Childcare providers already understand the Time/Space Percentage — it’s a core part of running a home business and preparing for tax season.
But because the workday is long, routines are packed, and responsibilities never end, it’s easy for smaller details to slip through. The truth is: you’re doing Time/Space already — but you may be too busy to capture all the activities and expenses that count.
This guide is designed to help you:
Think of this as a “don’t forget these!” list for your upcoming tax prep.
Your Time/Space Percentage affects the expenses you can record and deduct for:
You’re already tracking it — this guide simply helps you refine it with reminders of things that often get overlooked in a busy day.
You do far more than supervise children. Every provider knows this. But during tax preparation, it’s easy to forget just how much time goes into the business outside of direct care hours. Here are often-forgotten activities that count toward your Time %:
Cutting fruit, blending purees, preparing ingredients, or planning menus.
Vacuuming, mopping, sanitizing toys, wiping surfaces, doing laundry for childcare bedding — even if done late at night.
Researching crafts, printing worksheets, preparing science projects, organizing sensory bins.
Logging meals, attendance, reviewing CACFP documentation, responding to parents.
Reading blogs like this one, attending tax or childcare webinars (like our December 9 session with Mohammed Aalen, CPA), learning new regulations.
Replacing lightbulbs in childcare rooms, fixing doorknobs used by children, replacing broken storage bins.
Leaf raking, snow removal, mowing the lawn, cleaning the play area, setting up outdoor activities.
Picking up supplies at the store, buying groceries, comparing prices, even driving time.
All of this contributes to your childcare business.
Providers are often surprised to remember how many areas of their home genuinely support the childcare business. Here are spaces that count when used regularly:
Meal prep, snacks, bottle sanitizing, cleanup.
Used throughout the day by children.
If children walk through it — it qualifies.
Drop-off and pickup activities happen here.
Used for activities, reading, quiet time.
If you’re using a bedroom for nap time, it counts.
Where you keep toys, supplies, art materials, bedding.
If children regularly use the outdoor space.
Providers KNOW these things matter — but remembering to document them while juggling diapers, meals, nap schedules, and parents? That’s the hard part.
IRS Publication 587
“You can deduct expenses for the business use of your home if you use part of your home regularly for your trade or business.”
Childcare is one of the few professions where you do not need exclusive use of a room to deduct it. Most providers don’t know this.
These are not new tasks — they’re things you’re already doing. This workflow simply helps you capture them in a quick, consistent way.
Document all the time that supports your program, including:
A few minutes weekly = no scramble in January.
Document all the time that supports your program, including:
A few minutes weekly = no scramble in January.
Childcare providers are often too busy to document major and nitty-gritty tasks mentioned above – These matter for shared-space expenses.
Not in January when everything piles up. A quarterly check helps you adjust your hours or room usage while it’s still fresh.
Receipts help you categorize expenses confidently — and they let your tax preparer do their best work.
This simple 10-minute weekly routine turns your everyday childcare work into clear, confident Time/Space tracking — without overwhelm.
Want to learn more? Watch our “Year-End Peace of Mind: Simple Bookkeeping & Smart Expense Tracking” webinar recording:
👉 Or register for our following webinar. Register here >
If you want a place where you can:
You can try Parachute
Parachute is childcare bookkeeping software built specifically for home providers, not large centers or general accounting firms.
It’s designed around the unique workflow of caring for children from your home — including Time/Space % calculations that you can organize your business bookkeeping easily.
Parachute brings everything together in a way that makes sense for your day-to-day work, so you can:
Along with other helpful tools like Receipt Capture, Parent Communication via Activity Log or Parent Messaging, Flexible Attendance Options, Simple Invoicing and Payments.
Start today so December & January are easier.
