Childcare & youth programs
Books and taxes for daycare and childcare centers.
Tuition payments, county subsidy checks that lag weeks behind, CACFP meal reimbursements, and payroll for three classrooms of ratio-driven staff. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September made $12,000. The county's subsidy payment for August finally cleared, three weeks late as usual, so I matched it to August instead of double counting it in September.
- Procare tuition batchTuition
- County CCAP paymentSubsidy vouchers
- US Foods deliveryFood and meals
- Lakeshore Learning orderCurriculum and supplies
- Procare payroll runStaff wages
Why your books are different
A daycare center's books go wrong in the same handful of places every time.
A generalist sees deposits and a payroll run. Your center is three classrooms with different ratios, a county subsidy program on its own clock, and a meal program with its own reimbursement rules. When the books do not separate those, you cannot tell which classroom pays for itself.
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1
Subsidy checks land weeks after the fact
The county pays a voucher family's tuition at its own rate, and the deposit can show up five or six weeks after the care happened. Counted as this month's tuition, it makes a normal August look like enrollment dropped and a slow October look strong.
What we doKeeps subsidy deposits in their own line and matches each one back to the month it actually covers, so enrollment reads true. -
2
CACFP meal money hides inside tuition
The federal meal program reimburses you for breakfast, lunch, and snack counts, not enrollment. Folded into tuition, it hides whether the kitchen and food costs are actually breaking even against what the program pays back.
What we doBooks CACFP reimbursements and food costs on their own lines so you can see what the meal program really nets. -
3
One payroll number hides which classroom pays
Infant rooms run a tighter ratio and cost more per child than a pre-k room, but a single payroll line makes every classroom look the same. You end up guessing which room to grow and which to hold flat.
What we doFlags classroom or age-group detail from your schedule when it is available so wages can be read against the room they staff. -
4
Fall enrollment deposits get counted too early
A family who pays a deposit in July to hold a September infant spot did not just hand you September's tuition. Booked as July income, it inflates the summer and understates the month the child actually starts.
What we doHolds enrollment deposits as money collected in advance and counts them as tuition once the child is actually enrolled. -
5
A curriculum order wrecks a month's number
One large Lakeshore Learning order for the whole year of classroom materials can make a single month look like it barely broke even, even though nothing about enrollment changed.
What we doKeeps curriculum and supplies in one steady line and tells you when a stock-up, not a bad month, is the reason it looks thin.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a daycare center.
Set up once for how tuition, subsidy, and meal money come in and where it goes back out. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- TuitionWeekly or monthly private-pay tuition billed through Procare or a similar app.
- Subsidy vouchersCounty or state CCAP payments, kept apart since they arrive on their own schedule.
- CACFP meal reimbursementFederal meal program payments tied to breakfast, lunch, and snack counts.
- Enrollment depositsHeld until the child's start date, then counted as tuition.
- Late pickup feesSmall fees that adjust what a family actually owes that week.
Money out
- Staff wagesLead teachers, assistant teachers, and aides across every classroom.
- Payroll taxes and workers compThe cost of running a ratio-heavy staff on payroll, not contract.
- Food and mealsUS Foods or a similar distributor, tracked against what CACFP pays back.
- Curriculum and suppliesLakeshore Learning orders, art supplies, and classroom materials.
- Facility rent and utilitiesThe building your classrooms operate in.
- Licensing and inspection feesState licensing renewals and fire marshal or health inspections.
- Background checks and certificationsFingerprinting and CPR and First Aid renewal for every staff member.
- Liability and abuse insuranceCoverage required to keep the state license active.
What we watch for you
- Labor share
Staff wages against money in. It is the number that tells you if a tuition increase is overdue.
- Subsidy share
How much of tuition is voucher families versus private pay, since the two arrive on different clocks.
- Meal program net
CACFP reimbursement against food cost. Worth knowing if the kitchen is paying for itself.
- The set-aside
What you will owe in taxes, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things daycare center owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
No, that is the reimbursement rate, not a shortfall on your end. I booked the deposit as subsidy income at the rate the county actually pays.
Send me the reimbursement statement when it lands. I keep it separate from tuition so you can see what the meal program nets.
It stays payroll either way, since infant room staff working set hours under your supervision are employees. I keep the new wages in the same labor line so you can watch it against tuition.
The tax side
The tax side of running a daycare center.
Most of what trips up a center is classification and timing: staff paid the wrong way, a subsidy check landed in the wrong month, or equipment filed as a supply run.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Classroom staff are employeesTeachers and aides working set hours under your supervision to meet a licensed ratio are employees, not contractors, no matter how they are paid. Getting this wrong is the costliest mistake a center can make.
- Equipment and classroom buildoutsPlayground structures, kitchen equipment, and classroom buildouts can usually be written off the year you buy them, up to $2,560,000 under Section 179, with 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA substitute teacher or a specialist not on payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can deduct up to 20 percent of business profit before it is taxed. It comes out right when subsidy, tuition, and meal income are all booked correctly all year.
Deductions childcare and daycare centers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Classroom curriculum and supplies
- Food and kitchen supplies
- Background check and fingerprinting fees
- CPR and First Aid renewal
- Playground equipment
- Liability and abuse insurance
- State licensing and inspection fees
- Enrollment software subscriptions
- Staff continuing education hours
- Toys, books, and classroom furniture
- Vehicle mileage for field trips
- Marketing and lead fees
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
A daycare center's year, kept every month.
Enrollment shifts with the school calendar. Your taxes come on a schedule of their own. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for substitutes and specialists is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the fall enrollment wave changed the number.
- October
Before winter enrollment
A look at equipment worth buying and moves worth making before December, ahead of the winter infant room waitlist.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for childcare and daycare centers. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions daycare center owners ask first.
Can Gus handle both private-pay tuition and subsidy vouchers?
Yes. He keeps subsidy deposits in their own line and matches each one to the month it actually covers, so a normal enrollment month never looks like a drop just because the county paid late.
We run our own kitchen for CACFP. Does that change anything?
Send the reimbursement statements when they arrive. Gus books meal reimbursement and food costs separately from tuition so you can see whether the kitchen is covering itself.
We use Procare for enrollment and billing. Do we have to switch anything?
No. Keep running the center the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Our infant room and pre-k room have very different costs. Can the books show that?
When your schedule shows which staff work which room, Gus flags that detail so wages can be read against the classroom they staff, instead of one flat payroll number.
Do enrollment deposits count as income the day they're paid?
Not right away. Gus holds a deposit as money collected in advance and counts it as tuition once the child actually starts, so summer deposits do not inflate a summer month.
Our books are behind by a few months. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have, even out of order. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most centers know where they stand within a week.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
More in childcare & youth programs
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Baby & toddler classes (music, sensory)
- Babysitting agencies
- Before & after school programs
- Drop-in & hourly childcare
- In-home family daycares
- Overnight summer camps
- Parents' night out programs
- Specialty camps (STEM, arts, sports)
- Summer day camps
- Tutoring-plus-childcare hybrids
- Kids birthday party venues
- Kids gyms & play programs
- Nanny agencies
- Preschools
What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever