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Getting Your ChildCare Business Organized For a Great Year!

Throughout the month of January 2012, I have been preparing my center for Annual licencing Visits and it is time for us to renew Accreditation. I know it may sound like a lot of work, however, I have decided that my staff and I must get organized in order to accomplish successful licensing visits and to become re-accredited.

My first inspection of the year was a fire inspection and all went well. Our second inspection was a Sanitation and Food Service Inspection. I was so excited that the health departed rated my food service department with an “A.” When I looked at the report, I thought about all the organization that it took to assure that we passed the inspection the first time.

My next visit is my license specialist visit in February 2012 and a Missouri Accreditation observation visit in March 2012. With all of these upcoming inspections, I have found my self being more focused and organized like never before and I want to share with you some tips on how to get more organized for a Great year!

  1. Always be prepared for license visits. Take a look at your last inspection and strive to meet all the requirements to prevent re-visits.
  2. If you have employees, train them on the Licensing inspection forms and challenge them to help you to assure that your program is in compliance with your state childcare regulations. Be sure to discuss areas of improvement in the form of a weekly meeting.
  3. Create health/safety checklist to assure that you meet licensing/accreditation guidelines.
  4. Get parents feedback! Your parents will be glad to help you to create a great program. Create and issue a parent survey as soon as possible. It is vital that you know how parents feel about your program. Be sure to upload the feedback to your website or social media pages. Feel free to sample my program survey.
  5. Read a new business book or an entrepreneur magazine every month, to keep your creative juices going.
  6. When everyone leaves for the day, walk your business and look for disorder and get it organized. An organized environment looks good to the eye and kids learn best in an organized environment.
  7. Make a decision that this is going to be a great year for your business.  In fact, you have the power to create a great childcare business with much organization and focus.

This year ,my goal is to get my business more organized, keep my office organized, finish incorporating the Reggio Emilia look, update my foyer area, update the playground, make more money than I’ve ever made in previous years and I’m looking forward to trading in my minivan for my heart’s desire.

I hope you have been inspired to organize your business for success and make this a great year in business. What are your goals for your childcare business? Feel free to share…

Shiketa

Ready to expand? Tired of dealing with staff issues? Need to think on another level? Join us in the 21-Day Mastermind e-Club!

Category:

Accreditation, Administration, Business Management, How To, Licensing, Organization

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Getting Organized To Issue Tax Information To Parents

I’ve been preparing and issuing yearly Child Care Payment totals for parents since 1999 and I have found that it is vital that I keep track of parent payments to assure that parents are issued accurate totals for their tax return.

In 2011, two parents questioned the payment totals that I issued to them (for 2010 childcare payments) and I thought that was impossible, because I was using Quickbooks to keep track of my weekly parent payments.

Moreover, I discovered, that I failed to record several payments in my payment receipt book, which resulted in two payments not being entered into the computer. I  praised those parents for doing such a great job on keeping track of their childcare payments and thanked them for bringing the tax error to my attention.

In fact, I was so grateful for the error, because it inspired me to be more diligent about recording payments that I receive from parents.

Tom Copeland writes a great blog for Child Care Providers and I strongly suggest that you check out his blog post titled: A Family Child Care provider asks:Is it income if I don’t report it?

As I was preparing to issue Child Care Payment totals for 2011, I was reminded again of the importance of keeping track of parent payments and how time-consuming the process is.

According to Tom Copeland, “In any situation, however, money you receive from parents for child care is taxable income and must be reported on IRS Form 1040 Schedule C. If you fail to report all of your income there are several ways you can get caught:

* A parent who previously agreed not to claim the child care tax credit may decide later to go ahead and claim the credit when she realizes how much it can be (the maximum is $1,050 for one child).”

Furthermore, be sure to give parents a notice that indicates the following information:

  • Your Tax Id number
  • The Name and address of your business
  • The amount that the parent paid you for childcare services
  • The name of the child or children that you cared for
  • Your phone number
  • It’s also a good idea to add the following words on the Tax Letter Please keep with your “Tax Year” Records

The IRS does not look for any form in particular from you to issue to parents, however, the parent will need the information above to claim a child and dependent tax credit.

My final tip to you is to have a back-up system for keeping track of childcare payments and this includes:

  • Creating a back-up file on a flash drive
  • Keep a copy of the written payment receipts issued to parents
  • Have payments stored in your computerized financial software for easy access

Have you prepared your tax statements or letters to issue to parents for 2011 yet? If so, how was the process for you? I look forward to your comments and tax payment ideas.

With your Child Care Business in Mind,

Shiketa

Are You ready to expand your business? Frustrated with the level that you are on?  Check out the Going to Another Level, 21-Day Mastermind e-Club.

Category:

Business Management, Family Child Care, Record Keeping, Taxes

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