Home daycare year-end checklist

The end of the year is when a family child care home turns twelve months of notes into totals: what you served, what you earned, what you spent and how much of your home you used. Doing it in December leaves January free for the statements parents ask for.

In December

• Total the year's meals. If you use the standard meal and snack rates, add up breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks for eligible children, month by month, and multiply by the rates. See our 2026 rates and a free weekly meal sheet.
• Total what each family paid. Add up tuition received from each family for the calendar year, by the date you received it.
• Count your daycare hours. Total the hours your home was used for daycare in the year, including time spent cleaning and preparing, for the Time-Space percentage. See our free Time-Space calculator.
• Sort your receipts. Group expenses by type: food, supplies, toys, repairs, utilities, insurance. Mark which were only for the daycare and which were shared with the family. See what you can deduct.

In January

• Give parents their statements. Parents need what they paid and your name, address and taxpayer ID number to claim the child and dependent care credit, and they usually ask in January. Some send IRS Form W-10 to request it. See our free year-end tuition statement.
• Check your helpers' paperwork. If you paid an assistant, check whether you need to give them a Form W-2 or a 1099 and the January filing dates for your situation.
• Update forms for the new year. Hand out a fresh enrollment form or ask families to confirm their details, and print a new sign-in sheet and meal sheet. See our forms checklist.

Do it once, not every December

The Home Daycare Business Kit keeps these totals as you go: an attendance and meal log that adds up the meal allowance, a tuition tracker that prints each family's statement, a Time-Space calculator and an expense tracker, plus 13 printable forms.

A checklist, not tax or legal advice. Check IRS Publication 587 for the year you file, or ask a tax professional.