Enrollment Forecast Report: What it is and how to use it

The Enrollment Forecast Report is designed to help ensure your center is running at optimal efficiency. This report will help you monitor important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), helping you reach your center’s goals. The Enrollment Forecast Report will help you keep track of how many Full Time Equivalent children you have at your center, who may be transitioning to a new room in a few months, expected payroll and tuition per classroom, and more. Let’s dive into this report and how to ensure your center is using this feature to its full capacity.

The Enrollment Forecast Report

When generating this report, you must first start with a date. The day you select will encompass the entire week as this report is a forecasting tool. I would recommend selecting the Monday of the week you are looking to evaluate in the “Start Date” box.

This report is broken down by classroom. Let’s discuss what each of these column titles represents:

• Name: Group/Classroom Name
• Max Capacity: Licensed Capacity for that room
• Preferred Capacity: If you have a preferred capacity that is less than your licensed capacity for that classroom, it will be represented here
• Ratio: Staff to Child Ratio
• Age Range: How old the children in that classroom are
• FTE (Current): Full Time Equivalent. This is a count of all children’s enrollment status. A full-time student would be 1 FTE while a half-day student would represent 0.5 FTEs. This is a sum of all children’s enrollment status for the classroom, taking scheduled days into account
• Variance: Preferred Capacity less the FTE (Current) column. This column helps to identify if you are on target for your center’s enrollment goals
• Occupancy Percentage: FTE (Current) divided by the Preferred Capacity for the room. This column shows, in a percentage, how close you are to reaching your enrollment goal for that classroom
• FTE(+1 Month): Based on transitions that have been scheduled in your center, this is what your FTE count will be in one month
• Goal Percentage: FTE (+1 Month) divided by Preferred Capacity. In one month, this column will show you how close you are to achieving your FTE goals
• Recurring Tuition: Sum of all billing plans in a classroom. Remember, when you create a billing plan, you have the option to designate the plan as tuition. Only billing plans with this classification will appear on this report. For example, a monthly meal plan would not appear on this report.
• FTE (+2 Months): Your Full-Time Equivalent count two months from the report Start Date
• FTE (+3 Months): Your Full-Time Equivalent count three months from the report Start Date
• FTE (+4 Months): Your Full-Time Equivalent count four months from the report Start Date
• Loaded Monthly Payroll: Sum of all predicted payroll for teachers in this classroom.
• Payroll Ratio: Loaded Monthly Payroll divided by the Recurring Tuition for that classroom

As you can see, this report pulls together many data points throughout the LineLeader platform to allow administrators to evaluate, plan, and predict for the future. Next, let’s discuss the fields needed to ensure this report renders the correct results.

Step 1: Configure Your Groups

In order to ensure the Enrollment Forecast Report references the correct information, it is crucial to configure your groups. Be sure to enter the following fields for each group:

1. Max Capacity
2. Preferred Capacity
3. Age Group
4. Enrollment Goal (1 month out)
5. Staff to Child Ratio
6. Designate as Classroom: If this check box is not selected, this group will not appear on the report.

If you need a reminder on adding and configuring groups, click here

Step 2: Configure Schedule Types for Children

Next, we need to configure two sections within the Admin settings. First, let’s configure the Schedule Types for children. This information helps identify when children could be in your center, and what the FTE value should be for the associated schedule. To do so:

1. Tap “Admin” on the left-hand menu bar

2. Locate the “Schedule types” section and tap “Configure”

3. Next, tap “Add Schedule Type” to enter in a new time classification

4. Enter in a description and time block for this schedule type. Here are a few examples:

It is important to enter in the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) amount for each schedule type. These numbers typically range from 0-1 with 1 being a full time student.

Please note: For full time or primary care, it is important to select the “All Day” check box rather than entering in a specific time.

You may enter as many schedule types as you need to. Later, we will use this information to help determine if your center can accommodate a drop-in student on any given day.

Step 3: Configure Staff Pay Types

To power payroll ratios and time keeping information, you will need to set your staff member’s pay types. When adding a new pay type, you may choose to enter a standard rate amount or reference the pay rate on a staff member’s profile. Let’s add a pay rate together:

1. Tap “Admin” on the left-hand menu bar

2. Locate the “Staff Pay Types” section and tap “Configure”

3. Enter in your center’s weekly overtime threshold. For example, if staff members are paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours, you would set the Hours Threshold to “40”

4. Tap “Add Custom Pay Type”

5. Enter a name for this pay type in the “Type” box, then enter in a standard pay rate (if applicable). For example, if you offer “Event” pay at $12 per hour regardless of which employee is working the event, you would enter:

6. If the pay rate is specific to the employee, you may select the “Rate Determined on Staff Profile” box. If this checkbox is selected, the system will use the employee’s standard pay rate when calculating payroll information:

Please add as many pay types as your center accounts for. Examples include Sick time, PTO, Unpaid Time Off, etc.

Step 4: Ensure Tuition Plans are Properly Categorized

When forecasting enrollment, it is important to note that LineLeader primarily considers predictable forms of revenue. To ensure your center is not accounting for variable charges, such as meal plans or access to optional services at your center, we will want to double check that our tuition plans are properly categorized within the Billing Settings tab.

1. Tap on “Billing” on the left hand menu

2. Tap on the “Configuration”

3. Ensure all of your tuition plans are categorized correctly. If you notice a tuition plan is missing its “Tuition” category or that a non-tuition plan is incorrectly categorized, tap the “Actions” drop down to edit that plan’s classification. Remember, the goal is to ensure the Tuition category is only applied to tuition items.

