When it comes to running a daycare business from home, it is important to come up with weekly or monthly budget. Keeping track of your revenue vs. expenses is so important. You will want to make sure to come up with a spreadsheet to keep track and hang on to your RECEIPTS! When I do my spreadsheets, I have one spreadsheet for: revenue (income), expenses (utilities, paper products, office supplies), and food expense. You defiantly can do it however you want, but for me it is easier to keep it all separate.

Revenue (Income) Spreadsheet

When I do my spreadsheet for my revenue, I use Google Sheets. I make a tab for each month at the bottom. I make a column for the child’s name, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 (however many weeks are in the month) with the date next to them. Then there is a column for extra things you may charge, late fees, drop in, registration fee, etc. Finally I have a total column to add up each child’s amount for the month and then I do a grand total ROW for the total of all the kids for the month.

This is also a nice way to keep track of when they pay too. I will highlight the cell in green when they pay. That way I know who hasn’t paid and will need a reminder.

Expenses (Office Supplies, Paper Products)

When it comes to writing off your expenses at the end of the year, it is important to track everything. You will want to not only track, but also keep your receipts for further proof. Anything you buy and use for your daycare is an expense and will come out of your budget. If you are going to print pictures to color or activities to do, you’ll want to make sure you keep track of the paper, ink, and printer. You will also want to buy a package of toilet paper, soap for handwashing, paper towels, etc. for your daycare and house. That way it is easier to track and you don’t have to go back and say, “Well my household used 5 rolls of toilet paper and the daycare kids used 4 rolls.”

Food Expense Spreadsheet

The third and final spreadsheet I do each month is for food. This is the one that I have to make sure I am particular with because I have to feed my kids, but the cost of groceries is going up a lot. When you take the time to write it all out, you can visually see where you need to substitute something or cut something out completely. For example, if fresh strawberries are $3.99 a case and the case will only last you for two meals and you can go buy frozen strawberries for $5.99 and use it for 10 meals. You obviously want to buy the frozen bag of strawberries.

Conclusion….

When you keep track of these items, than you can truly come up with a budget of how much you spend each month on the certain categories you budget for. Let me break this down so you can visually see what you’re spending and what you bring home as income.

• Income $4,000 a month ($1,000 a week)
• Expenses:
• Food $400 a month ($100 a week)
• Office Supplies/ Activities/ Paper Products $100 a month
• Toys, furniture, items for the daycare $100 a month
• 5% towards retirement ($200 a month)
• 20% put away for taxes ($800 a month)
• Take home $2,400 a month

Having $2400 a month as an income is actually not bad. You have to remember you are saving not spending childcare for your own children, driving to and from work, and then eating out for breakfast and lunch each day. You can defiantly invest more or less towards your daycare. That is totally up to you. You may not provide meals, so than you do not have to worry about buying groceries. Maybe you just offer milk and snack. A lot of things can be added back into your budget or taken away from your budget. It all just comes down to how important it is to have a spreadsheet of your income vs. your expenses.