--- title: Using ParaPay description: Using ParaPay --- [Skip to content](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/using-parapay#main-content) ![logoiconparachute](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/logoiconparachute.png?width=50&height=42&name=logoiconparachute.png) - [Customer Portal](https://support.kidkare.com/_hcms/mem/login) - [Access KidKare](https://app.kidkare.com/) - [Support & Releases](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/support-releases) - [Contact KidKare Support](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/support-releases/contact-our-support-team) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Customer Portal](https://support.kidkare.com/_hcms/mem/login) - [Access KidKare](https://app.kidkare.com/) - [Support & Releases](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/support-releases) - [Contact KidKare Support](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/support-releases/contact-our-support-team) Hello. How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Parachute for Centers](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers?hsLang=en-us) 2. [Creating & Managing Invoices](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/creating-managing-invoices?hsLang=en-us) # Using ParaPay   Table of Contents ## In This Article ParaPay allows payers to pay their invoices electronically with a credit card, or with ACH. Once ParaPay is set up, payers can also set up auto-pay so invoices are paid automatically. Money is deposited directly into your account, so you do not have to worry about depositing checks or cash. Since payers can see their invoices online, you also no longer need to print invoices. --- ### How It Works ParaPay is Parachute's built-in payment processing. ValPay is the partner that verifies the business and moves the money; the provider/center never leaves Parachute except for the identity check. | ###### 01 — Invoice | ###### 02 — Pay | ###### 03 — Payout | | --- | --- | --- | | **The provider/center creates an invoice** in Parachute and it is emailed to the payer. | **Payers pay online** by credit card or bank (ACH) transfer, one invoice at a time or on automatic payments. | **ValPay pays the provider/center** for what families have paid, and each payment is matched to its invoice automatically. |   **Which way the money moves.** Families pay ValPay; ValPay pays the provider/center, into the bank account they give during verification. The provider/center never sends funds to ValPay, and Parachute never holds their money. Processing fees are not billed separately either — where the provider/center absorbs a fee, ValPay subtracts it before it pays out, so that payout arrives net of fees.   --- ### Before starting Have these ready. The form is submitted in one go and cannot be edited afterwards from Parachute, so it is worth checking the legal details against the provider/center's paperwork first. 1. **A paid Parachute subscription that is active** On a trial, the panel offers "*Activate Subscription*" instead of the onboarding button. If the subscription is set to cancel, reactivate it first. 2. **The Provider or Administrator role** The "*Subscription & ParaPay*" tab only appears for site administrators, providers, and Parachute-only users. 3. **The legal business name, exactly as registered** This has to match the provider/center's tax paperwork, not their everyday trading name. Both are entered. 4. **The bank account payouts should go to** These details are entered on ValPay's verification page, not in Parachute. 5. **An estimate of yearly tuition income** Asked as "Annual Tuition ($)" — a whole dollar figure, no cents. 6. **Access to the contact email inbox Verification instructions arrive from *no-reply@mail.adyen.com*. Check spam if nothing lands.**   --- ### Step-by-step Six steps, start to finish. Steps 1–4 take about ten minutes; steps 5 and 6 are waiting and switching on. 1. ###### Open the ParaPay settings *Settings → Subscription & ParaPay* The ParaPay panel sits on the right-hand side of the tab, next to the subscription details. It opens on How it Works and Get Started Now. ![download-3](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/download-3.png?width=670&height=368&name=download-3.png) 2. ###### Select Begin Onboarding Verification The button sits at the bottom of the panel. Selecting it replaces the panel with the Onboarding Verification form. **Button not showing?** The site is either on a trial subscription (activate it first), the subscription is set to cancel at the next billing date, or onboarding has already been submitted — see What appears after. 3. ###### Fill in the form Three groups of questions: the business, the contact details, and the store address. Every field except Website is required. Full rules for each one are in the [field reference](https://f0c3c2mjsdc.slack-mcps.com/mcp-sandbox-proxy?csp=%7B%22resourceDomains%22%3A%5B%22https%3A%2F%2Funpkg.com%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.jsdelivr.net%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fcdnjs.cloudflare.com%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.tailwindcss.com%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Ffonts.googleapis.com%22%2C%22https%3A%2F%2Ffonts.gstatic.com%22%5D%7D&allow_surface_comments=1#fields) below. ![download-1](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/download-1.png?width=491&height=669&name=download-1.png)![download-2](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/download-2.png?width=558&height=577&name=download-2.png) Start with **Legal Entity Type** — it decides how ValPay verifies the business: | CHOOSE | WHEN | | --- | --- | | Organization | More than one person owns the business. | | Individual | A single person who does not own a business. | | Sole Proprietorship | A single person who is the owner of a business. | Names with symbols. Business and legal names accept letters, numbers, spaces and - ' . & , ( ) only. Symbols such as @ ! # $ % ^ \* are rejected. Drop the symbol rather than substituting a lookalike character. 