In order to collect payments from families through brightwheel, you must first add a deposit account that payments will be deposited into, and provide additional school and tax details.

After you've successfully submitted this information and your account has been verified, you'll be able to begin receiving payments through brightwheel. Follow steps 1-3 below to complete this process

🇨🇦 If you are located in Canada, refer to Manage Deposit Account in Canada.

Step 1: Gather the required information

To get started, ensure you have the following information handy:

Deposit account information (this must be a checking account affiliated with a United States bank)
Your school's full address
Your school's EIN (if applicable)
The primary billing administrator's SSN (required by law for all programs)
Additional information may be requested. Learn more here: What information is required to begin accepting payments?

Note: The primary billing administrator must be the individual that taxes are filed under. Often this is the person who manages and is authorized to make decisions about the company's funds (E.g. owner, site manager, staff accountant, etc.). The billing administrator does not need to match the name of the Bank Account owner.

Step 2: Add a deposit account & school/tax details

Now that you've gathered the required information, take the steps below to input the information in brightwheel.

Log in to brightwheel on the web
Select the Billing tab from the purple menu on the left
Choose the Activate Account tab at the top
Click Add information
Continue through the steps to enter business, personal, and deposit account details
When you reach the ‘Review and confirm’ step, ensure all fields are complete and accurate to avoid delays
Click Confirm to submit and wait for a confirmation message to appear

ℹ️ Not ready to accept payments? Disable Accept Online Payments to prevent them. Payers can still add payment methods, and you can enable payments when you're ready.

Step 3: Invite families while your account is being verified

Once you’ve submitted your business details and added a deposit account, it can take up to seven business days for the brightwheel team to verify your account before you can start receiving payments.

In the meantime, we recommend you invite families to add payment methods so they're ready to make payments and you determine the payment methods and settings that best fit the needs of the program.

Once the verification process is complete, families can begin paying. You’ll receive an email notification or you can visit your Billing Settings for updates.

Note: Sometimes the payment processor, Stripe, will request additional details to verify your identity. If this is the case, the account admin will receive an email with instructions. Responding to these requests in a timely manner is vital to getting your program up and running on brightwheel billing as quickly as possible. For assistance, please contact verify@mybrightwheel.com.

FAQs

What information is required to being accepting payments?

In addition to listing checking account information, you may be asked to enter the information below. Your business type will determine the required information and other information not listed may also be requested.

Personal information (DOB, address, etc.)	This will be the legal name, DOB, address, phone number for the primary Billing Administrator.
Type of business	You'll select from the following options: Individual: This option is for programs that do not have an EIN. Company: This option is for any programs that have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued by the IRS. Nonprofit organization If you have not filed paperwork to register as a business entity, then your business type is likely to be Individual. Not sure which option to select? Refer to this support article.
Business structure	This is required if your business is classified as a Company. If you are unsure of your business structure, please refer to the documents you filed to register your business, or consult with your lawyer or tax professional.
Employer Identification Number (EIN)	This is requested if your business is classified as a Company. In order for our payment processor to verify the center as a business entity, the Legal Business Name and Employee Identification Number (EIN) are required. Be sure these match exactly with the IRS records.
Social Security Number (SSN)	The SSN for the primary billing administrator is required by law for all programs. The billing administrator must be the individual that taxes are filed under.
Additional business owners	If your business is classified as a Company, you will be required to add the legal name and SSN for any individuals who own 25% or more of your business. These individuals are also known as beneficial owners. Our payment processor is required to collect this information for anyone with significant ownership of your business. Learn more about Stripe’s requirements here.

Why do I have to enter my personal information and social security number?

Some fields are required under "Know Your Customer" laws under the USA Patriot Act to prevent fraud. For more information, visit brightwheel Security FAQs for more information.

What should I do if it is taking longer than 7 business days to verify my account details?

There are times when the payment processor will request additional information about the deposit account and/or the billing administrator for security purposes.

In these cases, brightwheel's Payment Operations team will reach out to the account administrator via email to request additional information. Please check your email for any communication sent by the brightwheel team or, email support@mybrightwheel.com for more information.

In the meantime, you can configure your payment settings, set up billing plans, and families can add payment methods to prepare for their first invoice!

Why did my deposit fail?

If funds failed to deposit into your account, an automated email is sent to the admin noting why the deposit failed. There are a few common reasons for failed deposits:

The deposit account information was entered incorrectly. To resolve, verify the correct information under Billing > Settings > Sign in to see details. You'll view the deposit account under 'Payout details'.
There are insufficient funds when a negative deposit is attempted
The withdrawal is not authorized by the bank or account holder when a negative deposit is attempted

To resolve this issue, please follow the instructions in the automated email. Once it is resolved, or if you are still experiencing issues, please contact verify@mybrightwheel.com.

Please note that in most cases, funds are not automatically redeposited. It's important to contact brightwheel directly to inform them of the issue so they can take the necessary steps to reactivate your deposits.

Why did I get locked out?

If you enter your EIN and Legal name combination incorrectly 3 times,

the IRS blocks your ability to enter the information for 24 hours, or

sometimes longer if you have attempted to enter it too many times. This is for your safety to prevent fraud.

Check back in a day and you should be able to proceed with the correct information. If you still receive an error message, contact verify@mybrightwheel.com and we will help.