How to Create & Send Daycare Tax Receipts in Quickbooks

If you worked in Daycare, you would understand stressful it is at the end of the year. From addressing parent issues, taking care of the children, taking attendance, and much more, you’d wonder how they even have time for anything else. Yet, they try to make it work. However, while juggling all these tasks, a major component of child care is easily missed to be addressed.

One of the biggest challenges facing my clients right now is the ability to properly process Childcare receipts to parents. Childcare tax receipts are widely overlooked by Daycare businesses because they only happen at the end of the year. And while Childcare businesses are taking care of an infinite number of things during the year, it makes it very difficult to issue our accurate Childcare tax receipts.

This blog will provide a solution for the problem of issuing childcare tax receipts for daycare customers. We will discuss the current problem of issuing Daycare tax receipts, the solution and a case study. The case study will discuss how a company implemented our solution to make the process quicker smoother and less stressful.

Let’s get started.

The Problem Most Daycares Face with Childcare Tax Receipts

For many daycare owners, manager receipt is one of those tasks that seem simple until tax season hits at the end of the year. Parents frequently need detailed receipts for tax deductions reimbursement programs, or dependent care benefits, but daycares often struggle to provide consistent professional and compliance documentation. 

One of the biggest challenges is manual record keeping. Many small child care centers still rely on handwritten receipts or basic templates that don’t automatically update when payments are entered. This makes it easy for receipts to get lost miscalculated or mismatched with payment records. Hence, a challenge in creating childcare receipts.

Another common issue is lack of standardization. Parents might receive different versions of receipts each month or staff may forget to include key details such as the providers payment method, service periods or children being taken care of – all of which are critical for parents tax claims. Incomplete or consistent receipts can create confusion disputes and unnecessary back and forth communication between daycare and parents.

Lastly time constraints play a major role. Childcare business owners where many hats managing staff caring for children, handling enrollment, and more. Finding time to manually prepare organize and send receipt to soften pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. As a results receives pile up or else or are sent out late, leaving both providers and parents frustrated.

These challenges make it clear why many daycares are turned into accounting tools like QuickBooks Online. With QuickBooks Online daycares can streamlined your receipts process, ensuring accuracy, professionalism, and compliance with just a few clicks. 

How to Create Childcare Tax Receipts in Quickbooks Online

Once you understand why childcare receipts can be such a headache, the next step is learning how to streamline the process. QuickBooks Online (QBO) makes it surprisingly simple to create, customize, and send professional childcare receipts – no manual templates or messy paperwork required.

Here’s how you can do it step by step:

1. Record Each Parent as a Customer

In QBO, start by setting up each parent (or guardian) as a customer.

• Go to Sales > Customers > New Customer.
• Enter their full name, email, and address.
• Add any additional notes, such as the child’s name or care schedule, in the “Notes” section.

This means each payment and receipt is tied to the correct family.

2. Create a Sales Receipt for Each Payment

Sales receipts in QBO are perfect for childcare businesses because they confirm that payment was received immediately (unlike invoices, which track unpaid balances).

• Go to + New > Sales Receipt.
• Choose the parent from your customer list.
• Under “Payment Method,” select how the parent paid (cash, check, credit card, etc.).
• Add line items such as “Full-time Childcare – September” or “After-School Care – Week of Oct 14–18.”
• Enter the amount, service date, and any relevant tax if applicable.

3. Add Your Business Details

To make your receipt professional and compliant:

• Go to Settings > Custom Form Styles.
• Include your daycare’s name, address, contact info, and EIN or business number.
• You can also add a friendly note, such as “Thank you for trusting us with your child’s care!”

4. Email or Print Receipts for Parents

Once the sales receipt looks right, click Save and Send to email it directly, or Save and Print for a physical copy. QBO automatically keeps a digital record, so you’ll never lose a receipt again.

5. Generate Year-End Summaries

At tax time, parents often request a summary of all payments. In QBO, you can quickly generate a Transaction List by Customer report, export it to PDF, and share it with parents. It’s clean, organized, and CRA-friendly.

Alternatively, you can pull a report of all invoices paid by customer and use that to create a mail merge letter to send to each customer as an official receipt. For more detail on how to do this with our bookkeeping service in Toronto, Ontario, visit Paperless Books

Wrapping It Up: Simplifying Childcare Receipts with QBO

Managing childcare receipts doesn’t have to be stressful or time-consuming. The main reason most daycares struggle is that their systems aren’t built for accuracy, consistency, or convenience — but QuickBooks Online (QBO) changes that.

By setting up parents as customers, using sales receipts for every payment, and automating your recurring transactions, you’ll save hours each month and eliminate common mistakes. More importantly, you’ll provide parents with clear, professional documentation they can confidently use for taxes and reimbursement programs.

Professional receipts don’t just make your bookkeeping easier – they build trust and credibility with families. When parents know your daycare runs efficiently and transparently, they’re more likely to stay loyal and recommend your services to others.

So, if your current receipt process still involves paper logs, spreadsheets, or handwritten notes, now’s the time to switch. With just a few clicks, QBO can help you turn one of your biggest administrative headaches into a smooth, automated workflow.