Childcare Operations Calculators

Daycare Per-Child Monthly Profit Calculator

Screen the per-child monthly contribution of a licensed daycare room across the four age buckets that drive licensing and accreditation (infant, toddler, preschool, school-age) using NAEYC-anchored teacher-to-child ratios as the binding economic constraint. Computes required teacher FTEs per child from the effective state ratio (defaulting to NAEYC accreditation standards of 1:4 infant, 1:6 toddler, 1:10 preschool, 1:15 school-age), fully-loaded labor per child per month from a user-supplied wage and operating-hours schedule, rent allocation from state-mandated indoor square footage (35-50 sqft per child) times annual rent per square foot, raw food cost per child per month with optional USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) Tier I reimbursement offset, and per-room contribution at the supplied enrollment. Reports per-child gross margin, gross-margin percent, room-level contribution, breakeven enrollment, the NAEYC compliance flag (warns when the effective ratio is more permissive than NAEYC), and the CACFP eligibility flag. Benchmarks pulled from NAEYC accreditation standards, Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA) annual price-of-care reports, BLS SOC 25-2011 preschool teacher wage data, USDA CACFP published reimbursement rates, and state DCF licensing references. Tool, not advice — childcare licensing is state-specific and the operator is responsible for verifying the binding state DCF ratio, group size, and square footage requirements.

Childcare Tuition Pricing Calculator

Solve for a defensible monthly tuition for a licensed-childcare age cohort using a cost-plus pricing floor (per-child cost stack grossed up to a target gross margin) and a market-benchmark cap (CCAoA county median times a facility-tier multiplier of 0.85x basic, 1.00x mid, 1.20x premium, 1.45x luxury). Computes the recommended monthly tuition, sibling-discount bands at the conservative 10% and aggressive 15% off the lower-priced sibling, part-time tuition at the standard 1.30x per-day uplift (3 days per week), implied per-room contribution at the supplied enrollment, comparison to the CCAoA national median for the cohort (infant 1,600 / toddler 1,400 / preschool 1,200 / school-age 700 dollars per month, planning references), and a margin-risk flag that warns when the cost-plus floor exceeds the market-benchmark cap. Benchmarks pulled from Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA) Price of Care reports and NAEYC accreditation standards.

Childcare CACFP Reimbursement Calculator

Project monthly USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) reimbursement for a licensed center based on enrollment by tier (Tier I income-eligible at the higher free / reduced-price rate, Tier II at the lower mixed-income paid rate), meals served per child per day (breakfast, lunch, snack, supplement), and days operated per month. Applies the 2025-2026 program-year continental U.S. rates published by USDA Food and Nutrition Service: Tier I breakfast $1.79, lunch / supper $3.35, snack $0.98; Tier II breakfast $0.30, lunch / supper $0.41, snack $0.10. Reports monthly reimbursement total by tier, combined total, per-child-per-day reimbursement, annual projection on a 12-month basis, food-cost coverage ratio against a typical $4.50 per child per day raw food cost reference, total meals served per day across the enrolled population, and a human-readable summary that flags whether reimbursement fully covers or partially subsidizes food cost.

Childcare Staff Scheduling Ratio Calculator

Compute the minimum staff schedule required to meet teacher-to-child ratios across the operating day in a licensed-childcare center. Takes children present by age cohort across three day-parts (morning peak 8 AM, midday 12 PM, afternoon peak 3 PM), applies state DCF or NAEYC accreditation ratios (NAEYC defaults: infant 1:4, toddler 1:6, preschool 1:10, school-age 1:15), respects the two-adult-rule minimum whenever any children are present, and honors an optional per-group minimum-teacher floor. Output includes the hour-by-hour required staff count, peak-coverage requirement (binding hiring constraint), total staff-hours per day, daily payroll cost projection at the fully-loaded hourly wage, ratio-compliance flag, and breakeven staff count to maintain ratio without a bottleneck. Anchored to NAEYC accreditation standards and state DCF licensing minimums.

Childcare Licensing Readiness Capex Calculator

Project total capex required to open a licensed childcare center across the standard cost stack: facility build-out scaled by square footage and climate zone (warm 1.00x, mixed 1.15x, cold 1.30x against a $30-$80 per sqft typical range), optional fire-sprinkler retrofit ($5/sqft), playground equipment and safety surfacing scaled by planned capacity ($15K-$50K tiered), state-mandated fencing ($10K-$25K, default $15K when required), curriculum and learning materials ($2K-$8K, default $5K), state licensing fees ($500-$5K, default $2,500), initial classroom supplies ($100 per planned child), and first-year insurance setup ($3K-$8K, default $5K). Reports total estimated capex, capex per planned-child slot, line-item breakdown, and a benchmark band against the industry-typical $80K-$250K range. Anchored to state DCF licensing regulations, local building codes for early-learning occupancy, and NAEYC accreditation standards.