Great Software for Child Care Centers

We love this program. It provides us with one place to quickly find out so much information. Log-in and see total enrollment, enrollment by classes or ages. Tracks child information without searching through files or looking in multiple places. Tracks employee attendance and any other info you might want to add like: Date of Hire, schedules, vacation time accrued or used, etc. Many things a pre-programed, but you can personalize it yourself or request assistance from a fantastic customer service person. This makes my job so much easier, especially with continual changes to State Day Care Licensing regulations. You do have to enter each child's information when they enroll, but once and it's done. Can update any information with only a few clicks and everyone that you assign a role can see everything.

Pros

Simplicity of use. Saves paperwork. Can be used to create reports. Easily see everyone who is still in the building (children and staff members). Records many different types of information (attendance, immunizations, medicals, state required paperwork, Food Program info for the USDA CACFP, tuition fees, and other misc info.) You can program it to add user specific information such as allergies, restricted pick-up, authorized individuals for pick-up, etc. We even have a door unit that stores fingerprints of authorized individuals for pick-up and then allows the door to unlock for entry.

Cons

W e have had to replace the door unit after someone cracked the screen and someone just chipped the fingerprint reader which may need replaced (it is still working). This is the result of individual user misuse though and not an actual flaw of the program or hardware. There is an annual update fee, but it is well worth the cost for the time and paperwork it saves.

Procare is the best over other softwares I've tried

Collections and Tuition Express has been a blessing, almost EVERY parent Has been impressed with the idea that we can take a debit or credit card they can also login in the evenings after they've taken care of their families and pay their bill or check on tomorrow's schedule it's made our life easier. I like to work smater vs harder and thus totally fits in to with us.

Pros

I love just about everything in this software it is so efficient. Covers all my bases for the business side of things and customer service side of things. I've dealt with other softwares in my career at least 4 and this is the best. I can't see me ever changing software again. I use it for everything and there still Room to grow. I still need to learn things that I'm not using to the fullest, so I got more than my money's worth. I highly recommend that you give it a whirl. I don't think oe see anyone being disappointed. The support team there for us is truly AMAZING. THANK YOU Procare!!

Cons

Learning or trying any new software is difficult and a nightmare in itself. Y This was not a nightmare and I have more to learn and it's already doing so much for me. If that's what I like the least I'm doing really good.

Kinderlime

It’s functionality is very good and efficient to complete ones assigned task. The team is very courteous and quick to respond to your queries.

Pros

Kinderlime has provided a lot of ease and efficiency in our after school care tracking and billing concerns. Parents can view as a child is signed in or out of a room or from school.

Cons

Kinderlime is an online based application. If there is no internet or a delay then that informs cannot be processed.

Unfortunate investment of time and money

Overall I think the core and idea of procare is beneficial but ONLY if it works. Can't use a product if it is continually locking up.

Pros

This has a great foundation of ideas. Student check in/out, Employee check in/out, billings, time tracking, payroll, general ledger. Truly an all in one for a small preschool. Too good to be true for sure!

Cons

The cloud base software clearly has issues they can not fix. Our check in computers are constantly locking up since the last update in November 2019. After using the same computers and hardware for 5.5 months they ran an update and now problems. We manually key in employees and students often which is time consuming because the computers are locked up at the time parents are picking up or dropping off. Tech support is NONRESPONSIVE to emails and hold times are on average of 35-45 minutes when calling tech support. They said today it is because they are "swamped". That speaks volumes, that means their product ISN'T working. They have been "working on patches to fix this" but in the mean time they have used the excuse it was because I wasn't hard wired to the internet. After the expense of hiring someone to run the wire and hardwire all of the computers they still are locking up. Now Procare support wants me to replace the router because it maybe causing problems. Cutting my losses at this point. A lot of time invested in a software that locks up frequently through out the day. Training is horrible and much of my experience has been self guided. They do have an extensive online resource which is very helpful but yet time consuming as you navigate which article you really need. When training is scheduled it has been late and limited to one function of the software. When asking about other functions you are directed to schedule training for that specifically.

We love Procare!

Overall I have a great experience! We have a large center with kids infant up to 13 years. We also are unique in that we use it for our swimming programs too. These range from 2 years old up to adults and the customer support to help us set this up was fantastic!

Pros

Procare does a lot for our center! We also love how there are additional features you can add on. It is great for tracking families, payments, and even adding activities. Overall we have had good experiences with the customer support. We also love the cloud so we can access this anywhere! The customer support is usually great as well. The people are willing to help and teach you learn more about Procare's capabilities!

Cons

Procare does a lot but some of the features are a bit updated. The texting feature isn't great. It still uses phone emails to send these and we always have problems with it working correctly. The emails are also not great. It can't be customized, images can not be added unless it is an attachment and it can only come from one email administrator unless your company uses Outlook. I also feel like the customer support overall is great but sometimes, I get someone who doesn't seem to know what he is talking about. After a long wait, this can be very frustrating.

Top Notch

We had constant issues with our families understanding their billing and the emails they were receiving. With ProCare everything is clear, concise and I am in control of what emails are going out which has helped tremendously. Summer is our busiest time as we run a summer camp and this year has been so much easier than last year. I refer to ProCare as the "Cadillac" of child care software and it has run smoothly from the first drive off of the showroom floor.