4. ###### Submit, then finish verification on ValPay Select "*Submit"*. Parachute sends the details to ValPay and opens ValPay's hosted verification page, where the provider/center confirms their identity and enters the bank account for payouts. This page must be completed — until it is, the account stays unverified. An email also arrives from no-reply@mail.adyen.com with the same link and the next steps, so the provider/center can finish later on another device. Submitting is one-way. A site can only be submitted once. If something in the form was wrong, contact KidKare Support — resubmitting the form will not overwrite it. 5. ###### Wait for approval The panel now reads "**ValPay verification is in progress**" with "Your payment features access will be enabled once approved." Approval usually takes about 48 hours. Nothing more is needed from the provider/center unless ValPay emails asking for a document. If the verification page was closed early, the panel keeps a View onboarding page button that leads straight back to it. 6. ###### Turn ParaPay on Once approved, the panel reads "**ParaPay Onboarding Verified!**" and the account settings appear. Select Edit at the top of the Settings page, set the switches and fee options described in Settings after approval, then Save. The next invoice can then be paid online. --- ### Field reference What each field wants and what it will reject. Fields are validated as they are left and again on submit; ValPay checks them a third time, so an error can appear after submitting too. **The business:** | FIELD | REQUIRED | WHAT TO ENTER | | --- | --- | --- | | Legal Entity Type | YES | Organization, Individual, or Sole Proprietorship. | | Business Name/DBA | YES | The trading name — what families know the site as. Letters, numbers, spaces and `- ' . & , ( )`. | | Legal Name Of The Company | YES | The registered name on the tax paperwork. Same character rules as above. | | Annual Tuition ($) | YES | Tuition income expected in a year, as a whole number. No cents, no commas, no `$`. Between 1 and 999,999,999,999. | | Website | NO | Optional. If given, a full URL including `https://`. If the provider/center has no site of their own, their KidKare address works. | **Contact Info — the person ValPay will write to:** | FIELD | REQUIRED | WHAT TO ENTER | | --- | --- | --- | | First Name / Last Name | YES | Letters, spaces, hyphens, apostrophes and periods. No digits, no symbols. | | Email | YES | A mailbox the provider/center checks — verification instructions and any document requests go here. | | Phone Number | YES | 10 digits, US format. The field formats as `555-123-4567` while typing; pasting a number with brackets or spaces works too. | **Store Information — the address the business operates from:** | FIELD | REQUIRED | WHAT TO ENTER | | --- | --- | --- | | Store Name | YES | The site name as it should appear on payments. Letters, numbers, spaces and `- ' . # & , ( )`. | | Street Address | YES | Letters, numbers, spaces and `- ' . # ,`. No `&` and no other symbols. | | City | YES | Letters, spaces, hyphens, apostrophes and periods. | | State/Province | YES | A two-letter US state or territory code, such as `CA` or `NY`. Spelled-out names are rejected. | | Zip Code | YES | Five digits (`12345`) or ZIP+4 (`12345-6789`). | | Business Phone Number | YES | 10 digits. May be the same as the contact number. | | Street Address 2 / 3 | HIDDEN | Not shown on the form today. Put suite and unit numbers on the first line. | **Filled in automatically.** Parachute sends several values that never appear on the form: partner `ParaPay`, industry `6244` (education and child care), country `US`, a one-year initial and renewal term, and the current ValPay terms and conditions document. There is nothing to set for these. ---   ### What appears after The ParaPay panel shows one of three things, depending on where the account has got to. Parachute checks with ValPay each time the tab loads, so refreshing the page is how to check progress. ![Screenshot 2026-09-22 at 8.46.29 AM](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-22%20at%208.46.29%20AM.png?width=670&height=226&name=Screenshot%202026-09-22%20at%208.46.29%20AM.png)  ![download-3](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/download-3.png?width=670&height=368&name=download-3.png) **![download-4](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/download-4.png?width=670&height=325&name=download-4.png)** ![download-Sep-21-2026-10-22-18-8758-PM](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/download-Sep-21-2026-10-22-18-8758-PM.png?width=670&height=323&name=download-Sep-21-2026-10-22-18-8758-PM.png) --- ### Settings after approval Select "*Edit"* at the top of the Settings page to change these, then Save. They can be changed again at any time. | **ParaPay Enabled** | The master switch. Off, and invoices go out without an online payment option. | | --- | --- | | **User Initiated Payments Enabled** | Lets payers start a payment themselves rather than only paying an invoice the provider/center sent. | | **Charge ACH Transaction Fee to** | Who absorbs the fee on bank transfers — set it to the **provider/center** or