Free template
Income and expense tracker template
A month-by-month record of what came in and what went out, in the categories a childcare program actually spends money on.
- Tuition received per family per month, so a missed payment is visible in the column
- Expense categories built for childcare: food, supplies, toys, training, insurance
- A mileage and hours line, because home programs need both at tax time
- An annual summary page that totals the twelve months
PDF, monthly sheet plus annual summary, letter size. Print twelve and keep them in one binder.
Get the template
Tell us where to send it and the file is yours. We send the template and the occasional new one, nothing else.
Categories that match how a program spends
Tuition received
One row per family, one column per week, so unpaid weeks stand out without a reconciliation.
Food and kitchen
Groceries and kitchen supplies kept separate, since food program reporting usually wants food alone.
Supplies and materials
Diapers, wipes, paper goods, cleaning products, art materials. The category that quietly grows.
Training and licensing
Course fees, CPR renewal, licensing fees, background checks, and association dues.
Home and utilities
For home programs, the shared-use lines a tax preparer will ask you to break out.
Annual summary
Twelve monthly totals in one place, which is the page you hand your preparer instead of a shoebox.
Bookkeeping that takes ten minutes a week
Nobody runs a childcare program because they enjoy bookkeeping. The goal is a habit small enough that it survives a busy month.
Pick one time a week. Friday after closing, receipts in hand. Ten minutes weekly beats a lost weekend in April.
Keep the receipts with the sheet. An envelope stapled to each month. A number without a receipt is a guess.
Separate the accounts. One bank account for the program, even a home program. It makes every other step easier.
Childcare bookkeeping, answered
Is this enough for taxes?
It is a clean record to hand a preparer, not tax advice. Home-based programs have specific deduction rules, so work with someone who knows childcare in your state.
What can an in-home program deduct?
That depends on rules we are not qualified to interpret for you, and they turn on how your space and hours are used. Track food, supplies, hours, and space use, then ask a tax professional what applies.
Paper or spreadsheet?
Whichever you will actually keep up with. Paper by the door beats a spreadsheet you open twice a year.
How long should we keep records?
Ask your tax preparer for the retention period that applies to you, and keep the annual summaries longer than you think you need to.
Tuition records that reconcile themselves
Invoices, payments, and outstanding balances stay current in the app, so the income half of this sheet is already done and exportable.