Pros

Ease of billing for the child care services for our 120+ students.

Cons

That's tough because I really like the system. One piece I won't use is Tuition Express as I find it far too expensive (I have worked around it to keep our accounts receivable in a pre-paid status and all payments done by ACH which keeps our expenses down.)

It's a good product

When I call I typically get good customer service.

Pros

I like the ability to automate billing based on contracts that are setup...and reconciling payments to the accounts immediately upon payment.

Cons

- The interface for the desk product is very antiquated - I'd prefer the option to print the 'application' for my files. Currently we still use a paper form and I type everything into Procare because all of the fields and information I need isn't available online. I want a completely online registration process. - I want to capture student photos directly from procare using my laptop instead of having to import/upload photos - I want an app to communicate with parents. I currently upload all my parents to Remind and use that technology to communicate with parents. - I purchased a unit for parents to be able to sign the students in and we never got it to work properly so we are still doing a manual/paper sign in process.

Saving time, saves money

Overall, Procare has been amazing and provided us with prompt and effective support. We've been with them through all the different stages of software development.

Pros

It provides an attendance record that allows me to stay on top of building census. It also allows me to process tuition on just a few clicks. It works with our door strike security

Cons

The software update that was done last year did not work with the Procare interface and crashed our computer. Procare offered to send us a new video card that would fix the issue however the expense of a technician to repair it is on us. The alternative is to mail them the device and to go without a check-in station(which also allows access to our security system and unlocks the door for parents.) This options had a 2 week turn around in which our program would have no way to secure our door to the center. Additionally, I do not like that when they change software or Hardware, it is the customers responsibility to absorb the loss of the use of outdated equipment . The initial investment is not cheap and the updates are absolutely mandatory, to mainitain functionality. Also, the number of seats you need to run your business can vary based on how much of their products you use. everything has a cost. This cost does not include equipment that you need, it just is the ability to access your software that you are already paying for.

The right switch

Overall I love the easy access to all the help. Anything I may not understand how to do I can quickly search and find get explanation on how to complete the steps. Also the help desk is very quick to respond via email or telephone wit answers and even help walk me through steps.

Pros

I love the organization of having all products in the same program window. The set up and implementation was very simple. You could make things as simple or complex as you need. Tuition Express has made the process for payments of tuition the smoothest its ever been. Parents love going to the portal to make payments at their convenience.

Cons

I wish that when you were selecting GL accounts that you could search by alpha characters and not just numbers in all areas. Also wish that you could check balances on the budget by account more quickly than the current process. In our previous system (ACS) we had an area that we could just type the GL number or name and it would pull up the account showing the current balance, current budget amount, and all expenses that had come out on a screen. The current process is very time consuming to pull this.

User Friendly

I have been a user for 18 years and any problems or questions I have had customer service has assisted me with.

Pros

I like how easy it is to use, the different options for filtering data and the best customer service I have ever experienced, included as a user of the program!!

Cons

I do wish the payroll module was less expensive so I would just have one program to use, it is less expensive to stick with quick books.

Procare for Parents

Procare saves us many hours every week. We do not figure accounts or depend on spreadsheets, or even correct data entry. We do have about 5 parents that like to pay cash, but the other 50 or so families all pay with debit card or auto debit, which automatically posts to their account and updates. It helps us to look professional and current. It is also a great safety feature. Procare has a place for pictures of each child, parent, and anyone the parent authorizes to pick up their children. So we can quickly access who can pick up a child and what they look like. Everyone at my center loves Procare and it improves the quality of my business.

Pros

Our Parents are always impressed that we are set up on a computer system for checking their children in and out. They really enjoy the fingerprint option for the most part. Some of the grandparents and a few parents do not have fingerprints that can be distinguished well enough to use, but they do have the option of using a code. Being able to look at their account, pay their account, and get their receipt emailed to them is just genius. It works perfectly, and requires no time on our part at all. The only thing we do is update the accounts on Monday morning. It truly is a great program for child care centers.

Cons

I would have to say, for the parents that do have to use a code instead of a fingerprint, have to use 2 separate numbers; a code, and a pass code. They get used to it, but at first grumble a bit about it.

Procare Review

I really like that parents are able to log into myprocare.com and view their account balance, payment history, and make a payment without my assistance. It saves me time and energy and gets us the tuition payments quickly. Overall, I have had a very positive experience. Tech support is stellar!!

Pros

It is easy to use. When I have a question or an issue, customer support is very responsive and helpful both via the phone or online chat. I really like the online wait list module that allows prospective families to contact us. It allows the prospective family to enter their information and it is automatically integrated into the client database with a few easy steps, no re-entry necessary. I also really like the myprocare parent portal which allows parents to log into their account ledger, view and print statements, make payments and more. The payments made their are automatically posted to their ledger card and deposited into our account. It is slick and easy and saves me time! I also really like that I am the one that processes the ACH payments each month. This makes my relationship with my parents much easier versus our old system where a 3rd party processed them making error resolution sometimes a nightmare. This system gives me the flexibility to change the amount to reflect more accurately the amount owed as well as stopping payments easily when a family unenrolls from the program..

