DAYCARE INVOICE TEMPLATE
Free daycare invoice template
A daycare invoice with tuition per child for the week or month, late pickup and extra days on their own lines, and your provider tax ID so parents can claim the child-care credit. Free in Word and PDF, with every line explained — for centers and home daycares.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
A daycare invoice bills tuition per child for a set period — the week or the month, full-time or part-time — with the child's name and room on it, and every extra on its own line: late pickup, an extra day, a field trip, meals if you charge for them.
Two lines matter more in child care than in any other business: your provider tax ID, because in the US parents claim the child and dependent care credit and their dependent-care account against your invoices, and the period covered, so a parent can match every invoice to a month.
Around it go your business details and license number, the family you're billing, an invoice number and a due date — most daycares bill in advance, due the first of the period — and how to pay.
FREE TEMPLATE · WORD AND PDF
The daycare invoice template, filled in
Below is the template filled in for Little Sprouts Family Daycare, a fictional daycare business, so you can see every line in use. The downloads are the same invoice with [bracketed] lines to replace — free, no email address, no sign-up.
![Free Daycare Invoice Template — the blank fill-in invoice as it downloads, with [bracketed] lines to replace](/invoice-templates/daycare-invoice-template-preview.png)
Example · fictional business
Little Sprouts Family Daycare Columbus, OH (614) 555-0126 · hello@littlesproutscbus.example Licensed family child care · Provider tax ID 00-0000000 (example) | INVOICE |
Bill to Daniel and Rosa Alvarez 5120 Olentangy River Rd Columbus, OH | Child Mateo A. · toddler group Full-time, Monday to Friday, 7:30 am–5:30 pm Daily report sent by app |
| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuition — October, full-time Toddler rate, 5 days a week; meals and snacks included | 1 | $1,120.00 | $1,120.00 |
| Late pickup — Sep 17 Per 15 minutes after 5:30 pm | 2 | $15.00 | $30.00 |
| Extra day — Sep 26 Saturday care, pre-booked | 1 | $65.00 | $65.00 |
| Field trip — pumpkin patch, Oct 16 Admission and transport, per child | 1 | $12.00 | $12.00 |
| Subtotal | $1,227.00 | ||
| Sales tax (if your state taxes child care) | $0.00 | ||
| Total | $1,227.00 | ||
| Balance due | $1,227.00 | ||
Payment
Tuition is due on the 1st of each month, in advance. Pay by bank transfer, card or check.
For your taxes
Our provider tax ID is above — you'll need it for IRS Form 2441 and for your dependent-care FSA claim. A year-end statement comes in January.
Every figure on the example is an example, not a price guide — use your own rates. The Word file is a standard .docx you can edit in Word or any app that opens Word documents; the PDF prints as-is if you'd rather fill it in by hand.
Invoices and a website, one place
Start your daycare website — invoicing is built in
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds your daycare website from this one line. The same dashboard sends invoices like this one, with a pay-now button once you're on a paid plan.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
LINE BY LINE
What goes on a daycare invoice
Every line on the template, in order, and what to write on it.
| The line | What to put there |
|---|---|
| Business name, license and provider tax ID | Your daycare's name, phone, email and address, your child-care license number, and your provider tax ID — the EIN, or the SSN for a sole-proprietor home daycare. In the US parents need the ID for the child and dependent care credit, so put it on every invoice rather than answering the question forty times in January. |
| Invoice number, date, due date and period | A number that never repeats (the month makes a good one: 2026-10), the date, the due date — most daycares bill in advance, due the first — and the week or month the invoice covers. |
| Bill to and the child | The parents or guardian you're billing, then the child's first name and last initial, the room or group, and the schedule. Separated parents often split a bill: one invoice each, with the share stated. |
| Tuition | The period's tuition at the age-group rate, with what's included — meals, snacks, diapers, supplies — so the extras below are clearly extra. A second child goes on its own line with the sibling rate. |
| Late pickup and extra days | Late pickup at the per-15-minute rate with the date, and any extra day, drop-in or Saturday care, pre-booked. One line each, dated. |
| Activities, meals and fees | Field trips, special activities, meals if you charge for them, and annual registration or supply fees — on their own lines, so tuition stays a number parents can budget. |
| Subsidies and credits (when one applies) | If a state subsidy, an employer or a scholarship pays part of the fee, add a line under tuition for the program's share, so the family's balance and the program's paperwork both match the invoice. |
| Tax, total and balance due | Subtotal, sales tax where your state charges it on child care (almost none do), any credit from last month, and the balance due in bold. |
| How to pay and the tax note | When tuition is due, how to pay, and the line telling parents the tax ID above is what they need for Form 2441 and their dependent-care account. |
STEP BY STEP
How to fill out a daycare invoice
Once a month, the same day, from the sign-in sheet and each child's schedule.
Save your details, license and tax ID once
Daycare name, contact details, license number and provider tax ID at the top, saved in the file so every invoice carries them.
Number it by period
The month or week as the invoice number, today's date, the due date, and the period covered.
