For home daycares + small childcare centers.
Daycare bookkeeping that splits tuition from CACFP, every month.
Tuition collections post to Tuition Revenue. CACFP reimbursements post separately because the tax treatment differs and the state auditor will ask. Payroll journal entries from your payroll provider land balanced. Year-end 1099s for substitutes are one report.
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Per-child cash impact
Infant tuition is $1,200–$1,400 a month. Toddler is $1,000–$1,260. Lose one infant and that is a real number leaving the deposit feed. PlainBooks shows the dollar gap when enrollment dips so refilling the slot is on a clock, not on hope.
CACFP reimbursement tracking
USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program pays you back for meals served, monthly, on a 30–45 day lag. PlainBooks separates the reimbursement deposit from tuition so the food-cost math is clear — what came in vs. what went out at Costco.
Ratio-driven payroll reality
Your staff cost is locked by state ratios — 1:4 infants, 1:6 toddlers, 1:10 preschool. You can't cut it. PlainBooks tallies payroll against enrollment so you see the week one parent's notice tightens the math.
Where the books get messy
Eight toddlers at $1,100 each plus three infants at $1,300. Brightwheel auto-collect runs the 1st. The teachers get paid every other Friday — three of them W-2, one 1099 substitute. Costco runs every Monday for the week's snacks. The state CACFP reimbursement for last month's meals lands around the 17th. Two families gave notice in May because they are home for the summer; that is $2,400 of revenue gone June through August, but the teacher ratios don't change.
The books need to recognize tuition as revenue when collected, CACFP as a separate reimbursement (not as new revenue), payroll on the right cadence with proper withholding, and 1099 payments to substitutes tracked for year-end filing.
What PlainBooks does
PlainBooks gives you the books — chart of accounts shaped for a home daycare or small center, the journal where each Brightwheel tuition collection, CACFP deposit, payroll run, food run, and licensing fee writes a balanced entry, and a period close that locks each month.
Tuition collections post to Tuition Revenue. CACFP reimbursements post to CACFP Reimbursement Income — separate from tuition because tax treatment differs and your auditor will ask. Food costs post to Food Expense. The gross-to-net math on the CACFP cycle is one query on the P&L.
Payroll for W-2 teachers comes in as a journal entry from your payroll provider (Gusto, Patriot, ADP). 1099 substitute payments accumulate by vendor so the year-end 1099-NEC filing is one report.
When the year closes
Close December and PlainBooks generates the closing entries. The annual PDF package — Trial Balance, P&L (tuition + CACFP separated, payroll + food + rent + insurance + supplies + software as lines), Balance Sheet, GL detail, AR aging for any tuition still owed, 1099 summary for substitutes — comes out in one file.
PlainBooks does not take tuition payments, manage attendance, or apply for CACFP. Brightwheel, Procare, HiMama handle those. If a family disputes a charge or the state CACFP reimbursement is adjusted, reopen the period, fix the entries, re-close.
Bills you can't afford to forget
PlainBooks puts each one on the same calendar as your real bank balance, so you see the collision before it happens.
- Payroll (50–70% of revenue)Biweekly$4,000–$20,000
- Rent or mortgageMonthly, the 1st$1,000–$3,000
- Food + snacksWeekly (Costco, Sam's, US Foods)$300–$800/mo
- Brightwheel / Procare softwareMonthly$36–$200
- Liability + workers comp insuranceMonthly$110–$310
- Diapers, wipes, art supplies, cleaningMonthly$200–$700
The empty-slot math nobody wants to do
At full enrollment of 8 toddlers your tuition is roughly $8,800/month. Lose one and that drops to $7,700 — a 12% revenue cut. But payroll cannot drop because the ratio still demands the same caregivers. PlainBooks shows the exact week the bank balance reflects the missing seat — usually four to six weeks before the year-end books would tell you.
What PlainBooks doesn't do
Honest about scope. If you need any of these, you need different software.
- Take tuition payments — Brightwheel, Procare, HiMama do that
- Track which child is enrolled or whose immunizations are current — your management software
- Apply for CACFP or do the reimbursement claim — that is the state agency
- Tell you what to charge. Your tuition rates are yours; PlainBooks just shows whether the math works against your real costs.
Ready to see your cash position?
$15/month or $150/year (two months free). 14-day free trial. No card required.
Start your free trialCommon questions
- Does PlainBooks work for childcare / daycare?
- Yes. PlainBooks is general-ledger bookkeeping software — workspaces, chart of accounts, journal entries, period close, bank reconciliation, the full report set (Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, GL detail, AR aging, AP aging, 1099 summary). The childcare / daycare-specific copy on this page describes the accounts and bills that matter most in this vertical.
- What does it cost?
- $15/month or $150/year when signups open. One price, all features, no tiers. Signups aren't open yet — leave your email on the home page and we'll send one note when launch happens.
- Do I need to connect a bank account?
- No. PlainBooks does not ingest bank feeds. You post journal entries directly (and for trucking workspaces, trips and state-mileage entries write the underlying entries automatically). If you want bank-fed cash visibility, that's a different category of tool.
- What about cash-flow forecasting?
- On the roadmap, not in the current build. PlainBooks today shows what your books say — current balances, what's open in AR and AP, what's posted, what's pending close. We don't promise features that aren't built.