Cons

Creating certain reports, like a waiting list by age, can be tricky and took me some time to get set up. In a previous iteration of this software, pre V10, there was a labeled report already created that you just set date parameters of "waiting list" enrollment and voila, a waiting list was created for you. I also wish you could add a stand alone field to the client profile that designates a funding source for each client. It would help for enrollment and budgeting purposes. The only other draw back is the cost of the financial transactions, but those are inline with the rest of the retail industry. Just hard on the non-profit budget to spend money on convenience for the parents.

Great software but needs some tweaking

As described above, it has many perks and we do appreciate the flexibility it has given our school. I would absolutely recommend it to other people. However, we switched from an older version of Child Care Manager and lost some basic functionality for an "upgraded" software. Those issue need to be addressed to make sure this software stays as competitive as it needs to.

Pros

It's easy to use and offers the components we need. Helped us be able to use credit cards for our families and offer online registration. Great for tracking staff hours, shot records, etc. I like that this service is cloud-based and be accessed off-site. Makes my job easier.

Cons

It's missing some common sense elements - such as allowing families to enroll and complete all data for younger siblings. We have to do it on paper and enter the information manually. It is also missing some niceties such as preprogrammed signatures on emails - when you send them many times a day, it gets frustrating having to type a 3-4 line title each time. These are just two examples, but there are many small, yet inconvenient issues like these. Seems like these types of things were overlooked and could be easily corrected. We have called customer service with numerous questions and for the items that were not offered, we explained the need for them. NO CHANGES HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED TO DATE. It's frustrating that customer feedback isn't a bigger priority.

Decent basic functionality, but limited application

Serves a limited purpose, but is falling behind. We may start looking elsewhere

Pros

The system is easy to use for basic functions- child attendance, billing, child info tracking, basic reports.

Cons

Procare seems to be trying to expand functionality to different applications (Kids Report, etc). However, their core offerings are dated and have had few improvements to make them more functional. I submit requests for functionality, but few things ever change. Here are my top items to change, that would improve the system: Basic: 1. Mail merge document is terrible and incredibly limited. I should be able to create a licensing-compliant registration form for parents, which includes emergency contacts, allergies, medical insurance number, etc. 2. Staff timecards are poorly designed. After years of using the timecards, we stopped. Using our payroll providers timecards are a far superior experience. Editing timecards was awful, building in automation was challenging, and the check in/out was a poor experience. 3. The user interface using two different codes is onerous. All other systems we use has just one login pin. 4. There is no data viewer report to access all info in the SQL database. To create a simple pre-filled registration code, I have to download numerous data viewer reports, combine them, manipulate data, and then mail merge into a document. It's almost not worth it. 5. MyProcare is pretty terrible. It looks like a 2005 UI, has limited functionality, you can't update your own information, and customization is poor Advanced: 1. There is no API to access the SQL backend. Without integration, it severely limits what we can do with the system. 2.

BEST INVESTMENT FOR MY PROGRAM!

Prior to Procare, my scheduling took a big chunk of my time and now it is a done in no time! I can easily track tuition, absences, immunizations, physicals, training requirements for my staff, and so much more. Previously I had to track these in Excel and they were daunting tasks but now everything is up to date and easy to access.

Pros

I have been using Procare Software for a little over two years now and I can't imagine going without it! I like that everything I need is literally wrapped up into one software program. This has been such a time saver for me for scheduling, keeping records, and every day tasks!

Cons

The cost was a big commitment in the beginning but it has been so worth it! I started out with a few of the modules that I needed to get started with the help of a grant and have added on since then. Another thing is that it does take time to learn the system but I think that is with any software and Procare has some amazing tutorial videos available as well as live webinars that have been extremely helpful.

Happy Procare User

Overall, I am very pleased and satisfied with the Procare Software. Since having the system, not only have my team and I been able to save a lot of time that was usually spent on manual entry, but we were also able to offer a convenient feature to the parents. Parents no longer have to wait to get to the front desk or call over the phone to make payments. Payments can be made via the online portal and immediately post to the account. They can also view statements and receive their monthly invoices via e-mail every month. I do wish that there was an easy way to transport information from one product to the next but I do understand the difficulty. That initial task of setting up 200+ families was tedious but once that was done I can definitely say it was worth the task! I am happy we made the switch.

Pros

What I like most about the Procare software is the ease of use in regards to monthly billing. The option to set up contract billing every month is much easier and less time consuming than having to manually enter invoices as we once did. This features allows my staff and I to save time as well as ensure better accuracy as far as billing goes. Also, now we are allowed to have our customers pay via the online portal Procare offers as opposed to having to pay in person. This is a feature we didn't have prior to gaining the Procare software. Not only do we appreciate this convenience factor, but the customers we provide service for as well.

Cons

Although not a big deal- the thing I initially liked least about the Procare software was the difficulty in figuring out how to navigate through certain reports. Because there are so many options it was a bit intimidating to find out how to access the various reports offered. However, I can say that the information provided by the websites customer service and videos were helpful. I do wish that there was an easy way to transport information from one product to the next but I do understand the difficulty in allowing that option.

