Quick Links:
Set Up Your Organization | Add/Update Payment Info | Manage Classes & Paid Care |
Getting Started with Carefully for Small Businesses
Welcome to Carefully for Small Businesses! We are thrilled to partner with you to support families with young children by making your services more accessible and efficient. Whether you’re a family child care provider, offer after-school programs, or organize fun classes and activities, Carefully is here to streamline your operations and connect you with families who need your services.
Our platform makes it easy for families to find affordable, community-based options while giving you more time to focus on what matters most: ensuring children are safe, learning, and having fun.
With Carefully, you can:
Receive and manage booking requests
Notify families who sign up for a waitlist when a spot opens up
Take attendance
Communicate and coordinate with all the families enrolled
Let parents connect with each other to organize pickups, dropoffs, and playdates
Collect payments seamlessly
Getting started is simple! Follow these four easy steps, and you’ll be ready to save time and grow your business.
Step 1: Set Up Personal Profile and Your Business Profile
As a community-based platform, our members want to get to know you through your personal profile that is set up when you join Carefully and get to know your business too. When you set up your personal profile, you can include information about your home-based setting and your personal values that will be important for potential families to know about.
Download Carefully from your phone - copy and paste this link in the web browser on your phone - carefully.page.link/install
Create a login with your preferred option - Google, Apple, Phone, Email (other than google/apple)
Set up your profile - Picture (so your families recognize you), Name & Email, Subscribe to our newsletter option
Add your address - This will be the address of your home-based child care business, so people need to know where you are located
Expand your network - Choose "Friends and Family" and enter the code you were given by Carefully. If you don't have a code, email care@carefullyapp.com
Review our Code of Conduct and select "Let's Go" to view your profile page. You can add more info to help people get to know you
About - Share your experience caring for children
Household info - Share information about the classroom set up that parents will be interested in
Connect your calendar to make sure events and classes are visible
Connect your social profiles so parents can learn more about your and your business
 Download Carefully |  Create a login |  Setup Profile - Name & Photo |  Add your address |
 Expand your Network: "Friends |  Expand your Network - Enter code provided |  Review the code of conduct > |  Add About & Household info to your profile |
Optional: Complete the Trust+ Id verification and safety screening to show a Trust+ badge on your profile
When you set up your organization (eg, your business), you can highlight all programs that you offer and how you set yourself apart from other similar businesses. You will be asked to complete the following information to set up your organization (and don't stress, it can always be updated later as needed):
Add a picture - this image will show up in the search results for families looking for care, so we recommend choosing something that is easy to associate with your business, like your logo.
Enter Business/Organization Name
Add the full URL for your website (for example, Carefully's website is https://www.carefullyapp.com). If you don't have a website, you can link to your social media page or leave it blank.
Enter your License Number (or license-exempt if applicable)
Step 2: Add/Update Payout Information
Carefully securely processes payments through our NACHA Certified partner, helping you avoid excessive fees while keeping costs low for parents and providers. Your temporary deposits are held with an FDIC insured banking partner when needed.
To accept bookings and payments, you will need to have the following information available:
Social Security Number
Bank Routing Number
Account Number
Note: You will have the option to "Skip" this step and enter payout details later if you prefer. However you will need to complete this step before accepting your first booking.
Why do we require this information?
Your SSN is required for compliance with federal regulations. Learn more about our secure payment processing here.
Your banking information is required for us to transfer money to your account when you receive payments from families.
Step 3: Manage Classes & Paid Care
Carefully strives to make it simple yet flexible to set up an offering for your business. We use sessions, care slots and spots to allow you to create the options that work best for your needs. A session can have multiple care slots. Care Slots provide options to allow parents to enroll in a specific schedule. Spots set the availability for slot.
For example:
You want to set up a Fall Session that runs September 1 - December 31.
The Fall Session has 3 Care Slots - Morning, Afternoon, All Day
The Morning Care Slot - has 5 spots available for toddlers ages 2-4 and 1 spot for infants 0-1
Create a session First, we will ask you to define some basic information to set up your session. A session is a specific time block you set up for childcare, where parents have options to enroll their children.
We will ask you to define the following information for a session:
Description: What happens during the session, like playtime, learning, or meals.
Start and End Times: Clearly defined hours (e.g., 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM).
Age Group: The children you’re accepting (e.g., toddlers or school-aged kids).
Availability: How many spots you are offering.
Cost: The fee for parents enrolling their child.
• Dates: When your session will take place (e.g., weekly, one-time events, ongoing care).
• Pricing: Set your rates for care or activities
• Discounts: Add any promotional offers or sibling discounts to attract families.
Add Care Slots
Parents can choose from when signing up their kids for care.
Provide details on the availability of your care or activities:
Total Spots Available: Indicate how many children you can accommodate.
Spots by Age Group: Specify availability for different age groups, if applicable.
Times: Specify start and end times.
Carefully tracks real-time availability, so parents can see open spots without calling you directly. If a session is full, they can join a waitlist and be automatically notified when a slot opens up.
You can also add multiple care slot options, such as:
Morning, afternoon, or all-day sessions
Drop-in care
Weekend programs
Review and Publish
Once your sessions are set up, click Review and confirm that everything looks like you expect then Publish to make them visible to families searching for care. You can also share a direct link with current families so they can access the page directly and sign up without having to search.
Payment Processing Overview
When a parent adds money to their Carefully Card, those funds are securely held in a dedicated bank account and can only be transferred to you when the parent makes a payment (Carefully never has access to these funds). Once you initiate a withdrawal, the money is transferred to your bank account via standard ACH transfer methods. '
Why do you need my full Social Security number? See FAQ
FAQ
What is the difference between a class, a session, a slot ?
Why do you need my full Social Security number?
Although Carefully does not directly hold the funds, we are still required to comply with federal regulations aimed at preventing money laundering. Any organization that sends funds to individuals, businesses, etc., is required to collect and verify information about people, known as “Know Your Customer” (or KYC) checks. To perform these checks, our Payment Provider needs to gather certain information so they can verify your identity. We collect this information initially and use it securely for verification, but we do NOT store this data or use it for reporting purposes..
By joining Carefully for Small Businesses, you’ll save time, simplify bookings, and connect with families looking for trusted, affordable care options. Thank you for letting Carefully support your journey. Together, we’ll make a difference for children and families in your community. Let’s get started! 🎉
Need additional help? Contact us anytime for support at care@carefullyapp.com or message us in the app.