8
Family Child Care Record-Keeping Guide
Fees for family child care–related services (for example, conducting a workshop for other •
child care providers)
Grants from state or local organizations for the purchase of equipment, home improve-•
ments, or other business expenses (even if the organization gives you the equipment
directly)
Your major source of income will probably be payments from parents for the care of their
children. Since you may have some parents who pay hourly, some who pay based on a part-
time daily rate, and others who pay based on a full-time flat rate, it is imperative that you
keep accurate attendance and payment records for each child. The parents will also need this
information for their tax records.
Tracking Attendance and Payments
There isn’t one right way to track attendance and payments. However, for each payment you
should always record the following:
the name of the child(ren) •
the date of each payment•
the period of time covered by each payment•
the amount paid and the check number (if paid by check) or the receipt number (if paid •
with cash)
One way to do this would be to set up a notebook so that you can check off the children’s
attendance and record the payments that you receive for those days in the same place. Here’s
an example:
January
4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
Louisa X X X X X paid $175 on the 4th √ # 4286
Terri X X X X X paid $175 on the 4th √ # 6912
Michael X X paid $75 on the 4th cash receipt #1
You might also consider using the record-keeping system provided in The Redleaf Calendar-
Keeper (see next page), which was designed specifically for family child care providers.
Whether you use a notebook or The Redleaf Calendar-Keeper, you should keep a monthly
total of all your income, as well as a year-to-date total. (Keeping a running year-to-date total
will help you avoid the errors that may be caused by adding up long columns of figures.) To
calculate your total monthly income, add the total amounts that were paid by all the parents
each month, as well as any other child care income that you may have received, as shown in
the following example:
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