We are a licensed preschool and childcare facility that has used the software daily for many years.

Daily operations, accounting practices, collecting staff and student information and communication.

Pros

ProCare's versatility is extremely impressive. We use this application for students and staff alike as our sign in station and communication tool. This helps us track student and staff attendance down the day and minute which is invaluable to grant reporting, payroll and tuition reimbursements. ProCare also has many useful faucets for early childhood organizations, such as behavior tracking, immunization records, emergency contacts and other pertinent information. As a Director that is responsible for all billing, income collection, and taxes, one of the most useful and irreplaceable aspects is the Family and Agency Accounting sections as well as Tuition Express. These areas are key to making sure we stay on top of our financial health. I honestly cannot say how phenomenal this software is. The substantial amounts of report types are endless and extremely helpful in all areas of running and producing a professional preschool and child care facility. We are also a two site facility and switching to ProCare Cloud has been the best monthly investment.

Cons

Interfacing software with our Website and Facebook Page. We recieve a lot of traffic through these sites and we would love to be able to collect date straight to ProCare through these web resources.

Awesome Tech support.

Pros

It can keep track of the immunizations. It alerts us when immunizations are going to expire. Tracking and changing classrooms is a breeze.

Cons

We can't put comments on each child or employees. For example, teacher calls out, we don't have a place to keep track of call outs and the same with students, if a parent has a concern, we have to write it down, but prefer to keep track on ProCare. Less steps is always best when it comes to billing and charges, etc. It is a challenge to just delete one sibling when they have moved on to another school and the younger one is still with us. I have had tech support, but still shows up. If I delete the one sibling, it deletes both students on the folder so I end up adding them both back on the hidden folder. I just want to hide the one that moved on.

The Procare Whisperer - AKA - Benji

So... I had one little question, right? One little itty bitty - probably could have figured it out by myself - question. But.... it's people's finances, so I called to make sure I didn't screw anything up. Holy Goodness Gracious. NO. I solved what I had initially called about - but I still scheduled an additional call with the rep because of how many ???s he answered that I didn't even know I had. I started with TE and Procare about 6 mos. ago. I simply take parents tuition for a small(ish) preschool. That's it. No big deal. The person who was in this position before me trained me the best she could on the software and she was trained by someone else who really never understood the initial training given to her. Follow all that? Yeah. Exactly. Enter our rep. I seriously have sat in front my computer using Tuition Express software every week for 6 mos. I've never fully understood it, never appreciated what it could do and can promise I've never been excited about exploring its further uses. I've been called by your sales department 3 times to consider Cloud services and MyProcare. Firm no. Every time. I can tell you that after speaking with our rep - I'll be bringing a proposal to switch to Cloud capabilities soon. Our rep made me feel comfortable with my software abilities, taught me how to use TE better. He taught me about the ins and outs of TE that I wasn't even aware I was missing. (POS, files, individual posting, etc). Our rep's enthusiasm, his passion toward your product, and his knowledge of the Family Data and Accounting Portal is above and beyond. He was encouraging & really sparked my interest to now speak with Shauna about Ledger & Expense and Employee & Payroll. Our rep cemented my opinion that my school should stick with TE software. He inspired me to learn more about it. He sold me on the idea of additional portals - and as someone who is supposed to be running a tight ship - that's no easy task. I'm pretty sure I even exclaimed "Hot Damn!" in a church preschool more than once today. My background is in Sales Management and Customer Service, our rep is a gem of an employee and please be so aware of that. He is a representative for you in every sense of the word. Professional, knowledgeable, fun to talk to and passionate about what he's working with. A++

Pros

It's fluidity. It can grow with us and help us grow. It can be my checks and balances so that I will always be accountable to my staff, my parents and my board. I can organize and create clear reports in ways I wasn't able to do previously. Amazing stuff really.

Cons

Learning it. It's hard to self-navigate. But the training you can get is very good.

Procare Products and Services

My overall experience has been amazing.

Pros

The thing I like the most about this software is the amount of time I get back in my day from the simplistic and shorter routines brought about by the features of Procare. I don't have to spend hours on billing and chasing money now that we use tuition express. I am able to import directly from our waitlist software to the ProCare software so I am not keying client information twice! The tax season is less of a hassle when producing their tax statements. This software is priceless when you think about what you are getting for your money. I would be lost without it.

Cons

The only thing I struggle with is sitting on hold with customer service for so long when I do have a question/concern that I cannot find a solution to on the website. It is made up for though when the customer service personnel is so polite, helpful, and quickly/efficiently help me with my problem.

Great Functionality at a Great Price

Pros

Our ability to bill accurately, receive payment, and communicate well with our clientele increased when we began using Procare.

Cons

I wish there was a "remove" feature for old accounts.

Great as a parent or director

Overall, if you're looking for a central place to organize all the many things that come with childcare, this is the best product on the market that I'm aware of.

