition, initially some parents were reluctant to come on to the system, however now are converts as the
Ezidebit system has greatly reduced their administration as well. All in all, it has created a positive client
experience.”
“Thirdly, the training and support that Ezidebit provided from a management and technical side made the
changeover seamless. A tailored solution was delivered, meaning that when we needed to change over to the
new Child Care Management System of reporting and claiming Child Care Benefits in early 2009, it was all
incorporated seamlessly into the process. The back end accounting procedure is now much easier to manage.”
Ezidebit Chief Executive Officer Charlie Holland says flexibility allows centre administration to set a regular
amount or vary the amounts of each payment thereby providing mutual benefits for the centre and peace of
mind for parents. “We currently have almost 2200 child care business across Australia experiencing the benefits
of Ezidebit outsourced payment solutions,” he said.
On average in the childcare sector, Ezidebit’s time saving solutions for collecting and processing payments have
seen an estimated $50,000 of cash flowing back through the provider.
Established in 1998, Ezidebit offered the first specialised automated Direct Debit and Credit Card transactions
service in Australia and is now recognized as the industry leader processing in excess of half a million
transactions per month on behalf of more than 5,000 businesses from multiple industries.
For further media information or interviews relating to Ezidebit contact Kath Rose @ Kath Rose & Associates
t: (07) 3357 9054 m: 0416 291 493 or e: kath@kathrose.com
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