Opening a daycare
Software for opening a new daycare in 2026
A new daycare needs one system, not five: check-in with a time and a signature, child records the licensing inspector will ask for, daily reports and messaging parents actually read, and tuition billing with subsidy and offline payments recorded in the same place. It should not cost anything before the first family pays. NestliCare does all of it free at any size; the only cost anywhere is the processing fee on online tuition, which the parent covers at checkout by default.
What you need, in the order you need it
Before the license
Application in, inspection pending
- A place to keep the records the licensing application and first inspection ask for: staff files, training certificates with expiry dates, policies.
- A waitlist and inquiry form on your website or a link you can text, so interest you generate now is not lost in a notebook.
- Tuition plans drafted, even if the numbers change, so the first enrollment agreement is ready to sign.
In NestliCare: NestliCare gives you the staff records, an inquiry form and waitlist, and tuition plans the day you sign up, with no payment method on file. Set it up while the state is still reviewing your application.
Filling the first spots
Licensed, taking enrollments
- Online enrollment forms with e-signatures, so families complete paperwork on their phone instead of in your lobby.
- Child records: emergency contacts, authorized pickups, allergies, immunization dates, signed policies.
- A parent app invitation that goes out the moment a family is enrolled, so the first message from you is not a text from an unknown number.
In NestliCare: Enrollment forms, document requests, and child profiles are built in. Families get the parent app invite automatically and sign the rest of the paperwork there.
Opening week
Children in the building
- Check-in and check-out with a time and a signature, on a kiosk at the door, a QR code, or the staff app.
- Daily reports parents actually open: meals, naps, diapers, activities, photos.
- Direct messaging so a parent question reaches the right teacher and the answer is on record.
- Ratios visible per room so you know the moment a room is over.
In NestliCare: Kiosk mode runs on any tablet. Staff log the day from the app and parents see it as it happens. Room counts update with every check-in.
The first month
First invoices go out
- Recurring invoices on the schedule you chose, autopay for families who want it, and a clear record of who paid what.
- Subsidy payments recorded against the family’s invoice, separate from the parent’s share.
- Attendance exports for your subsidy agency and, if you are on the food program, meal counts for your CACFP claim.
- Staff hours for your first payroll.
In NestliCare: Invoices generate automatically from tuition plans. Online payments run through Stripe; cash, check, and subsidy are recorded offline at no cost. Timesheets and CACFP-friendly exports are included.
What a new daycare should not pay for
- A monthly software subscription before you have a single paying family. Software that charges per child or per month starts costing you the week you open, whether or not tuition has come in.
- A separate parent communication app, a separate check-in app, and a separate billing tool. Three logins for parents is how the daily report stops getting read.
- A website builder subscription for a page that needs to do one thing: collect inquiries. A hosted enrollment page with a form does that.
- Data migration fees. If you start on the right system, there is nothing to migrate; if you do not, the next system should move it for free.
How the software stays free is written up on how we make money. If you want to compare what other platforms publish as their price, see best daycare software in 2026.
Setting it up before you open, in about an hour
- 1Create the account with an email address. No card, no license number required.
- 2Add your rooms with their capacities, so ratios show from the first check-in.
- 3Enter tuition plans: weekly or monthly, full or part time, sibling discounts, registration fee.
- 4Upload staff records and training certificates with expiry dates; reminders come from the dates you enter.
- 5Turn on the inquiry form and waitlist and put the link wherever you are advertising.
- 6As families commit, enroll them: the enrollment forms, policies, and parent app invitation go out from the same screen.
- 7Put a tablet at the door in kiosk mode on opening day.
Opening a daycare, answered plainly
- What software does a new daycare need on day one?
- One system that does check-in with signatures, child records, daily reports and parent messaging, and tuition billing. Everything else, including staff scheduling, CACFP, and payroll exports, matters in the first month, not the first morning. Choosing one platform that does all of it avoids the three-app problem that makes parents stop reading updates.
- Should a new daycare pay for software before it has revenue?
- It should not have to. NestliCare is free at every size with no trial, so a new program pays nothing for software. The only cost anywhere is the standard processing fee when a parent pays tuition online, which the parent covers at checkout by default. A program that starts with cash and check families pays nothing at all.
- Can I set up the software before my license is approved?
- Yes. Create the account, add your rooms, load tuition plans, upload staff records, and turn on the inquiry form and waitlist while the state reviews your application. Nothing requires a payment method or a license number.
- Which records will the first licensing inspection want to see in the software?
- That is set by your state, but inspectors commonly ask for attendance with sign-in and sign-out times, emergency contact and authorized pickup information for each child, immunization records, incident reports, and staff files with training hours. All of those are kept on the child and staff profiles and export in a click. Find your state’s agency on the daycare software by state pages.
- What if I accept subsidy families from the start?
- Record the subsidy payment against the family’s invoice and bill the parent share separately. Attendance exports carry the dates and hours a subsidy claim needs. NestliCare does not file the claim with the state for you.
- How long does setup take?
- About an hour for a new program: rooms, tuition plans, and your first families. Sign up with an email address, and if you already have records in a spreadsheet or another system, send them and the NestliCare team loads them for free.
- Do parents need to download anything?
- Parents get the NestliCare app on iOS or Android from the invitation you send, and everything also works in a browser. Staff and admins use the same apps to run the day, and a tablet at the door runs the kiosk.