Pros

I first used Procare as a parent in my infant son's childcare center. It was easy to check him in and out by having an ID and password number and I loved that I could see my balance on our account and get messages from the director of the childcare center. When I took over at a different center as the director, I was pleased to see they used the same program. Additionally, this center increased the ease of checking in and out by having a fingerprint scanner for parents to check students out and for employees to clock in/out. As a director I could easily see which students were there on the home page and the home page was customizable to what I wanted to see (ex. upcoming staff/child birthdays, children currently checked in, children recently checked in/out etc.). There is another tab where detailed children information is easily inputted and organized as well as an employee tab. I really haven't seen anything else within childcare systems that has as many options and functions as Procare.

Cons

Some reports can be difficult to find and not, at least to me, logically sequenced. However, I can usually Google to find the answer. I would love Procare to come out with an app for classroom teachers to access and parents to access where teachers can input students eating records and parents can pay their balance.

Quick and Easy!

I can't tell you how much easier my job is now that we have Procare and Tuition Express! We are able to run our school more efficiently and professionally. I can't believe we operated so long without it!

Pros

This software makes it super easy to email groups of parents. Whether I'm sending a message to the entire school or just one class, customization of my email groups is quick and simple. I can also look up features about specific families within seconds, making my response time to questions extremely fast. I also love the billing features in Tuition Express. I can now post billing with just a few clicks on my keyboard and collect payments with ease. I am promptly alerted when there is a decline and the account is automatically updated, which ensures the accuracy of accounts.

Cons

If there is a con to this software, it would be that when I am emailing a statement to an individual family, I have to copy the email before I click the choice to send a statement. It does not autofill the email address for that family. That's a pretty minor complaint for a really great system!

Robust software with superb customer service

We've been able to move all of our data to a secure, cloud-based management system, allowing us to get rid of our outdated servers and making our in-house IT personnel very happy in the process. We've also begun offering online payment options to our grateful families, many of whom kept a check book on hand solely for tuition payments. We have been very happy with the support offered by Procare's customer service team. They have walked us through setting up new products, both software and hardware, and are readily available with a quick response to any questions we've had. Additionally, Procare does a great job in offering very clear instructions through webinars and other online resources. Their customer service is second to none.

Pros

This software provides solutions for so many things at once...from data management to parent resources...and allows our center to be run much more efficiently. Our organization is currently exploring just a fraction of the available software system, but we are excited about the prospect of adding more and more over the next few years, simplifying options for parents and families as well as for our administrative team and other employees.

Cons

There is a LOT to learn in order to use the software. Things that we were able to do in one click in our last system now require quite a bit more "digging" in order to execute. We have also found that the available reports are not as intuitive as our old software. We are having to input a lot more data in multiple places in order to access necessary reports. However, we attribute this extra bit of effort on our part to the increased capabilities of this system. Plus, the learning resources are plentiful, so we are able to figure out easily enough how to make the software work for our needs.

Functional

PROCARE helped to decrease the amount of time spent in the office doing administrative paperwork. But currently with all of the many changes and updates that have been made and the additional and higher costs, I’m looking at other alternatives

Pros

The thing I like most about PROCARE is that you have everything you need in one place to successfully run your program whether home based or a large / multiple centers.

Cons

There are two things I dislike about the software is that after spending thousands of dollars for the software to run multiple programs, now we have to pay monthly fees just to keep up with the many changes and upgrades that have occurred over the years but without a discount. We are paying the same thing everyone else pays who didn’t have to pay all the money for the program. There was no option for being grandfathered in or paying a reduced payment.

Waiting to jump ship

I haven't found a software that can do it all. To switch we would be trading problems for problems. However if i were to do it over again we would not chose Procare. I would love it if they sent surveys to their customers to get advice on areas they are failing and areas that need to most work. When they come out with new features they often miss the mark and are sub par. I am waiting and watching for either Procare to catch up or another company to come along that has everything.

Pros

They have great customer service. Their emails look nice.

Cons

There is no nice way to track your very long waiting list and there is no nice way to clearly see openings months in advance. The "feature" they have for these are worthless. I use a work around but it is time consuming and cumbersome. The scheduling feature is way more time consuming then it needs to be. Their text messaging feature is horrible, time consuming, cumbersome and unreliable. It is not user friendly or intuitive. Stuck in the stone age for sure! Too many moving parts, you have to click this and check that and go through menu after menu just to end up with an error message because you still need to complete a series of commands or missed a check box. However, if you know what you doing there is a lot of functionality, it's just not easy. It is necessary to use multiple different platforms as Procare is NOT enough to successfully operate a childcare center.

A little frustrating. A lot of good features, but some really complicated features too

It does make keeping track of the daily issues at our center easy.

Pros

I like the dashboard. I like the ability to have the child and parent photos on the screen. The clock in and out is great.

Cons

I really don't like the reports. I don't like that you have to go in EACH time and say currently enrolled children. There are a lot of really complicated features. I'm really frustrated that when this was set up in August of 2017 the accounting and payroll was not set up properly and we have not been paying our employees overtime for the entire time until today when I KNEW that there were some employees that had overtime. This is a huge issue and I'm not even sure how to go forward from here. Tech support fixed it, but did say that it was not set up properly on their end from the beginning.