Step 5: Entering Enrollment and Withdraw Dates for Children

To help ensure the Enrollment Forecast Report is including the correct children, you will need to enter an Enrollment date for all children. If a child no longer attends your center, you will also want to enter a withdraw date for that student. To add this information:

1. Visit a child’s profile and scroll to the “About Me” section

2. Enter the date the child enrolled at your center in the “Enrollment Date” profile field

3. If the child no longer attends, set a withdraw date. If this student actively attends, you may leave this profile field blank

Note: If you have deactivated a child, you may need to locate their inactive account to set their withdraw date. For a quick refresher on locating deactivated accounts, click here

4. Once you have entered this information, scroll down to the bottom of the “About Me” section to save your entries

Step 6: Configure the child’s schedule

To help manage weekly head-counts and FTE calculations, you may find it helpful to configure each child’s schedule with the new schedule types we established in Step 2. This information will help you assess which children will be present throughout the day. To add or edit a child’s schedule:

1. Visit a child’s profile and select the “Scheduling” tab

2. If the child already has a schedule entered, you may use the three “...” to edit the schedule.

3. Ensure the “Schedule Type”  and “Group” fields have been filled out before tapping “save”

Note:

• If you leave the “Group” field selected as “Default” this schedule will tie to the child’s current default group. For example, if Lincoln was part of the “Infants” group, the “Default” entry will assume he is in the “Infants” group for this schedule. It is most important to select the specific group name when a child is transitioning from one room to another.
• The FTE value will automatically calculate based on the days selected and the FTE value assigned to that schedule type. For example, 5 days will equal 1 FTE for a full time student. If the student only attends 3 days, the system will automatically calculate the FTE value as 0.6.
• If a child has a recurring schedule, ensure all of their schedules include a schedule type.
• If the child is transitioning from one room to another on a specific date, you can enter the “End date” on the current schedule and enroll the child in a new schedule for the new group. A child can be enrolled in as many schedules as needed to account for multiple transitions from room to room or program to program.

Step 7: Ensure the child’s billing plan has the “Include on Enrollment Forecast” date entered

If the Enrollment Forecast Report is a new feature for your center, you may need to configure each child’s billing plan to ensure the proper tuition is calculating for recurring tuition.

1. Visit a child’s profile and tap on the “Billing” tab

2. Under the “Plans” header, ensure the child’s billing plan shows an “Include on Enrollment Forecast” date

3. If you do not see a date entered, simply edit the billing plan and enter the day you would like this child’s billing plan to calculate towards the recurring tuition for their classroom

Note:

• Once Enrollment Forecasting is enabled at your center, you may receive an error if you skip this field when enrolling a child in a tuition billing plan. This is a stopgap to ensure the proper information is filled out when enrolling a child in a billing plan. You will only need to complete this step if you had used LineLeader Billing prior to the release of Enrollment Forecasting.
• Non tuition plans, such as a meal plan, will not require you to set an “Include on Enrollment Forecasting” date as they do not calculate towards recurring tuition.

Step 8: Configuring your Staff Profiles

Just as we added information to our child profiles, we will now add information to your staff profiles to help power the Enrollment Forecast Report!

1. Visit a Staff member’s profile

2. Within the staff member’s “Account” section, ensure the staff member has a “Default Group” saved to their profile. This is the room in which they will spend most of their time.

3.Scroll to the “About Me” section and locate the Hourly Pay Rate and Employee Classification profile fields. Enter in the applicable information:

• Hourly Pay Rate: Enter the hourly wage of the employee. You should enter this information with numeric values only.
• Employee Classification: If the employee is a full-time, salaried employee you should mark them as exempt. All hourly employees should be marked as Non-Exempt.

4. Ensure you save the staff member’s profile after editing their profile fields.

5. From the staff member’s profile, you will also need to complete the “Payroll Forecast” section. Enter in the total hours a teacher is expected to work on any given day. If an employee’s schedule fluctuates, it is recommended to ensure the total number of hours the teacher typically works is represented in the Payroll Forecast section. A full time employee, for example, may be predicted to work 8 hours per day to give them a weekly total of 40 hours. Once you have entered the total weekly hours, tap “Save Payroll Forecast”.

Step 9: Adding a Staff member’s schedule

To help with daily and weekly head-counts, you will need to enter in a schedule for your employees. This process is nearly identical to the process we used to add a child’s schedule into the system.

1. Visit the staff member’s profile and tap on the “Scheduling” tab

2. If the staff member already has a schedule entered, you may use the three “...” to edit the schedule.

3. Ensure the “Schedule Type” field has been filled out before tapping “save”.

Notes:

• If a staff member has a recurring schedule, ensure all of their schedules include a schedule type.
• Remember, staff members may also have more than one schedule. It is quite possible for a staff member to have a “Before Care” schedule and a “Primary Care” schedule. Each of these schedule items can be designated with a schedule type.

Congratulations! You are now ready to run your first Enrollment Forecast Report!

FAQ

How do I record an upcoming transition?

If you know a child is transitioning from one program to another, you can add a transition within the child’s Scheduling tab.

1. Visit the child’s profile and tap on the “Scheduling” tab
2. Under the “Schedule & Transitions” tab, ensure the child’s current schedule has an “end date”
3. Add a new schedule item for the room they are transitioning to.
4. Ensure the start date for this schedule represents the day the child will start in that room and that all applicable fields have been entered.
5. Once you save the child’s new schedule, you will see their progression plan within the “Schedule & Transitions” tab. You may always edit or remove a schedule or transition if things shift in the future!

‍