To begin your finance set up you can access this section two separate ways:
More > Settings > Getting started > Invoice settings
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings
Start Invoicing From
Here you will want to select the date you’d like to begin your automated billing. For example, it is the 1st January but my nursery has not opened yet. We plan to open on the 1st February, which means my start date will need to be 1st February.
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings > Start invoice from: Edit > Input date > Save.
Annualised and packaged invoices
This section is only necessary for our customers who either annualise their bills across the year (for some or all children), or who use package options.
You can choose the number of weeks and months you would like to average your bills over (i.e. 52 weeks and 12 months or 38 weeks and 12 months).
More > Settings > Finance > Invoicing Settings > Annualised and packaged invoices > Edit
Excluded months for invoicing
If you do not plan to invoice over the full 12 months, it will allow you to select the months you wish to exclude from invoicing (i.e. August or December).
Allow overwrites on child level
If you have different invoice periods for different groups of children, you can select ‘allow overwrites on child level’ to allow yourself to edit this individually for each child.
Invoice number sequencing
When generating invoices & receipts, they will follow an invoice number sequence. These fields are automatically populated on Blossom, but you do have the option to edit the number sequence. You can choose your own prefixes & the sequence that the invoice number, receipt number & credit note number should follow on from.
Invoice display
You can choose between two options for how you would like your invoice to be displayed to parents/carers. The options are:
Grouped item types without cost breakdown
This option will group each line item into the ‘item type’ categories. It will show the cost of the overall group of similar items, instead of a cost breakdown of each individual line item.
Item types with cost breakdown
This option will show a cost breakdown for each individual line item on the invoice.
For both of these options, there are previews in app.
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings > Invoice level of detail displayed: Edit > select preview of both options > select the option you prefer > Save.
Invoice notes and reminders
Additional invoice notes
These are additional notes you are able to add to your invoice. For example, you could add your registration number, or add a message that changes each month like ‘Happy Easter’. You can add multiple notes by clicking ‘+ Add Another Note’.
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings > Additional invoice notes: Edit > Enter notes > Save.
Additional statement of account notes
Similar to additional invoice notes you can add notes to a child's statement of account. These will be visible when the statement of account is sent to parents or downloaded. Again, you can add multiple notes by clicking ‘+ Add Another Note’.
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings > Additional statement of account notes: Edit > Add notes > Save.
Invoice due date
This is setting the timeframe between the invoice date & when the invoice is due. For example, if the invoice date is 1st March & it is due 7 days after, the invoice due date would be set to 7 days.
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings > Invoice due date > Edit pencil > Enter days > Save.
Automated Payment Reminders to Bill Payers
You can set automated payment reminders to bill payers to eliminate the payments from being overdue. You can choose when the reminder is automatically sent out to parents with overdue invoice amounts by selecting the amount of days before or after the invoice due date. You can set multiple payment reminders which will go to all bill payers with overdue invoices.
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings > Automated payment reminders to bill payers: Edit > Enter days & select before or after > Add copy > Save.
Your Bank Details
Here you can enter the most important details for payments - your bank details. These will appear on the bottom of your invoices. If you are using BE Paid, which allows parents to pay through the parent app, you do not need to input your bank details here, as these payments will automatically be transferred into your bank account.
More > Settings > Finance > Invoice settings > Your bank details: Edit > Enter bank details > Save.
Need to switch your currency (e.g. £ to $)?
Blossom enables you to choose the currency you want to work with.
To use this feature you will need to contact the customer support team on 01923 545 200. Once activated by the support team and you have informed them of the selected currency, your invoices will be generated in the chosen currency.
Note: If you have an organisation with multiple nurseries, you will need to choose one currency. However, you can set up a nursery as an individual nursery and use a different currency for that specific nursery.