One of the best we use in the entire agency

We do our parent billing, employee clock in, ratio monitoring, CACFP tracking, and parent payments with Procare. It has proven to save a large amount of time over the "old" way from years ago!

Pros

We are a large faith-based social service agency, serving families in MANY ways. We use numerous types of software for our multiple programs. Procare is by far one of the most user friendly, high quality, and best supported software programs we use! We recently just added Tuition Express after having used Procare for 13 years, and it is going quite well. The support we have is great.

Cons

Switching from v9 to v10 was a learning curve, but it's now been several years since that occurred. We've really had no issues at all with this software.

Good child/family management program

My experience has been very good. We were very hesitant after having a bad experience with a program that was recommended after our old program was discontinued. However, Procare was very helpful and suited our needs better.

Pros

It was very easy to set up and is easy to use. It has some great features our previous program did not have. Their support website is great with very useful videos if you're stuck on something or can't figure out how do to so. I used our previous program for 30 years and I was very unsure about starting something new, however, Procare made it very easy as most features were the same or similar.

Cons

I wish there was a better way to print a directory for our families. And I miss being able to print a regular file folder label for children.

Procare Review

I like this product. However, I feel that entering all the child information could be a more streamlined process. When entering a new child, I have to remember to click in each portion of the record to enter all the information. It would be nice to have a wizard tool to bring you through each part seamlessly. There are many ways of reporting information, just not always how I would like to compile it.

Pros

Food Program Module. All in all I am happy with most of Procare's abilities within how it is programmed to be used. There are just lots of ways to make it even better for the end user.

Cons

Reporting options are not as diverse as I would like and I would like to be able to create my own reports based on needed information. There are a couple of modules that we would love to add but they are cost prohibitive for our center because it is so small (licensed for 66). I can't use the menu builder because there is not enough space to view the meals we serve. I have to use another program to do our menu. There is a higher margin of error when entering in a new child because you have to hop all over the place to enter information where it needs to go.

I've used it for 6.5 years and absolutely LOVE it! Wonderful program, no regrets!

Pros

I love Procare's Customer Service! They are so willing to answer questions and help where needed. I appreciate the fact that they are constantly to working to enhance Procare's features which in return benefit us as user.

Cons

The only thing I do not like about Procare is the online waiting list. We have now switched over to MyProcare but there are glitches. They can't put another child on the waiting list if they already have a child enrolled. This makes it hard for expectant mother OR when families can only get one child in at a time. I also don't like how we can't search by DOB. We've had to create personalized questions that allow us to "track" by birth year and it is really hard to do. We need to be able click on an age and have it automatically pull up every child that is that current age. ALSO, once last thing. I HATE that it show children's ages in months. It needs to show it with years and months like on the children's profiles. Stating that a child is 105 months old DOES NOT HELP. :) Other than the waitlist Procare is AMAZING!!!

Excellent phone customer service

Procare has helped us solve our issues with tuition management, and keeping track of immunizations for children and teachers

Pros

If you have the time to check through it all, it offers preschool centers many reports and tracking options that are easily gathered and printed.

Cons

Overwhelming amount of tabs sometimes. Can't find specifically what you are looking for until you dig deep

Procare made us look tech-relavent

The customer care is awesome #1 they have a really accessible online training you can link to right from the screen giving you problems. #2 You can call without shame and they will guide you through.

Pros

I can access my center from any PC (we have the cloud version). It coordinates seamlessly with our credit card POS (we have the Attendance Module with check in/out kiosk). It secures the entrance to our facility (we have the keyless entry system).

Cons

I wish there was a way to give families alerts or messages at check in. Our old paper way was easier to put important information IN THEIR WAY. Also, I wish it would alert us if a check in/out was being attempted and not completed.

V9 to V10 Conversion

We have use Procare for 15 years and love it! We do not have all the modules but most of them. We work within Procare 80% of our day. We have recently converted to V10 and are working often with Support to help us with or little challenges.

Pros

We have found the video's to be awesome! The help feature is the Best! The helpfulness and person care from all the support staff is A+ !!! Love Remote Access by the staff!!!

Cons

It's a challenge learning all the new buttons and new reports but at some point it will become second nature. County ledgers did not transfer correctly and had missing data. Thankfully Support has taken it over to work on to see what is the best and simplest solution for our specific situation.

Procare Software

Overall the software has been able to provide us with a more efficient use of our time

Pros

Procare is very easy to use and has many functions that assist in the overall operations of the child care program that I own and manage. It makes recordkeeping very easy and less time consuming allowing us to devote more of our time to the children and our staff.

Cons

There are some functions regarding signing children in and out, if a parent forgets to sign a child out they are not able to sign them in again the next day, and their child's time card gets all messed up. If there was a way that the system automatically signed the children out (that the parents forgot to) it would make it much easier for them to sign in in the morning. Also school age kids, would be nice if they could sign themselves in and out when coming back from school or leaving for school.

Procare Software

I have nothing but good things to say about Procare Software. While it can be costly, it is well worth the value. The amount of paperwork that I have to do is now cut down by 75% and my life is so much easier than it was before the software.

Pros

Procare is an all-in-one software that makes daycare management so much easier than it ever was before. There is such a variety of tools and reports to use that there is no need for another program. There are different modules to add to make the program completely customizable to what your program needs.

