Payment Processing for Preschools & Pre-K

Preschools run on a school-year calendar with registration in spring, monthly tuition and add-ons like extended day, music or swim. Many are church- or nonprofit-affiliated.
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Payment solutions for preschools & pre-k

How these solutions fit preschools & pre-k

See what each option adds to the way your business takes and tracks payments.

Square Invoices

For preschools & pre-k: Send itemized invoices for childcare tuition, registration and activity fees and track deposits, due dates and outstanding balances. Square Invoices lets preschools and pre-K programs send invoices by email, text or link and get paid by card, digital wallet or ACH bank transfer. Recurring monthly invoices, with extended-day and enrichment fees added as line items. Roots sets up your templates, recurring schedules and autopay, and connects invoices to your accounting.
  • Design invoice templates and custom fields (terms, policies, account numbers) for preschools and pre-K programs
  • Set up recurring schedules and card-on-file or bank-on-file autopay for families
  • Configure reminders and late-payment workflows
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Registration Payments

For preschools & pre-k: Collect registration charges for childcare tuition, registration and activity fees and connect each payment with its attendee or participant record. Registration payments let preschools and pre-K programs collect sign-up fees, deposits and installment plans in the same form families fill out. Families reserve a seat for fall with an online deposit. Roots connects payments to your registration software or builds a form for you.
  • Connect payments to your registration platform
  • Configure discounts and payment plans
  • Reconcile registrations with deposits
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ACH Payments

For preschools & pre-k: Offer bank-account payments for childcare tuition, registration and activity fees, with authorization and invoice matching built into the workflow. ACH lets preschools and pre-K programs collect school-year tuition, registration and enrichment fees directly from a payer's bank account, usually at a lower cost than cards on larger payments. Families pay tuition from their bank account on autopay. Roots sets up ACH with authorization language and fraud controls that meet Nacha's rules.
  • Write compliant authorization language for families
  • Set up account verification and return monitoring
  • Help you meet Nacha's 2026 fraud-monitoring requirements
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Transfer initiated

$735.00 · ref ACH-7731

Square Payment Links

For preschools & pre-k: Share a checkout link for childcare tuition, registration and activity fees through messages, email or your website. Square Payment Links let preschools and pre-K programs collect a payment, sell an item, accept a donation, or sell an event or class with a link, QR code or buy button. Share a link or QR code for each one-off fee. Roots builds your links and QR codes, sets up custom fields and redirects, and ties them to reporting.
  • Plan which links preschools and pre-K programs need (fees, events, donations) and name them clearly
  • Create print-ready QR codes for flyers, signs and newsletters
  • Set custom fields and post-payment redirects to capture the details you need
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Donation Processing

For preschools & pre-k: Organize one-time and recurring contributions, with campaign or program references connected to family accounts, attendance references and tuition balances. Online giving lets preschools and pre-K programs accept one-time and recurring gifts by card, digital wallet and ACH, with receipts donors can use at tax time. Separate giving forms and receipts for fundraisers. Roots sets up giving forms, fee-coverage options and reporting, and connects them to your donor records.
  • Build giving forms and campaign pages
  • Set up receipts with the IRS acknowledgment language donors need
  • Connect gifts to your donor database or accounting
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Square Payroll

For preschools & pre-k: Organize payroll for caregivers and center administrators, using staff and time records to prepare pay runs. Square Payroll is full-service payroll with automated tax filings, connected to Square timecards, so preschools and pre-K programs can pay staff from the same system they take payments in. Run school-year payroll with automated tax filings. Roots configures pay schedules, imports team members and connects timecards before your first run.
  • Set up pay schedules, roles and wage rates for preschools and pre-K programs
  • Connect Square timecards so hours flow into payroll
  • Walk you through your first payroll run
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Preschools & Pre-K payment questions

Start with the workflows your business needs. Options on this page include Square Invoices for Preschools, Registration Payments for Preschools, ACH Payment Processing for Preschools. Roots helps compare the setup, software and processing requirements around how you operate.
Yes. Bring your current POS, checkout or billing tools and recent processing statements. We review invoices, registration payments, recurring collections and reconciliation, then plan the changes your preschools & pre-k business needs.
Request a quote for your business. The review covers your payment mix, locations, software, hardware recommendations and implementation work. Consultations and payment reviews are free.
Bring recent payment statements, the systems you use and a record of how a customer places an order, receives a service or pays a bill. Tell us which preschools & pre-k workflows need to improve so we can scope a practical setup.

Let’s set up payments for your preschools & pre-k business

Book a free 30-minute payment review to compare costs, address payment problems and plan your next steps.
Talk to a childcare center payments specialistExplore childcare & early education solutions