Teachers have more quality time to write lessons, thanks to brightwheel
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How brightwheel saved a program $175k over 5 years
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At Cultivate Childcare, co-owner Bri McCarty and her team believe in nurturing independent thinkers through playful, nature-based learning. She didn’t open her center to chase invoices and do reactive admin work — she wanted her teachers focused on play, not paperwork. From day one in 2020, she knew billing shouldn’t get in the way of that mission.
With brightwheel Billing, she found exactly what she was looking for — a secure, automated, reliable platform that runs seamlessly in the background. It frees her to focus on what truly matters: deepening outdoor discovery, supporting her teachers, and providing predictable stability for families.
From Hours to Minutes: Automating the Billing Process
Before brightwheel, Bri watched other centers spend up to four hours a week managing invoices, deposits, and manual payment tracking. Now, billing takes her zero to five minutes a week.
Every Monday, tuition payments are deposited automatically, ensuring consistent cash flow without lifting a finger. Even better, brightwheel fronts deposits, allowing Bri to access funds as early as the next business day—even while family payments are still processing to ensure you get your money as soon as possible.
With brightwheel, they prepay ahead of time… I still get the money from brightwheel on Monday… That’s a huge thing for us, knowing that money is in our account already.
Billing reports give Bri clear visibility into her finances and forecast what revenue will be incoming in a given period. When it’s time to adjust tuition, she can instantly see where rates need to be to stay sustainable without overburdening families. No spreadsheets. No guesswork.
Payroll Made Simple
Brightwheel’s integrated Gusto payroll system lets Bri manage staff time and pay seamlessly. She can review and edit timecards directly in brightwheel—catching errors before they become expensive mistakes—and get automatic reminders to send payroll.
By being able to go in and edit all of our timecards ahead of time on brightwheel, instead of sending them to an accountant who might not know that one of my staff shouldn’t have 95 hours and should be more like 9.5. I’m able to stop all of those big expenses that aren’t supposed to be there.
With the time tracking system, Bri can also monitor staffing levels and ensure they’re not overstaffing, resulting in increased costs—improving both efficiency and accuracy.
Secure, Automatic, and Reliable
Bri’s background in banking made financial security a top priority when selecting a platform. With brightwheel’s PCI Level 1 compliant system, she no longer carries the stress of handling sensitive banking data herself.
I don’t want to be responsible for other people’s financial security — and brightwheel takes that worry off my plate completely.
Every family at Cultivate Childcare is on autopay—no late fees, no reminders, and no missed payments. It’s not just automation; it’s trust and predictability. Families do not have to worry about human error when making payments, and they know everything is taken care of when it comes to tuition.
$175,000 Saved — and Counting
By automating billing, payroll, and reporting, Brightwheel has saved Cultivate Childcare the equivalent of three employees’ worth of work over five years—about $175,000.
Brightwheel is essentially my personal assistant. I don’t have to worry about billing — or hiring three extra employees.
That time and money saved now go directly back into what matters most: supporting teachers and nurturing children.
Ready to save time and money with brightwheel Billing? Discover how brightwheel Billing can help your program grow stress-free at https://mybrightwheel.com/features/billing/
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