Good with kids...bad with paperwork. Help?

Hello,

I opened my day home in may of this year. I gave receipts to all families who attended upon each payment. I knew most would not want a tax receipt for the end of the year but I knew one family would. Although I gave out receipts I was not aware that putting the dates the child attended on the receipt was necessary( I put date payment was issued ). Now that it is tax season I'm stressing! I know how much this family gave me but not exact date that the child attended. Is this necessary for the income tax receipt? I would just feel terrible if I made it hard for them to get their tax back. BAH!

Also how often do you give out receipts?

Thank you:)

Pretty sure you just need a start and end date for care. You don't list each day they used care. Simply write (using your own dates of course) "for care from Jan 5th 2013-Sept 17th 2013."

I give out receipts monthly dated the first of each month for the previous month. So a receipt might be dated March 1,2014 but I'd also write for "childcare February 2014". Never had an issue and many of my families use accountants to do their taxes.

You don't need to know specifics for tax period; just a date range. I think someone else said that you would write something like:

This receipt is issued to parents Mr and Mrs Daycare Parent for daycare services that I provided to Susie Smith from the period of May 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013. The amount of fees received was $xxx.xx.

Then I would have my address, daycare name, my name, and my SIN at the top. (I have mixed feelings about the SIN but so far I provide it)

I usually give an annual receipt every February. I track the amount received by family in Excel so it is easy for me to get the grand total at the end of the year. It just keeps adding up at the bottom of my spreadsheet.

I do like to track attendance just for my own sake. If a child ever came and tried to sue me for something that happened JUne 20th, 2013...I could look up whether the child was even in care that day etc. Or it helps me track if they were sick, off with mom and dad, on vacation a certain week etc....or whatever should come up. It's always good to keep information/records on your end. I don't give the attendance info back to the parents but I like to have it.

I have been told by other providers that they give weekly or monthly receipts and then leave it up to the parents to add up and claim....but I think giving one annual receipt is more professional and meets the CRA requirements.

This is my first year giving yearly receipts. On the receipt I have monthly totals and the grand total.

I didn't put the dates on my receipts and I am not too worried about it. I have that it is for care in 2013.

I did the same thing :blink: I put the total for the year of 2013. I did not realize that I needed to provide the start date. Opps! :huh:

Thanks everyone! This has been really helpful. This first year open has been a learning experience and I have learned that paperwork and records are my weakness. It is my goal to get better at keeping records this year. Excel is a great idea! Now I just have to learn to use it...haha. Thanks again!

I have a payment sheet for each family. It has the date payment was paid, the amount paid, whether it was cash or cheque and both I and the parent initial it. At the end of the year I total up the payments and write out a year end receipt. On the receipt I write childcare from start date to end date. It's easy to do it this way and I always have the dates they started and ended. I give those sheets to my accountant for proof of my income plus my copies of the receipts.

I give weekly receipts with each payment but I also give a one page form in February. It lists the amounts paid by month and then a total - more info that is truly necessary but just the way I do it. There is a little message on there that says This forms represents the amount I will be claiming on my income taxes regarding care provided during the calendar year 2013. The idea is if there is a discrepancy they are free to let me know. If they claim more on their taxes than the amount on the form my copy of the form would show Revenue Canada that I told them what was paid and they agreed to it, etc.

I give an annual receipt and the dates are January 1st 20XX-Dec 31st 20XX. That is all that the CRA require or just that it is for the tax year 20XX. No need to make more work for yourself. You would need to keep attendance for filing your taxes to work out daycare days as part of calculating expenses but not for the purpose of issuing daycare parents a tax receipt.

Feeling a lot more confident now. I did exactly what all are saying with the receipt that says parents names start/finish date, child name, amount, and my information. So glad they will be able to get their taxes done.