CHILDCARE SERVICES
The scheduling solution that lets you focus on providing great childcare
Save time with childcare booking software
As a childcare provider, your hands are often full keeping the children in your care safe and happy. Dealing with administrative tasks is an inevitable part of running a business. Save time by using Square Appointments for your childcare booking system.
Simple scheduling software for childcare businesses.
Make the most of your time with Square Appointments. Avoid double bookings and block time for breaks and personal events so your schedule works for you.
- Block time for personal events and time off.
- Set a scheduling window to prevent bookings too far in advance and accept or decline appointments to ensure your time is effectively managed.
- Block extra time after appointments to give you time to prepare for your next childcare appointment.
- Set up a waitlist to fill last minute availability when customers reschedule or cancel at short notice.
- Sync your Square Appointments calendar with your Google calendar to keep your entire schedule in one place.
- Send automatic confirmations and reminder messages to your customers to prevent no-shows and cancellations.
Create a free customised website
Having a good online presence is important for any childcare business. If families can’t find and book your services online, you could be missing out on a lot of good income. Square makes it easy to create an online booking website in minutes.
- Set up custom website so your customers can find and book your services online 24/7.
- Customise your website to reflect your brand and style.
- Get discovered with easy-to-use SEO tools and integrations with social media platforms, like Instagram, Facebook and Google.
Take payments securely and simply with Square Appointments
No matter how you choose to take payments, Square has a solution that makes it easy for you. Online, in your workspace or on the go, Square has you covered.
- Ask your customers to prepay in full when they make their booking via your website.
- Use Square Invoices (for free) to send professional-looking invoices.
- Keep cards on file so you can collect payments automatically.
- Take payments in person wherever you are with hardware options to suit every situation and budget.
Manage your team easily with Square Team Management
Set your team up for success with team management tools.
- Take care of basic team management tasks such as rostering.
- Set up team permissions so your staff can access their calendar and manage their time. You can assign your team different permission levels that reflect their roles.
- If you offer performance-based rewards, you can track progress with Square and let employees see how well they are doing.
- Get real-time reports to monitor staff performance and inform business decisions.
Integrate with your favourite business software.
Integrate with other Square products and popular third-party apps like Xero, Quickbooks, Wix and JotForm to meet your customers’ needs.
Want to see additional partners we work with? See our integrations page
Square Appointments is more than just a scheduling app.
Google calendar sync
Sync with your Google Calendar to automatically block personal events and avoid double-bookings.
Reminder and confirmation messages
Automatically send your customers reminder and confirmation messages ahead of their appointment to avoid no shows.
Waitlist
Create a waitlist to fill last minute available spots when families reschedule or cancel at short notice.
Free online booking website
With Square, you have free access to Square Online. This allows you to build an attractive and highly functional website without any technical skills. You can also add a booking button to your existing website to make it easy for customers to make reservations online.
Cancellation policy and no-show fees
Sometimes families need (or just want) to cancel. Encourage them to do so in good time with a robust cancellation policy backed by no-show fees. You can even send them an automatic reminder so they don’t forget to let you know if their plans change.
Staff Management
Give your team everything they need to organise their time effectively with Square Appointments. Create online rosters that can be quickly and seamlessly updated. Let your team members track their time and report it easily and accurately to avoid irritating errors with payroll.
Pick the plan for you.
No hidden fees. Change or cancel any time.
Custom pricing and discounts are available for qualifying businesses in Australia.
Free
The basics to run your own business while staying ahead of schedule.
for a single location.
Processing rate per transaction:
- 1.9%
in-person processing fee for Square Stand or Square Reader - 1.6%
on-person processing fee for Square Register and Square Terminal
Top Free Features:
- Unlimited staff accounts
- Custom booking website and social media integrations
- Integrated payments
- Automatic text and email reminders
- Automated contracts
Plus
More advanced features for growing teams that offer top-notch service.
per location.
Processing rate per transaction:
- 1.6%
in-person processing fee for Square Terminal, Square Stand, Square Reader or Square Register
Top Plus Features:
- Everything in Free
- Customer confirmation texts and emails
- Cancellation policy and fees
- Schedule classes
- Waitlist
- Appointments reports
Premium
A complete plan that meets complex booking and staff management needs.
per location.
Processing rate per transaction:
- 1.6%
in-person processing fee for Square Terminal, Square Stand, Square Reader or Square Register
Top Premium Features:
- Everything in Plus
- Team Plus
- Resource management
- Custom staff commissions
- Custom contract fields
Contact sales for custom pricing
If your business processes over $250K in card sales per year, you may be eligible for custom pricing packages. This would include everything in Premium, a dedicated Account Manager in Australia and discounts on optional business tools, such as Square Online, Square Loyalty and more. Contact sales
For payments taken online, by invoice or keyed in manually, see card-not-present processing rates.
Canstar’s 2021 and 2022 Most Satisfied Customers Merchant Services Award
FAQs
Using a booking system for your childcare businesses will help save you time and eliminate errors such as double bookings. It could also increase your productivity by helping you to fill last minute gaps in your schedule. With integrated payments and cancellation policies, you can also be confident that you’ll be paid on time for the childcare services you provide.
Square Appointments can work for many different types of childcare businesses whether you’re a sole operator or manage a team.
- Before / After School Care or Outside School Hours Care
- Babysitters
- In-home child daycare
- Family day care
- Nanny services
Square works with any Australian-issued and most international chip or magnetic stripe cards with a Visa, Mastercard or American Express logo, as well as bank-issued eftpos chip cards.
Move your money faster than ever for a small fee with instant transfers – or choose next day transfers free of charge.
Square has partner integrations with several leading software packages including Xero and Quickbooks. These integrations allow you to send records of payments taken through your Square POS directly to your accounting software.