Bookkeeping for daycares, preschools, and childcare centers
CCMS subsidy reconciliation, CACFP food reimbursement tracking, staff payroll classification, and enrollment-based revenue visibility — bookkeeping built for how childcare centers actually operate.
We work with daycare owners and childcare directors on the bookkeeping complexities most general firms have never touched: state subsidy reconciliation, CACFP food program tracking, staff classification across multiple roles, and the enrollment-based revenue model that drives childcare businesses.
QuickBooks Online · Gusto · Ramp — professional liability insured — month-to-month, 30-day notice
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Childcare centers run on a revenue model most bookkeepers have never seen. State subsidies. USDA food reimbursements. Provider certificate income. Enrollment-driven capacity. Staff classifications with different compliance requirements. We handle every one.
What changes with TurnkeyCFO
Every service below is built for how childcare businesses actually operate — multiple revenue streams, state subsidy compliance, and a staff structure that most payroll setups get wrong.
Full monthly close for your childcare center — accurate categorization of tuition income, subsidy payments, food reimbursements, payroll, supplies, and facility costs. Monthly close package with P&L, balance sheet, and written commentary ready for your review every month.
State childcare subsidy payments reconciled to the enrollment periods they represent — not just the deposit dates. Prior-period adjustments tracked, hold-backs documented, and variances flagged. You always know the difference between earned subsidy revenue and what's actually been received so cash flow surprises don't catch you off guard.
USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program reimbursements tracked as a separate revenue stream and reconciled to your meal count records. Food costs categorized correctly to support your program documentation. Monthly reconciliation so your books and your CACFP records always match — important for program audits and renewals.
Childcare payroll set up with proper role classification from day one — directors, lead teachers, assistant teachers, and aides each tracked separately. Overtime exposure identified. Benefit eligibility by role documented. Your labor cost reports show what you're spending on each staff tier, not just a blended payroll number.
Private-pay tuition and state subsidy income tracked as distinct revenue lines in your chart of accounts. Provider certificate income tracked separately when applicable. You always know the real mix — what percentage of your revenue is government-funded and what's private-pay, and how changes in enrollment affect each stream.
Your revenue is a direct function of licensed capacity, actual enrollment, and the subsidy vs. private-pay mix. We build a simple enrollment-based model so you can forecast revenue as enrollment changes, understand your break-even headcount, and make staffing and expansion decisions with real numbers behind them.
Licensing fees, annual inspections, staff certifications, mandatory training, and compliance-related costs tracked separately so you see the true cost of operating a licensed childcare facility. Renewal timelines visible so you're never caught off guard by a large compliance expense.
Tax filings and legal matters — coordinated with your CPA or attorney. TurnkeyCFO does not provide tax or legal advice; we keep your books filing-ready and support the process.
The day-to-day realities most bookkeepers have never touched. We have.
State subsidy payments rarely match the care period they cover.
CCMS agencies regularly issue prior-period adjustments, corrections, and recoupments that hit in different months than the care was provided. Booking these on cash-receipt dates distorts your monthly revenue picture and makes budgeting unreliable. We accrue subsidy revenue to the period earned and track adjustments so your P&L reflects economic reality — not just when checks arrive.
USDA program reimbursement — reconciled monthly, documented for audits.
CACFP reimbursements depend on meal counts, income eligibility tiers, and menu documentation. Your bookkeeping needs to support the program records — not contradict them. We reconcile your reimbursement deposits to your meal count records monthly and flag variances before they become audit findings. Food costs are categorized in a way that's consistent with your program reporting.
Multiple job classes with different rates, overtime rules, and benefit eligibility.
Directors, lead teachers, assistant teachers, and aides often have different pay scales, certification requirements, and benefit eligibility. Setting payroll up with a single "staff" classification makes labor cost analysis impossible and creates exposure if overtime eligibility isn't managed correctly by role. We build role-based payroll structure from the start.
Two revenue streams with different rates, reliability, and collection patterns.
Subsidy slots (CCMS/provider certificate) and private-pay slots have meaningfully different rates, payment timelines, and collection risk. Blending them in one revenue line makes it impossible to know which is performing and what happens to your cash flow if subsidy funding changes. We track them separately so you can see the true composition of your revenue.
Revenue drops immediately when enrollment drops. Payroll doesn't.
Childcare has a fixed-cost problem: staffing ratios require a minimum headcount of teachers regardless of enrollment, but revenue falls directly with enrollment. We model the break-even enrollment level for your center and flag when you're approaching staffing decisions — so you're making those calls with data, not intuition.
Ongoing compliance costs that belong in their own budget line.
State licensing fees, annual fire and health inspections, staff background check renewals, and mandatory training hours all cost real money and occur on schedules that don't always align with other business expenses. We track them separately so you see the true cost of compliance, plan for renewals, and never get surprised by a large fee hitting in a slow enrollment month.
Simple, fast, and designed not to take you away from what matters most.
We learn your center — licensed capacity, enrollment mix, subsidy programs, CACFP participation, staff structure, and current software. No sales pitch.
We connect to QuickBooks, review your chart of accounts, map your revenue streams and staff roles, and assess what needs to be restructured before going live.
Monthly close package, subsidy vs. tuition revenue split, CACFP reconciliation, role-based payroll, and enrollment-based P&L running clean from month one.
Yes — CCMS subsidies are one of the most complex revenue streams a childcare center deals with. State agencies often issue prior-period adjustments, hold-backs, and corrections that hit in different months than the care was provided. We reconcile every subsidy payment to the period it represents, track variances, and make sure your books reflect actual earned revenue.
The USDA CACFP reimburses centers for meals and snacks served to enrolled children. We track reimbursements as a separate revenue stream, reconcile deposits to attendance-based claim calculations, and make sure food costs are categorized correctly so your books support your program documentation and audit readiness.
Childcare centers have at least three distinct staff classifications: director, lead teachers, and assistant teachers or aides — each with different pay rates, benefit eligibility, and overtime treatment. We set up payroll classification from the start so staff are paid correctly and your labor cost reports are meaningful.
Absolutely — and it matters more than most childcare owners realize. Blending subsidy and private-pay tuition gives you no insight into which revenue stream is performing and what your true private-pay capacity is. We split the revenue lines from day one so you always know the real picture.
Yes. Childcare revenue is a function of licensed capacity, actual enrollment, and the mix of subsidy vs. private-pay slots. We build a simple enrollment-based model so you can forecast revenue as enrollment changes and understand your break-even enrollment level.
Licensing fees, annual inspections, required training, and compliance costs are tracked separately so you see the true cost of maintaining your license, plan for renewals, and understand how regulatory compliance affects your margins.
Yes. After-school programs, summer camps, and seasonal care have enrollment and revenue patterns that differ from full-year daycare. We structure the books to handle seasonal variation, program-specific tracking, and the subsidy eligibility differences between year-round and seasonal programs.
Month-to-month engagement, 30-day notice. No multi-year contracts. We keep clients because the work is good, not because paperwork traps them. Use the Instant Estimate to see a real price range before we ever talk.
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