The Pains of Paperwork

This post will discuss what is considered "quality" in maintaining paperwork.  It will also deal with the difficulties of maintaining this.

I Hate Paperwork
Paperwork is the bane of my existence.  Most people laugh at me when I say that because I have a bachelor's degree in business.  That just means I know how necessary paperwork is in our litigious society.  It has nothing to do with how much I loathe the chore of maintaining the necessary paperwork to run a business.  Nothing puts me in a funk faster than learning that some politician has seen fit to add another layer of paperwork I must keep up with in order to avoid penalty or worse.

Paperwork and Childcare
If you don't run your own business, you have no idea how much paperwork is required for tax purposes, regulation purposes, and simple good business practices.  When I first started my childcare, I can remember nearly breaking down in tears when I attended my first training session on business practices.  The list of paperwork that was required for taxes alone gave me pause.  Up until this point in my life, I had been a piano teacher.  Even though this is a self-employed position, the paperwork involved with it does not even remotely compare to what I had to keep track of for a childcare.

That first year, I got a coffee bucket and stuffed my receipts in it planning to once per week go through them and document them for taxes.  I had really good intentions, but the reality turned into a month of going through receipts right before the tax deadline desperately trying to get finished.  The smartest thing I did that year was hire an accountant.  The second year I developed a system where I had files for the different categories of expenses, but I still didn't maintain the sorting like I should have and ended up doing another marathon session.  The third year I signed up to earn an administrative credential.  I remember coming home from that first session crying so hard I could barely see the road.  I had no idea that there were so many different levels of paperwork I wasn't doing.  I couldn't even keep up with the paperwork I did know about.  However, this was a class format, and I am the ultimate geek.  I tackled this like I would any assignment in school.  I spent the next year putting systems in place to maintain the necessary paperwork for the level of childcare I had at that time.  That was a long hard year, but I made it and earned that credential.  Then I decided to expand the childcare.  Nobody told me that once you have employees and a group level home, you must be prepared to spend half your time maintaining paperwork.  I would have had to clone myself to have kept up with that.  The systems I had put in place for the smaller childcare unraveled quickly after the expansion and I never caught it up again.  I have since reduced back to a much smaller childcare, but I still struggle with paperwork.

What's the Big Deal?
People outside the childcare world might wonder, "What's the big deal?"  Following is a good synopsis of the paperwork required to run a childcare.  However, I will not say it is exhaustive.  I'm sure I will leave something out.  We start our day with a sign-in sheet that in our state has to have a signature not just initials.  If we have children who are younger than 30 months, we must keep a daily report on them.  On this report we must record all items the child eat or drinks during meals and snacks, all diaper/potty changes, and how well they napped.  If children must take medicine during the day, this must be documented.  If a child is injured to the point of requiring first aid, this must be documented and a copy given to parents.  If a child bites another child, this must be documented and a copy given to both the victim and the biter's parents.  If the facility is on the USDA food program, daily attendance and meal counts must be documented daily.  Also, a weekly menu must be posted to where parents can see it.  If the facility has employees, very detailed records must be kept.  Their file must include fingerprinting and background checks, medical record, high school diploma, references, all training certificates, signed drug policy, and anything else the state decides must be in there from year to year.  In our state they change their minds every year as to what has to be in these files.  Also, if you give your employee even a verbal reprimand, it better be documented.  When you conduct yearly evaluations, documentation of these evaluations must be in the employee's file.  For taxes and good business practices you must keep all receipts and categorize them.  You must document all the hours you work in the childcare beyond regular operating hours.  You must document all mileage that is business related.  You must maintain a budget (this is required in our state).  You must document that you reconcile your checking account every month.  You must keep records of the parent's fees.  Weekly receipts need to be given to parents.  At the end of year, you must provide parents with a statement containing your tax ID number and the amount of fees they paid in the year.  All this is just the business end.

For teaching purposes I maintain a daily planner for each child.  I have a planner for group times that I prepare a year in advance.  It is recommended that observations be made of the children at least once a week and then documented (I did this until I downsized).  Our state requires a monthly newsletter for star quality purposes.  I also maintain a portfolio of the children's work that is added to at least monthly. I do quarterly developmental continuum evaluations on each child.  I have biannual parent-teacher conferences that must also be documented.  Any other official parent-teacher conference also needs to be documented.  I have both a parent handbook that is extensive and a employee handbook that is equally extensive.

When children are enrolled our state requires they have a file that contains a signed contract, immunization records, an enrollment form, a signature showing the parents received a copy of the basic regulations for that level of childcare from the state,  and a signature signifying that the parents received a copy of the parent handbook.  If a child must be removed for disciplinary reasons, this should be documented.

The Necessity of Systems
I hope the preceding paragraphs give an adequate picture of the paperwork involved with running a childcare.  For those who run smaller childcares and can't be simply the administrator, this level of paperwork is completely overwhelming sometimes.  I was administrator, lead teacher, and caregiver.  My least favorite of these positions was administrator.

Since I have downsized, so has the paper workload.  However, I still struggle to keep up with it.  The key to keeping up with the paperwork is putting systems in place and making specific times to do the paperwork.  That is the best advice I can give.  However, life happens, and when it does, you will have to redo your systems.  It is a never-ending process.

I hope you have enjoyed this post.  Goodbye and God bless!! Check out Natalie's children's books at:  https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457