From chaos to simplicity with Lillio billing at Muddy Feet Early Learning

The Challenge

Taking over a centers age old billing and payments system

"Billing is not my strength and when I first opened our accounting software I thought I was having a panic attack. When I learned about Lillio billing I thought – okay, I can handle this"

- Amanda Shroyer, Administrator

Amanda Shroyer is the center administrator for Muddy Feet Early Learning Centre in Markle, Indiana, and has been a Lillio customer for almost 6 years. Amanda started at the center as a temporary educator and has worked her way up to center administrator over the years. As exciting and rewarding as Amanda’s career journey has been, there was one part of leaving the classroom and entering the office that was really intimidating for her – taking ownership of invoicing parents and collecting payments. 

For as long as Amanda could remember their center had been using the same billing system. They documented all their invoices in QuickBooks, collected cash or checks from parents, and then manually deposited the payments at the bank. When Amanda first opened their QuickBooks account, there were years of information to try and understand and it felt inundating to try and insert herself into the system. 

There would be screaming and tears with me trying to learn what was going on in Quickbooks.”

- Amanda

Amanda wanted to save valuable time that was being spent collecting payments from parents and then taking them to the bank, on being more efficient and present at her center. In the first three years of her new role, Amanda still did not feel comfortable handling all the invoices and payments on her own, and was relying on support from the previous director. Knowing this was not a sustainable solution, Amanda looked for a way to make her life easier and improve the payment experience for her parents. 

The Solution

My first reaction when I opened Lillio billing was that it was so simple, so clean, everything was just so obvious.”

- Amanda

One of the main reasons Amanda decided to implement Lillio billing was to save time and make the accounting part of her role as easy as possible. Previous to Lillio billing, the past administrator would spend roughly 5 hours a week organizing the invoices, collecting cash and cheque payments from the parents, and going to the bank. 

Invoicing is not my strong suit, and I was so excited about how straightforward and simple Lillio billing looked. I knew immediately with Lillio billing I would be able to take over billing and payments all on my own, and no longer rely on support from our previous administrator.“

- Amanda

To make this transition to Lillio as seamless as possible, Amanda did two things. She took the process step-by-step and only took on one change at a time. Amanda also worked closely with a dedicated Lillio billing specialist who helped make sure Amanda knew how to use Lillio billing and set her up for success.

I just took it step-by-step and over time I built my own routine. Working with Mikaila from the Lillio billing team was so helpful. I would say by the 3rd week I felt like I had figured it all out, I had found my rhythm, and I knew I had found a way to solve my problems.

- Amanda

At Lillio, every new billing and payments customer will be assigned a dedicated billing specialist who will help support you during the transition and assure you and your families are set up for success. For Amanda, this helped her feel more secure and supported during their transition to Lillio. 

Whenever I had a question or was worried I made a mistake, I knew I could reach out to Mikaila for support.

- Amanda

The Result

I feel like I have this new power now when it comes to handling billing and payments, and I feel confident I can handle any curveball thrown my way.

- Amanda

After just 3 weeks Amanda had become an expert with Lillio billing and felt like she can handle any and all billing issues that may arise.

I had one family recently who needed tuition adjustments, and they pay monthly, and their tuition also dropped mid-month and I realized I should have caught it earlier than I did. So I went into Lillio, I figured out the discount that was needed, applied the credit and it was no problem at all. I felt so cool!”

- Amanda

Not only did Amanda find this new superpower, but she also took the center’s time spent on billing down from 5 hours a week to just 30 – 45 minutes with Lillio billing. With most of her parents on auto-pay in Lillio, everything happens automatically and she will now just go in once a week to make sure everything is looking good. As all early childhood professionals know, time is so valuable, and extra time is almost unheard of. With 4.5 hours given back to Amanda each week, she has been able to prioritize her time on what matters most at their center. Not only has Amanda been given precious time back in her week, but she has also found a more flexible working schedule.

I feel like I can leave, and still feel secure that I can access and check in on the ongoing communication from wherever I am

- Amanda

Within just a few weeks Amanda went from feelings of panic and overwhelm opening up QuickBooks, to feelings of ease and capability using Lillio billing.