Stripe is the payment processor Playground uses to process guardian payments and send payouts directly to your account. Stripe builds technology used by millions of companies — including Amazon, Google, and Zoom — to process hundreds of billions of dollars in payments every year.
🚨 To use the Billing feature on Playground, you'll need to create a Stripe account.
Complete Your Stripe Setup
Before you can set up Billing in your Playground account, you will first need to sign up for Stripe. The steps below will walk you through this entire process. Once Stripe has been set up, we will move on to setting up your billing settings.
🚨 Stripe must verify the identity of the person responsible for the billing account. This is a "Know Your Customer" (KYC) check required by federal regulation for any organization sending funds. Payout deposits will be on hold until verification is complete.
From your admin dashboard, navigate to the Billing tab and click Overview.
Click Get Started in blue.
Enter your center's basic details:
Center name
Admin email
Center address, including City, State, and ZIP code
Click Continue to Stripe once you've filled out this information.
A new tab opens on Stripe's site to continue the process. On the About your business screen, select your Business type. If you haven't filed paperwork to register as a business entity, your business type is likely Individual.
On the Verify your personal details screen, enter:
Your legal name — enter it exactly as it appears in government records, like your passport or tax records
Email address
Date of birth
Home address
Phone number
Last 4 digits of Social Security number — Stripe collects this to verify your identity and satisfy regulatory obligations
Click Continue when finished.
On the Business details screen, tell Stripe how you earn or collect money with Playground:
Business name
Industry — select the option that best matches your services (e.g., Child care services)
Product description — a 2–3 sentence description of your business, including what you offer and how you charge customers
Click Continue when finished.
On the Review and submit screen, confirm everything is correct:
Business type
Professional details — your business information
Public details — customer support information, including your statement descriptor
Personal details — your name, email, date of birth, address, and other information provided
Click Edit next to any section to make changes.
Click Agree and submit to complete the process. This confirms the information provided is complete and correct and that you agree to Stripe's Connected Account Agreement and Acquirer Disclosure.
Once your Stripe account has been fully set up, you should be automatically prompted to set up your billing settings.
Understand Billing Cycles and One-Time Fees
Before you set up your billing, it is very important to understand billing cycles and one-time fees. This is one of the most common points of confusion during setup, so here's a quick breakdown.
Weekly Billing Cycles
Best if your families pay weekly, you run a drop-in or attendance-based program, or you want families to see a smaller per-charge amount. Weekly billing means more transactions — worth noting if most families pay by card, since that means more processing fees.
Payment is for what dates of service? options:
Option | Example |
Current weekdays | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Mon, Jul 27th – Fri, Jul 31st |
Upcoming weekdays | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Mon, Aug 3rd – Fri, Aug 7th |
Current billing cycle | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Tue, Jul 21st – Mon, Jul 27th |
Upcoming billing cycle | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Tue, Jul 28th – Mon, Aug 3rd |
Bimonthly Billing Cycles
Best for centers that charge families every other week.
Option | Example |
Current half month | Pay on the 15th for the 1st - 14th, pay on the 1st for the 15th - end of month |
Upcoming weekdays | Pay on the 15th for the 15th - end of month, pay on the 1st for the 1st - 14th |
Current billing cycle | Pay on the 15th for the 2nd - 15th, pay on the 1st for the 16th - 1st |
Upcoming billing cycle | Pay on the 15th for the 16th - 1st, pay on the 1st for the 2nd - 15th |
Monthly Billing Cycles
Best for fixed tuition that doesn't vary with attendance, and for families who budget on a monthly cycle. It's simpler to reconcile and familiar to most families.
Payment is for what dates of service? options:
Option | Example |
Current calendar month | Pay on Aug 1st for Aug 1st – Aug 31st |
Upcoming calendar month | Pay on Aug 1st for Sep 1st – Sep 30th |
Current billing cycle | Pay on Aug 1st for Jul 2nd – Aug 1st |
Upcoming billing cycle | Pay on Aug 1st for Aug 2nd – Sep 1st |
🚨 Monthly billing raises the 4-week vs. 5-week month question — some months contain a fifth billable week. Decide upfront whether your tuition is a flat rate or scales with actual weeks, and document it in your enrollment paperwork. For a full walkthrough, see Handle 4-Week & 5-Week Months in Monthly Billing.
One-Time Fees
Not every charge follows a recurring schedule. Use a one-time fee — set up separately in Create Billing Plans — for things like:
Registration fees: a flat charge collected at the start of enrollment
Supply fees: materials, activity, or consumable fees billed once per term
Semester-based tuition: programs billing tuition in one or two lump sums per year
State assistance co-pays: the portion of tuition owed by families receiving subsidy funding
💡 The billing frequencies you select in Step 2 only control your recurring tuition charges. One-time fees are billed independently and don't follow your weekly or monthly cycle settings — you'll set their own post date and due date when you create them.
Complete Your Billing Set Up
Step 1: Default Billing & Payments. Configure your default billing schedule and payment options for guardians:
Which billing frequencies do you use? (select all that apply) — Weekly/Biweekly (guardians billed every week or every other week), Bimonthly (billed twice a month), Monthly (billed every month)
What billing frequency do you use most often? — sets your default, though you can still change this for individual students when you set up their billing plan
Who will pay ACH fees? — Guardians pay (Recommended), or your center pays
Who will pay credit card fees? — Guardians pay (Recommended), or your center pays
Only the sections for the frequencies you selected in Step 2 will appear next — if you didn't check Weekly/Biweekly, Step 3 is skipped; if you didn't check Monthly or Bimonthly, Step 4 is skipped.
Step 2: Weekly Billing Cycles. For students on a weekly billing cycle, these settings apply automatically:
When should statements post? — the day of the week charges become visible to guardians
When is payment due? — this is also the date autopay runs
Payment is for what dates of service? — choose one (see table below)
Option | Example |
Current weekdays | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Mon, Jul 27th – Fri, Jul 31st |
Upcoming weekdays | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Mon, Aug 3rd – Fri, Aug 7th |
Current billing cycle | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Tue, Jul 21st – Mon, Jul 27th |
Upcoming billing cycle | Pay on Mon, Jul 27th for Tue, Jul 28th – Mon, Aug 3rd |
A billing cycle preview calendar at the bottom shows your statement post, payment due, and service dates for the upcoming cycle.
Step 3: Monthly Billing Cycles. For students on a monthly billing cycle, these settings apply automatically:
When should statements post? — the day of the month charges become visible to guardians
When is payment due? — this is also the date autopay runs
Payment is for what dates of service? — choose one (see table below)
Option | Example |
Current calendar month | Pay on Aug 1st for Aug 1st – Aug 31st |
Upcoming calendar month | Pay on Aug 1st for Sep 1st – Sep 30th |
Current billing cycle | Pay on Aug 1st for Jul 2nd – Aug 1st |
Upcoming billing cycle | Pay on Aug 1st for Aug 2nd – Sep 1st |
Step 4: Notifications. Choose which billing activity emails you or your staff want to receive:
Payout (Recommended) — receive an email when a payout occurs
Billing period summary (Recommended) — receive a summary at the end of each billing period
Failed payments (Recommended) — receive an email every time a payment fails
Click the email address shown at the top of the page to quickly add it to all three notifications at once. Click Edit next to any notification to change its recipient.
💡 Weekly and Monthly billing cycles set your default recurring tuition schedule — how often families are billed for ongoing enrollment. They're separate from one-time fees, like registration or supply fees, which you set up later with their own due date. See the next section for the difference.