Record Keeping!

[Inspired by Reggio]

The KEY to claiming anything is that you have the RECEIPTS and MATH to back it up in an audit - how you do it is ultimately up to you whatever makes sense and you feel you can argue to a CRA representative should the case ever arise!

I track all my expenses in an Excel spreadsheet for the following:
Food & Kitchen Supplies
Toys & Equipment
Craft Supplies
Field Trips & Outings
Gifts & Seasonal Celebrations
Office Expenses
Advertising & Website
Daycare area only Maintenance & Repairs
% of Household maintenance
Professional Development
% Vehicle Expenses
Business Liability Insurance
% of annual Mortgage Interest
% of annual Property Tax
% of annual Gas bill total
% of annual Hydro bill total
Rogers Internet bill for business
Cell phone bill for business
Bell - additional services for answering machine, call display


I grocery shop for both family and daycare at the same time generally cause it is easier than 'keeping separate receipts' so to figure out how much I use the following equation for figuring out my groceries:

Kids % = # day you are open x # meals/snacks per day x # kids in care = # meals/snacks served

Our % = 365 days x 5 meals/snacks x 2 adults = X meals/snacks we eat

Total meals served = add them together

Total grocery cost = $xx, xxx.xxx divided by total # meals/snacks served = $X.XX is the average per meal/snack per person eating as we eat the same things and often the kids eat more than my spouse will at a sitting

So last year my calculation used for determining children's portion of groceries is $2.17/meal/snack served and a minimum of 3 are served daily so I went with $6.50/day/child on enrollment for last year.

I was open 240 days x 6.50/ day x 5 children = 7800 ... which will seem like a lot to others however I offer an almost entirely gluten free and high % of organic food in my menu to my crew because I have Celiac ... we spent almost $20,000 on groceries in total and have the receipts to back that up in an audit.

I will admit that hate this time of year doing up my taxes and seeing my 'income' shrink from the reality of how much it costs do offer this service for clients!