Tax Tip for Home Child Care Providers

Tax time can be stressful for home daycare providers, because there is so much information to gather. I will be publishing one tax tip each week through April 15, to try to make this process as painless as possible. Also, look for my new article, "Important Tax Deductions for Home Daycare and Child Care Providers" to be published in the next couple of days on EZineArticles.com. It contains a detailed look at two important tax deductions that you definitely need to claim as a child care provider.
My tax tip for this week is to organize your receipts by month. Before I became a child care provider I didn't save my receipts unless I had paid by credit card or there was a possibility that I might need to return something. I certainly never saved my grocery receipts. But I received good advice from another provider when I got started - NEVER throw away a store receipt! I began by just stuffing all of my receipts into a large envelope and never looked at them again until tax time. While this works, it makes tax time very time consuming! I recommend creating an envelope for each month. As you get receipts just put them in the correct envelope. Then, at the end of each month, take 30 minutes and tally the receipts for that month.
Write the totals on the front of each envelope. (For category suggestions and how to tally receipts, see the above mentioned article.) If you keep up with this process tax time will be a breeze! If you want to be even more organized with your receipts, check out this cool daycare management software! Click Here! Remember to check back here weekly for more tax tips for daycare providers!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Eileen Michalczyk. I am the mother of four gifted children, a former elementary school teacher, and a former home daycare owner. I currently run a successful marketing business from my home. I have a wealth of knowledge to share with you on how to run a successful home daycare. I personally opened my home childcare business in 1998 and just closed my doors in the summer of 2007. Home daycare allowed me to be at home with my own children while still making an income. It can be a great profession if you structure it correctly and carefully and remember that you are in charge! Keep coming back to visit as new content will be added regularly, and look for my web-published articles. Links will be available for them soon! I also have an e-book in the works that will be a complete guide to running a successful home childcare and will come with a complete kit of the forms you will need to get started. Check back on this blog in the next few weeks for a date of publication. Best of luck!

Eileen Michalczyk