---
title: "Your first week with NestliCare"
description: "A setup checklist that takes a new daycare from signup to a fully running center."
type: setup
updated: 2026-10-12
canonical_url: https://help.nestlicare.com/getting-started/your-first-week
roles: ["center_admin", "super_admin"]
platforms: [web]
---
Take these steps at your own pace. The checklist on your dashboard tracks the key ones: add your first family, invite the parent, then turn on online payments. Request online payments early, since setup takes a business day or two. Each step links to a detailed article.

<VideoEmbed
  src="first-week-explained"
  title="Your first week, explained: families, rooms, staff and billing, then a normal day (narrated, 5 minutes)"
  captions={false}
/>

Prefer short clips? Each step below also has a narrated video, about a minute each:

- [Find your way around](/getting-started/find-your-way-around)
- [Add your first family and invite the parent](/owners/families/add-a-family-manually)
- [Add a teacher and get them clocking in](/getting-started/invite-your-team)
- [Set up your rooms](/owners/centers/add-a-room)
- [Set your opening hours](/owners/centers/edit-center-details)
- [Check children in and out](/owners/settings/configure-check-in-methods)
- [Set up tuition and automatic invoices](/owners/billing/create-a-billing-plan)
- [Turn on online payments](/owners/billing/enable-online-payments)

## 1. Get your families in

1. **Your account is ready.** Signing up created your organization, your center (with the address you entered), and your first room (**Room 1**, with your capacity set). You land straight on your dashboard. Its checklist follows the same order as this page.
2. **Confirm the basics.** Check your daycare's name and time zone under **Settings → General**. Each center also has its own time zone, which check-ins and schedules use.
3. **Bring your data, or add your first family.**
   - **Moving from another system or paper?** Don't retype your roster. Go to **Settings → Data Migration** and upload what you have. Set it up yourself with NestliAI, or send the files to our team. Free either way. See [Move your data over](/getting-started/migrate-your-data).
   - **Starting fresh?** Go to **Families & Children → Families** and click **Add Family**. One form takes the children (name, date of birth, room, days they attend, optional tuition plan) and the parents. See [Add your first children](/getting-started/add-your-first-children).
4. **Invite the parents.** Adding a parent sends nothing. After **Add family**, click **Send invite** on the **Family created** box, or click **Later** and use **Invite** on the family card when you're ready. You can also send every invite at once with **Send app invites** on the Families page.

Allergies and emergency contacts don't go in the Add Family form. Add them later from each child's profile, under **Details**.

## 2. Shape your rooms

1. **Make Room 1 yours.** Go to **Organization → Rooms**, rename the auto-created Room 1 to what you actually call it (Sunflowers, Toddlers, Preschool), and check its capacity.
2. **Add your other rooms.** If children are grouped into more than one room, add the rest. Capacity here feeds your ratio reports later.
3. **Multi-site only: add centers.** Most daycares have exactly one center and it already exists. If you run more than one location, add the others under **Organization → Centers**.

## 3. Add your staff

1. **Add teachers and admins.** Go to **Staff & Time → Staff → Add Staff**. New staff show **Not invited** until you click **Send invite** on their card. Then they get an email and can install the app.
2. **Set their home room.** It's the room their app opens on when they aren't on the schedule. They can tap over to any other room at your center.
3. **Post the clock-in QR code.** New daycares require staff to scan a QR code to clock in. Print it from **Check-in code** in the sidebar, or turn the requirement off.

See [Invite your team](/getting-started/invite-your-team) for the full walkthrough.

## 4. Turn on billing

1. **Request online payments.** They aren't self-serve. Go to **Invoices & Finances → Finances** and click **Request payments setup**. We set up your account by hand, usually within 1–2 business days. Then you finish identity and bank setup on the same page and choose who pays the convenience fee.
2. **Create your billing plans.** Go to **Invoices & Finances → Billing** and click **Create Plan**. A plan defines how much you charge and how often. Examples: "Full-time toddler, $1,200/month", "Drop-in, $60/day".
3. **Give each child a plan.** Pick it when you add the family, or set the **Billing plan** in the child's profile under **Details**.
4. **Let invoices run themselves.** Turn on **Auto-Invoice Generation** so every family is billed on their plan's schedule.

Invoice emails don't carry a pay link. Parents pay in the app, so make sure they're invited. See [Set up billing](/getting-started/set-up-billing) for the full walkthrough.

## 5. Run a normal day

1. In the morning, **check children in**. Teachers use the app's check-in screen, or families check in at the kiosk.
2. Throughout the day, **post activities**: meals, naps, diaper changes, photos.
3. At pickup, **check children out**.

You're live. 🎉

## Optional polish

- **Add your logo to your enrollment page.** Go to **Admissions & CRM → Enroll Page → Hosted Page → Branding**, click **Upload logo**, then **Save Hosted Page**. It shows on your public enrollment page once that page is turned on.

<Callout kind="tip" title="Need help?">
Stuck anywhere in this track? Message us from <strong>Messages → NestliCare Support</strong> or email support@nestlicare.com. Setup help is free.
</Callout>