Centre management for South African preschools
Know who’s paid, who owes, and what still needs doing.
Crechely puts fees, attendance, applications and children’s records in one place, so you stop digging through books, spreadsheets and messages to answer a question about your own school.
No card required · Full access for 30 days · Cancel any time
- Built for crèches, not big schools
- Works on the phone you have
- Priced in rand
Accounting
Good morning. Fees, payments and reminders for School Demo.
Outstanding
R 12,400.00
Tap to see by class
Paid this month
R 18,250.00
Tap to see by class
Accounts due
12
Tap to see who owes
Children
46
Active children
- Send payment reminders12
- Record the Mokoena payment
- Review 2 applications
An example of a centre’s day in Crechely, shown with sample data — not a real school’s.
Built for early-years centres, not primary and high schools
Preschools & nurseries
Stop being the only person who knows where everything is. Your team can see who's enrolled, who's here today and who's paid, without asking you.
Crèches & daycares
Built for how a crèche actually runs: parents who pay cash, EFT or card on different days, and teachers who need the register, not the books.
Small private schools
Applications, class lists, registers, trips and statements in one place, with records you're comfortable showing a parent, an inspector or your accountant.
The problem
You don’t need more software. You need to stop hunting for answers.
“Who has actually paid?”
One screen shows every family's balance, per child and per class, updated the moment you record a payment. No cross-checking a book against the bank app.
“Did anyone remind them?”
Crechely knows who is behind and who was last reminded, so nobody gets chased twice and nobody gets forgotten.
“Where is that form?”
Birth certificates, clinic cards and parent IDs sit on the child's profile, with a running list of whatever is still missing.
The money moment
The fee book, replaced.
Monthly fees are created for every child automatically. Record a payment and the family’s balance works itself out — oldest amount owing first, so the number is always one you can defend to a parent.
- See who owes, right now
- Outstanding balances per child and per class, always current.
- Statements without typing
- A clean PDF for any family, generated from their record in one click.
- Reminders that go out on their own
- Email every family who is behind, each with their own statement attached — or pick the days of the month and let it run.
Payment reminders
Every child with an outstanding balance. Email everyone at once, turn on automatic reminders, or send one at a time.
Send all reminders by email
3 parents with an email owe R 2,220.00 in total.
Shown with sample families — not a real school’s data.
A statement a parent can’t argue with
One click turns a family’s record into a PDF: every charge, what was paid and when, and what’s still owing, oldest first, with your banking details at the top. Send it on its own, or let it go out attached to a reminder.
School Demo
Bank: Sample Bank · Account holder: School Demo · Account no: 000 000 0000 · Branch code: 000000
Statement of account — 2026
Lerato Mokoena
Baby Bees · Parent/guardian: Thandi Mokoena
| Charge | Due | Paid | Paid on | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoo trip | R120.00 | R120.00 | 3 Feb 2026 | PAID |
| Jul Fees | R1050.00 | R1050.00 | 3 Jul 2026 | PAID |
| Aug Fees | R1050.00 | R1050.00 | 4 Aug 2026 | PAID |
| Sep Fees | R1050.00 | R1050.00 | 2 Sep 2026 | PAID |
| Oct Fees | R1050.00 | R0.00 | — | OUTSTANDING |
Total charged: R4320.00
Total paid: R3270.00
Outstanding: R1050.00
A Crechely statement, redrawn with the same sample family — not a real school’s data.
It runs the rest of the centre too
Registers in seconds
Teachers mark attendance for their own class on a phone. You see who's absent today at a glance, and can notify their parent from the same screen.
Real Crechely dashboard, shown with a demo school’s data — not a real school’s.
Documents, tracked automatically
Crechely keeps a list of what's still missing for every child — a birth certificate, a clinic card, a parent's ID — and parents can upload it straight from their phone.
Real Crechely dashboard, shown with a demo school’s data — not a real school’s.
Crechely vs the old way
| Job | Crechely | The old way |
|---|---|---|
| Applications | Parents apply online; you review and acceptPaper forms, then retyping | Paper forms, then retyping |
| Child records | Guardians, contacts, forms and missing details togetherFiles spread across folders | Files spread across folders |
| Attendance | Teachers mark their own class on a phoneA paper register per class | A paper register per class |
| Fees | Cash, EFT and card payments recorded as they come inA book, or a spreadsheet | A book, or a spreadsheet |
| Statements | Generated as a PDF in one clickTyped by hand, one by one | Typed by hand, one by one |
| Reminders | Sent automatically, or in one clickRemembered by whoever is free | Remembered by whoever is free |
| Permissions | Set person by personEveryone sees everything, or nothing | Everyone sees everything, or nothing |
Everything your centre runs on
One plan. Everything below, from day one. No add-ons to unlock later.