to the **payer**. | | **Charge Credit Card Transaction Fee to** | The same choice for card payments, set independently of the ACH row. |   ### What these two fees cost These settings decide who absorbs ValPay's processing fee on each payment, and each row is set independently. Set to **Provider** (or **Center**), the fee comes out of the payout and the family is charged exactly what the invoice says. Set to **Payer**, the fee is added to what the family pays and the payout arrives whole. | HOW THE FAMILY PAYS | FEE PER PAYMENT | FEE SET TO PROVIDER/CENTER | FEE SET TO PAYER | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Bank transfer (ACH) | $0.99 flat | Family pays $500.00 Payout $499.01 | Family pays $500.99 Payout $500.00 | | Credit or debit card | $0.99 + 2.95% | Family pays $500.00 Payout $484.26 | Family pays $515.74 Payout $500.00 | Both columns are worked on a $500 invoice, with the card fee calculated on the invoice amount. ![download-Sep-22-2026-03-49-56-5470-PM](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/download-Sep-22-2026-03-49-56-5470-PM.png?width=670&height=324&name=download-Sep-22-2026-03-49-56-5470-PM.png) **Reading the toggles.** Green ON means the feature is live. In this example ParaPay is on but user-initiated payments are off, so families can pay the invoices they receive but cannot start a payment themselves. The fee rows show who currently absorbs each fee — here, the provider/center on both, though either row can be switched to the payer. --- ### Fixing form errors Errors appear in red under the field, and a summary — *"Please correct the following errors:"* — appears at the top of the form when submitting fails. The page scrolls to the first problem. | MESSAGE | WHAT TO DO | | --- | --- | | Business name contains special characters (@, !, #, $, %, ^, \*) that are not allowed | Remove the symbol. Ampersands, commas, periods, hyphens, apostrophes and brackets are fine. | | Annual Tuition ($) must be between $1 and $999,999,999,999 | Enter a whole number with no cents, commas or currency symbol. The field will not accept a decimal point. | | Must be a valid US state code (e.g., CA, NY) | Use the two-letter code, not the state name. Territories such as `PR` and `DC` are accepted. | | Invalid ZIP code. Use 5 digits (12345) or ZIP+4 format (12345-6789). | Drop any trailing space, and use a hyphen rather than a space before the last four digits. | | Phone number must be 10 digits | Enter the area code and number without the country code — `555-123-4567`, not `+1 555 123 4567`. | | must be a valid URL | Include the scheme: `https://example.com`, not `example.com`. | | An error occurred while submitting onboarding information | Something failed on the way to ValPay rather than in the data entered. Try again in a few minutes; if it repeats, contact KidKare Support with the time of the attempt. | **An address error after submitting** usually means ValPay could not match the address to the state or ZIP. Check the three together — city, two-letter state, ZIP — rather than re-checking one field. --- ### Questions that come up ###### The wrong legal name was submitted. Can it be redone? Not from Parachute. Each site can be submitted once, and a second submission is ignored rather than replacing the first. Contact KidKare Support and they will raise the correction with ValPay. ###### How long does approval take, really? About 48 hours in the normal case. It takes longer when ValPay asks for supporting documents, so watch the contact email address entered on the form. ###### Nothing arrived from ValPay. Check spam for `no-reply@mail.adyen.com`. If it is not there, reopen the ParaPay panel — while the account is pending, View onboarding page leads back to the same verification page without the email. ###### Are bank details entered in Parachute? No. Parachute never sees them. Deposit account details are entered on ValPay's verification page in step 4. ###### Does a provider/center with several sites do this once? Once per site. Each site has its own ParaPay account, its own approval, and its own settings. ###### The panel says verified, but payment options are missing on invoices. Check that ParaPay Enabled is switched on and saved. Approval alone does not turn payments on — step 6 does. - [Getting Started with Parachute](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/getting-started-with-parachute?hsLang=en-us) - [Creating & Managing Invoices](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/creating-managing-invoices?hsLang=en-us) - [Accounting Tools](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/accounting-tools?hsLang=en-us#main-content) - [Income](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/accounting-tools?hsLang=en-us#income) - [Expenses](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/accounting-tools?hsLang=en-us#expenses) - [Guardian/Agency Portal](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/guardian-agency-portal?hsLang=en-us) - [Attendance](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/attendance?hsLang=en-us) - [Parent Communication](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/parent-communication?hsLang=en-us) - [Classrooms](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/classrooms?hsLang=en-us) - [Support](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/parachute-centers/support?hsLang=en-us) [![Parachute Logo](https://knowledge.kidkare.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Parachute%20Logo.png?width=200&height=67&name=Parachute%20Logo.png "Parachute Logo")](https://www.kidkare.com/parachute/) Copyright © 2026, KidKare