How Choosing Daycare Bookkeeping Software Impacts Your Business

The first step to choosing the best daycare bookkeeping software for your home business is doing research. Invoicing, billing and keeping tabs on receivables are a chore that takes time away from your family.  Bookkeeping software can save you time and effort and will benefit your business.  So congratulations! You’re on the right track.

How to Choose the Right Bookkeeping Solution for Your Daycare Business  

There are plenty of accounting software options out there. The trick is narrowing down your focus and not wasting time and energy looking at software that’s too “big” or doesn’t understand your needs as a home provider.

KidKare software (you might know us by our original name, Minute Menu) has been serving home providers, centers and sponsors and advocating for children’s nutritional and developmental health for almost 30 years.

We know what’s most important to child care businesses, we’ve compiled a list of the top five features you should look for when shopping for bookkeeping software. These features are essential to saving you time and money and eliminating stress from your already busy life.

The Top 5 Daycare Accounting Software Features You Should Look For:

1. The software should be easy to use. Simplicity is important, especially if you’ve been keeping your books with pen and paper. Switching to a software solution is not always as easy as it sounds.

So how do you know if daycare bookkeeping software is easy to use?

There are several ways to find out. Check review websites or daycare forums where other home providers and daycare owners are talking about their experience with their accounting software.

You can also check the company’s website for videos or screenshots that will give you an idea of how their software works. Here’s a video that shows how simple it is to create an invoice using our accounting software. Our extensive library of step-by-step instructions makes the learning curve easy.

The very best way to find out if daycare bookkeeping software is easy to use is to actually use it. With KidKare Accounting you can try the software out for free for 30-days with no obligation to buy. After that it’s only $8 a month. For less than $100 a year you will save hundreds of hours of tedious accounting work.

1. Paperless Billing. This is a big step up from handwriting invoices or creating one-time-use invoices with a generic template on a computer. With paperless billing, you can save valuable time creating and emailing invoices. You also save money on postage, paper and envelopes.

The biggest advantage of paperless billing is the ability to set your invoices as recurring, so they’re sent automatically each time without you having to do anything. This becomes increasingly important as you grow and have more customers to invoice.

Making an invoice recurring in KidKare Accounting is as easy as ticking a box. You can set invoices to be sent every week, every other week, or every month. Check out all the ways KidKare Accounting helps you streamline and manage invoices.

1. Can you collect online payments from parents. Along with paperless billing, giving your customers the option to pay you online helps you get paid faster than if they write checks and send them through the mail, and it’s more convenient for the parents in this digital age.

Online Payments Help Grow Your Business

Online payments are expected of every business, no matter its size. Accepting only cash and checks limit your ability to grow and attract new customers.

KidKare Accounting partners with Stripe, a leading online payments processor. With Stripe, you can offer customers the ability to pay with a credit card or directly from a bank account. All they have to do is click on the payment link that is included with the invoices you send them to pay online through Stripe. KidKare Accounting will then automatically record the invoice and mark it as paid in your records, saving you even more time.

1. Expense Tracking. According to the leading expert on the business of family child care, Tom Copeland, tracking your expenses and carefully recording the number of meals and snacks you serve are two of the most important deductions that you’re entitled to on your tax return. Keeping accurate track of these numbers is critical to your bottom line.

KidKare Accounting lets you track expenses, including mileage, and calculates the all-important time/space calculation for you. It also gives you the tools to record meals as well as add, edit and schedule menus. Plus, with a single click or tap of your finger, you can run a report that shows how much food you served during any time period.

1. Smartphone and Tablet Compatible. As a home provider, your days are packed with activities well after the last child has been picked up. You don’t have time to sit down at a desk and work on a computer. You need daycare accounting software that can be accessed on your smartphone or tablet anytime, anywhere.

You can log into KidKare Accounting on any device connected to the Internet, whenever and wherever it’s most convenient for you. You can check in children as they arrive, as well as record meals as you serve them.

Choosing the right daycare bookkeeping software is a big decision that can make a big difference in your business and your life. See what KidKare Accounting can do for you. Click Here to Sign up for a 30-day free trial today!

Are you currently using daycare bookkeeping software? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below and help other home providers with their search.