Admissions & enrolment
- Take applications online
- Share one link. Parents fill in the application on their phone, and you review it and accept the child in a few clicks, with no forms to retype.
- A complete profile for every child
- Every guardian and their contact details in one place, with printable forms (like a medical & allergy form) filled in from the profile. ID numbers stay hidden until you choose to show them, and Crechely flags any child whose profile is missing core details.
- Bring your current list across
- Import your children from an Excel or CSV file instead of typing them in one by one.
The school day
- Registers in seconds
- Teachers take attendance for their class on a phone, and you see who's absent today at a glance.
- Classes, timetables and a to-do list
- Each class with its teacher and age group, a weekly timetable, and a to-do list for everything that still needs doing.
- Forms and parent groups
- Online forms for parents and blank forms to print. There's also a checklist of which parents you've added to each class's WhatsApp group. Crechely doesn't connect to WhatsApp; it just keeps track for you.
Fees & payments
- Fees that bill themselves
- Monthly fees are created automatically for every child. Add a uniform, trip or event charge once and the right families are billed.
- Know who's paid and who owes
- Record cash, EFT and card payments as they come in. Crechely puts each payment against the oldest amount owing first, so every family's balance is always right.
- Statements and reminders
- Send a clean PDF statement a parent (or your accountant) can trust, and email reminders to families who are behind.
Your team & your records
- Everyone sees only what they need
- A teacher sees only their own class. Your bookkeeper sees the money. Your receptionist can add children. You decide, person by person.
- Your records are yours
- Download everything Crechely holds for your school as one password-protected ZIP file, any time you like.
- Works on the phone you already have
- It runs in your phone's browser, with nothing to install from an app store. It's built to work on a mid-range Android phone on mobile data.
To be clear: Crechely records cash, EFT and card payments your school has already received. It doesn’t collect money from parents itself. The reminders it sends go out by email only — it can write a WhatsApp reminder and open it in your own WhatsApp, but it never sends WhatsApp messages on your behalf.
Built from inside the industry
Dylan Maps
Founder, Crechely · Bela-Bela, South Africa
What made the job hardest wasn’t the kids — it was arguing with parents over fees because there was no proper system tracking who owed what.
support@crechely.co.zaWho’s behind Crechely
I grew up in Bela-Bela, where my parents started a crèche back in 2015. I’ve been working in this industry ever since — 6 years part-time, then 4 years full-time after school, so I’ve seen the day-to-day of running one up close, not from the outside. I built Crechely because most software gets built for primary and high schools, or by developers who’ve never actually worked in this industry. That kind of dispute over fees can cost you a friendship, not just a payment. Crechely is my attempt to fix that.
Pricing
One plan. Everything included.
One paying family a month covers your whole school.
Founding price
R299/ month
Locked in for as long as your school stays subscribed. 10 of 10 places still open.
- Centre management
- Fees & statements
- Attendance & registers
- Applications & child records
- Staff permissions
Monthly
R499/ month
Pay monthly. Cancel any time. No contract.
- Centre management
- Fees & statements
- Attendance & registers
- Applications & child records
- Staff permissions
Yearly
R4,990/ year
Saves R998 against paying monthly — exactly 2 months free, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Centre management
- Fees & statements
- Attendance & registers
- Applications & child records
- Staff permissions
No card is needed for the 30-day trial. The point of the trial is to run Crechely with your own families before you pay for anything.
Before you sign up
Can I bring my current list of children across?
Yes. Children import from an Excel or CSV file, so a spreadsheet you already keep doesn't need retyping. Past payments are entered by hand, and so is anything on paper — there's no scanning yet.
Do parents pay through Crechely?
No. Crechely records the cash, EFT or card payment your school has already received. It doesn't collect money from parents itself.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. It runs in your phone's browser with nothing to install, and it's built to be usable on a mid-range Android phone on mobile data.
What happens on day 31, if I haven't paid?
Nothing is deleted. Your account moves to read-only — you can still see and export everything, but can't add new payments or send reminders until you subscribe.
Can I get my data out before I leave?
Yes. From Settings → Backup you can download everything Crechely holds for your school as one password-protected ZIP file, any time. You're never locked in.
Something else on your mind? WhatsApp us and we’ll show you around.
The next step
Stop wondering who owes. See it for yourself.
Set up your classes, bring your children across from the spreadsheet you already keep, and watch the first month’s fees create themselves. 30 days, every feature, no card.