Name the family and the child
The parents you're billing, the child's name and room, and the schedule — full-time or part-time, which days.
Bill tuition, then the extras by date
The period's tuition with what it includes, a second child on its own line, then late pickups, extra days, trips and fees — each dated.
Show subsidies and total it
Split the family's share from any subsidy or employer payment, apply any credit, and put the balance due in bold.
Send it on the same day every month
Email it, with the payment link if you have one, on the same date every time — and remind parents in the note that the tax ID is on the invoice.
How daycares get paid on time
Bill in advance, on the same date, every time. Tuition due on the 1st for the month ahead is the standard in child care, and a predictable invoice gets paid like rent. Automatic card or bank payments remove the chase entirely.
Put the tax ID on every invoice. In the US, parents claiming the child and dependent care credit file Form 2441 with your name, address and taxpayer ID, and a dependent-care FSA claim wants the same — an invoice that already carries it saves you a January of emails. A year-end statement with the total paid is the other thing they'll ask for.
Put the late-pickup fee on the next invoice as a dated line. “Late pickup, Sep 17, 30 minutes” at your per-15-minute rate is the gentlest reminder there is, and a dated line with the rate shown is the one parents pay without a question.
Show what tuition includes. “Meals and snacks included” on the tuition line stops the question when a field trip appears as an extra. If diapers and wipes are extra, say so the same way.
Licensing and the invoice. In the US every state licenses child-care centers and most license or register home daycares above a small number of children; the license number on your invoice tells parents — and the subsidy program, if one pays part of the fee — that you're the real thing. Check your state's child-care licensing agency for what your invoice has to show.
Tax depends on the state. In the US child care is exempt from sales tax almost everywhere, but check your state's revenue department before you decide, and keep the records your accountant needs — the year-end statements you give parents are also your income record.
Outside the US. The invoice itself has rules: in Australia a GST-registered business issues a tax invoice showing its ABN, in New Zealand a GST-registered business shows its GST number, and in the UK and EU a VAT-registered business shows its VAT number and the VAT charged. Confirm the details with your accountant.
Send it from Zarla and get paid online
A Word template is a fine way to start. The catch is everything after you hit send: chasing the payment, remembering who's paid, and typing the same customer and the same line items again next month.
If you build your daycare website with Zarla, the invoice tool is in the same dashboard. Pick the customer, add the job's lines, and send it. On a paid plan, with your Stripe account connected, the invoice carries a pay-now button: your customer pays online by card, and the invoice marks itself paid when the money arrives. Customers you've invoiced are saved, so next time is two taps.
Want to see the website first? Browse daycare website templates or see how Zarla builds daycare websites. Still setting up? Read how to start a daycare and write your daycare business plan.
The whole paper trail of a job, step by step: how to write a quote, then how to write an invoice, then how to write a receipt — with a free receipt template. For any other trade, start from the free invoice template. Either side of it, two more free templates in Word and PDF: a price list template for the services you sell and a work order template for the crew.
Heading into the holidays? Our free gift certificate template covers the customers who want to give your work as a gift, and the holiday hours sign template covers the door, your website and your Google profile.
Daycare invoices: common questions
Your daycare's name, contact details, license number and provider tax ID; the family you're billing and the child's name, room and schedule; an invoice number, the date, the due date and the period covered; tuition with what it includes; late pickups, extra days, activities and fees on their own dated lines; any subsidy's share; the balance due; and how to pay, with the tax note.
In the US, yes in practice: parents claim the child and dependent care credit on Form 2441 with your name, address and taxpayer identification number, and their dependent-care FSA wants the same details. Use your EIN; a sole-proprietor home daycare without one uses an SSN, which is a good reason to get an EIN (free from the IRS).
Monthly in advance, due the 1st, is simplest for full-time enrollment; weekly suits part-time and drop-in families. Whichever you choose, send it on the same day every time, show the period covered, and keep the extras — late pickup, extra days — on dated lines in the next invoice.
One invoice, one tuition line per child with the child's name and the sibling rate on the second line, then the extras by child and date. Separated parents who split the fee get one invoice each, with the share stated.
Show the full tuition, then the subsidy's or employer's share as its own line and the family's balance due. The family sees what the program covers, and the program's own paperwork matches your invoice.
As its own dated line — “Late pickup, Sep 17” — at your per-15-minute rate × the number of 15-minute blocks, on the next invoice. Most daycares charge per 15 minutes after closing; a dated line with the rate shown is the one parents pay without a phone call.
Yes. The daycare invoice template on this page downloads free as a Word document and a PDF — no email address, no sign-up. Edit it in Word or any app that opens Word documents, or print the PDF and fill it in by hand.
Not from a Word file — your customer still has to pay you some other way. To take the payment on the invoice itself, send it from invoicing software. If your daycare website is on Zarla, the invoice tool is in the same dashboard: on a paid plan, with Stripe connected, each invoice carries a pay-now button and marks itself paid when the customer pays by card.
Send invoices from your own daycare website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with invoicing in the same dashboard.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.