Cons

The program can be tricky to navigate at the beginning, however, the support website and call center are so helpful that I usually have an answer within minutes. There are also webinars online that you can watch to help with learning the program.

Procare Child Care Management system is an Owner/Administrator's "best friend". Excellent and ez.

We have used Procare since 1996 and tried 2 other systems prior to finding out more about Procare through use of their demo. We've upgraded each version which has enhanced services each time. The sales and technical support personnel are very informative, friendly, and accessible. We also use Tuition Express which makes collections a breeze. Additionally, we use the keyless entry system for enhanced security. Procare has kept up with the needs of families and childcare center management by making these additional options.

Pros

Cost effective--not expensive and pays for itself in short time User friendly with lots of tutorials, webinars, and on phone as well as on line support State of the art technology to meet current and future needs Technicians work with teachers, administrators and I/T people as needed with ease and friendliess Fast service, product delivery Attractive software--"eye appeal" to users

Cons

I love everything about this software!

Procare Review

Getting on the Cloud.

Pros

I am writing to let you know the value in [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]!! After months of trying to get our system on the cloud on your end and our IT person as well, I was desperate as I will be traveling and need to work from another state. My daughter in law has cancer and I will be traveling back and forth from Ca. to Montana. I called on Friday and through my tears explained my problem... [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]was amazing!! He alone figured it out!! Not only was he able to get us on the cloud he also installed the software on my laptop and he was kind, considerate, patient, courteous, professional and just amazing!! It took a fair amount of time and he made me feel he would do his best and by golly he did!!! Please recognize him! He should be your employee of the day, month and year!!! I am sure he must already be. Please know with people like [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN] in your company and on your team, you will be winners!! He was very modest stating this is his job.I am here to say he did more than that. Thank you [SENSITIVE CONTENT HIDDEN]! You really helped me!!!

Cons

No Cons at this time.

Childcare Administration Life saver

Procare allows me to "work smart and not hard." I have used this software almost ten years and this company is constantly improving- great product! I have referred several other Daycare Providers to this program and it has been a great benefit to them as well. I must comment that I am especially grateful that I was able to start small and move into more aspects of this software as I grew- there was and is always another "peice" to move into as the business grows.

Pros

Procare has been a great benefit to me as an Administrator of a Small Business. Record keeping is awesome. It is user friendly to the parents and my staff to include: time clock and registering children in and out daily. It has been very helpful to me especially with Tuition Express which allows parents to pay with a credit card, bank draft and more. Options for clients is always a "PLUS". Generating and printing reports is a whiz. I especially being able to complete my own payroll. Great Software!

Cons

I cant think of anything that I dislike about this software at present.

Works ok for our purposes

We have used Procare for many years. The thought of it is great but we find it lacking in MANY areas. The thought of changing software is daunting which is the reason we have stuck with it. We also feel that Tuition Express fees are very outrageous.

Pros

We like the data management aspect of Procare. We also like the thought of having everything in one place.

Cons

The software is time consuming and not extremely user friendly. We are not able to do all of the things we would like to. The software is not ideal from the accounting side. Our accounts prefers other financial software but does tolerate Procare. Balancing bank accounts is VERY time consuming and difficult. The program is not user friendly for parents and does not have a great app. I don’t feel it is all inclusive. Meaning we have to use multiple programs in addition to Procare to manage our school. The Tuition Express processing fees are absolutely exorbitant and seem to increase frequently.

We love it!

It's easy for all of us, although there are many options it is quick and everyone caught on easily. It's been awesome having the accounting pretty much done for me because all the numbers are right there!

Pros

I like how easy it is to use, I like how everything is connected. We have cloud storage so it's so convenient to access from anywhere! It's nice that the employees information is kept in the same place as everything else. There are so many great features that I can't pick a favorite, but I do love being able to see daily numbers ect. The billing is smooth.

Cons

The price. It is so pricey and I know there are other softwares that are cheaper, but I am in love with Procare so the price is something we overlook.

I very much dislike Procare

The old procare was so easy and user friendly. The new version is a nightmare, way too complicated. if you forget your password you can't use one you've previously used, you need a password just to place an email back to them, tech support a nighmare to get a hold of or get a straight answer. If i could switch to another company I would!

Pros

The fingerprinting option for logging in

Cons

Too complicated, hate procare, old version was user friendly, this version you need an IT degreee, too many passwords required (just to send an email asking for tech support quesion!) If you're gonna sell me a product this complicated there should be 24/7 tech support, we should have had a live demo/training session. Look at your form that says tell us a bit more about yourself? Isn't everyone using this product in childcare? You want me to scroll through that list to id my industry?!?!?

How did our business survive without Procare?

The biggest problem solved was everything was done by hand. The previous director entered everything into a ledger. Tuition AND payroll. I came from a center that had been using Procare all along and this center was twice the size of the previous center. I purchased Procare a few months later and life became so much easier. I've now purchased Tuition Express and again, life is good. Over 70% of my families jumped on board. Again saving time by not having to make and prepare so many deposits to the bank.

