Quick Books

[Cat Herder]

How do you use this program for family childcare?

Attendance? Meal counts? Time/Space percentages?

Pros/Cons?

Thanks in advance!!

[Miss A]

I use the self employed version on QB, so I can only speak for that version.

I pay a monthly subscription of $9.99 to use it. It links to my bank account so I can track income and expenses, I log all of my milage, and it computes my 1040-ES payments for me.

I use a separate spread sheet to log my DC hours, meals served, Monthly Family payments, and detailed expense records.

My system is far from flawless, but I have found a way to make it work for me. I would love it is QB would make a self employed version just for home daycare providers.

[biglou]

Cat Herder

Been using QB for few years now. We also have the payroll add-on as we have employees too.

First, the items you mentioned are really going to be managed by your accountant and not any accounting software you choose to use.

QB is about tracking and managing your expenses, checking accounts, and optionally payroll and payments received.

Using an accounting program is a definite "pro" if you are caring for more than 6 children and having to account for multiple merchants you use for your supplies, etc... You can connect your checking account to the programs so it can download all the transactions to allow you to categorize accordingly so when you meet with your account for tax time, you are much better prepared.

You can talk to your account about this as if you decide to do it, you can get feedback from him/her to decide on the categories to organize your stuff under.

Best part about such programs is you can get an exact idea of the current state of your business financial state as long as you keep it current.

QB is great and they have an online version, which can connect to your checking accounts, business credit cards, etc...

Its great and we cannot be without it. We use the QB Online version, plus the payment processing for ACH & credit cards to get paid and the QB payroll system for our employees with direct deposit for them. No trips to the bank as all the transactions handled through the checking acct link!

Best

Big Lou

[Cat Herder]

Thanks Miss A and Big Lou!

[Mom2Two]

I began using Quickbooks in my previous business (crafting and retail), so it was not a big change to use it for daycare. I have also been using Quicken for a long time.

Quickbooks is a "real" accounting software that accountants might use.
I have "items" for creating billing invoices. I "receive payments" i.e. enter them. I also can create statements and receipts.

I don't really use it to track expenses but I did in my previous business. I mainly use Quicken for that. But if you are not using Quicken or MSMoney or whatever, you might want to manage your finances in an accounting software.

I am not familiar with Brightwheel, so I can't compare.