Pros

Once you learn the system, it's a breeze. However, having customer support a phone call away is necessary. Your customer support staff are awesome. They never talk to me like I should know this by now and they are very friendly! Procare has saved me hours of tedious work when it comes to gathering information for reporting to our board.

Cons

I'd like to have you tweak a few things. For instance, no one has a home phone anymore, so I have to change the designation to cell when I'm entering new families. Also, for the middle initial the old Procare system was an automatic capital letter. Small stuff, but I live for simplification. I would love a customer suggestion box so when I come across these things, I can submit it.

KC Procare review

I have enjoyed using Procare Software. It simplifies check in/check out. It saves me lots of time so I do not have to calculate charges and there are fewer errors.

Pros

Check in/check out is easy to do for each group. It saves me lots of time so I do not have to calculate charges. Parents can see what they owe every time they log in. I can send statements easily.

Cons

The home screen on the Procare checkin does not tell you to touch the box to change from check in to check out and vice versa. Some check out persons who do not use Procare frequently forget this step. We use the fingerprint option and for certain persons the reader sometimes works for those persons and sometimes does not. I would like for families that have withdrawn to be in another font or indicated somehow on the accounts column. I have not used the MyProcare portion of the program because in order to get all the information that is required by the State of Kentucky in printed form would require too many pages printed off per child so I have stuck with my condensed registration form.

Great Product and hopes for the future

Pros

The ability to grab the information from the system that I may need in 1,000 different ways has become a huge help. In addition to the ease of use for our families and management, the family accounting side of our busy has completely come together. We have never had such low balances with understanding of expectations as we have now.

Cons

The biggest challenge for us is future class expectations and tracking. With us being a daycare as well as after-school, we have children that move up in 6 month - 12 month increments depending on their birthdays. So never do we ever move one entire class to another class. There is always a shift. Their is no way in the current system to show a child in the Junior Toddler room that this same child will be in the Senior Toddler room in 3 months.

Procare

Procare is how my business runs! We use it for all payments, sign in and out sheets, time cards for staff, scheduling students even simple things like birthday lists. Procare is the staple in my child care.

Pros

There are tons of things you can do with this software. It is very versatile and has lots of features. The customer support is really really good. I'm sure they realize their software is difficult so it's nice to know I can call and speak to a live person who will guide me through whatever steps to help me with what I'm doing. They are always very polite and helpful.

Cons

This software is rather complicated to use! The software is for child cares and in my experience most child cares are full of people with degrees in child care and psychology! Finding a tech savvy person isn't as easy. I have tried my best to understand and take notes along the way-but I would say this software is NOT user friendly. Plus, there are times when a pop-up window comes up changing a setting and if you choose it you can never change the setting back. I learned that the hard way...

Love it. customer service agent was most helpful this morning

The ability to manage my childcare center as well as my pre-school classes. It really simplifies the record keeping that is required for all state licensed centers and pre-school. You are able to manage the center and bill the parents for weekly tuition.

Pros

Easy to load new students. I like the ability to run more reports in a faster time. I like the break down on printing sign in sheets and roll call sheets. I really like the different choices in statements that you can offer your parents. It is very well priced for the service that you receive. The customer support staff are very helpful and eager to assist you.

Cons

Employee part. I have had new software since July and I still can't put my employees time in like I did with my older version. But no worries I have my old software still working on another computer that I use for employee time sheets. Love Love Love ProCare

Makes everyday and monthly tasks easier

Installation and set-up were easy and well-supported by the company; questions are answered thoroughly and problems are addressed; however, sometimes there is a long hold/wait time when I call customer service; the software is pretty intuitive and has made my everyday and monthly tasks much quicker and easier, saving me time and money; overall I am very happy with Procare and would buy it again, but I hope the company continues to add additional features to make it even better and more complete.

Pros

quicker way to organize and present data; automated billing and no more collecting checks; can group email and text

Cons

still doesn't have some features I want, like parents being able to use the parent portal to upload documents to their accounts or add a sibling to an existing family account

Procare a great program for busy Early Childhood Centers!

Makes my work easier and faster!

Pros

There are several things that I love about this program. 1st is the attendance tracking to see total hours of care for each child and 2nd how I can see how many children are in attendance at any given time. 3rd is the tracking for immunizations is so helpful to make sure my children are up to date. 4th is keeping up with tuition fees and how easy it is to see who owes what.

Cons

Occasionally when I am adding a family it won't let them sign in and I have to redo it. Also in the weekly report section I don't like that if someone is out they are not shown on report at all. I would rather see there name and 0 hours than not even show them on the report.

Extremely Satisfied Customer

Before I had Procare care is was a huge task to keep abreast of all the information needed to effectively run my business. Tracking a record here and another there was too cumbersome. Procare has combine all these different records into one program that's really easy to use. This makes managing my business really easy.

Pros

Procare makes my job easier by organizing child information, tracking attendance, especially helpful for keeping children records such as shots and medical information. I am also pleased that Procare helps my company to track employee attendance and the finger print sign in has been an extremely helpful. Thank you Procare you are my life made easier.

Cons

Should provide follow up training for customers until they feel comfortable enough to be on their own.