Accounting and invoicing for nurseries
The same parent fees every month, plus meal money, subsidies and trips: in a nursery almost everything repeats. Saldiqo creates the fee invoices for all families at once, matches the payments and shows who is still open.
What comes up for nurseries
Many identical invoices
Depending on size, 20 to 150 families pay a fee every month. By hand that is half a day of work, and a typo only shows when a family asks.
Several sources of money
Parent fees, subsidies from the council or provider, donations and event income run in parallel. If you do not keep them apart, the year-end takes long.
Joiners and leavers during the year
Children start on the first of a month or leave mid-year. Fees have to be pro rata, and corrections need a clean credit note instead of an overwritten amount.
How Saldiqo helps
- Invoice run from a CSV fileUpload a list of families and amounts and Saldiqo creates all invoices as drafts. After checking, you finalise them in one step.
- Recurring invoices for fixed feesIf the fee stays the same, a recurring invoice creates it every month on a fixed date.
- Open items and remindersAfter uploading the bank statement you see which family has not paid yet and send a reminder with one click.
- Cost centres per groupAssign income and expenses to groups or sites and see in the report what each group costs.
Typical invoice lines
Examples that often appear on invoices in this industry. You set the prices yourself.
- Parent fee for October, full day
- Meal money for October
- Craft and materials money, quarterly flat rate
- Extended hours care, 12 hours
- Registration fee
- Credit note for care on closure days
Tax and invoicing in the UK
What applies to invoices in the UK, in short. As of October 2026.
- VAT
- Standard rate 20 %, reduced rate 5 % and zero rate 0 %. Saldiqo calculates each invoice line with the rate you pick.
- VAT registration
- You must register once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 over any 12 months, or you expect to pass it within the next 30 days. You can deregister below £88,000. Until you are registered, your invoices show no VAT, and Saldiqo adds up your 12-month turnover for you.
- What goes on an invoice
- If you are VAT registered: your VAT number, the tax point, unit prices and the VAT total in pounds. A limited company shows its registered name on every invoice, and its company number, registered office and part of the UK on letters, order forms and the website.
- E-invoicing
- There is no mandate today. From April 2029 e-invoicing is planned for all B2B and B2G sales that carry VAT, through Peppol. The exact date and standard are not yet in law, and the government’s roadmap follows with the Budget on 28 October 2026.
- VAT returns
- VAT returns go to HMRC through Making Tax Digital, usually quarterly, due one month and seven days after the period. Saldiqo shows sales and VAT per rate and exports CSV. It does not submit to HMRC, and for Making Tax Digital you need software recognised by HMRC.
- Record keeping
- Keep VAT records for 6 years.
- Late payment
- Statutory interest on late business payments is the Bank Rate (3.75 % in the second half of 2026) plus 8 points, so 11.75 %. On top comes fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100, depending on the amount owed (under £1,000, from £1,000, from £10,000). Consumers have no statutory interest.
- Getting paid
- Your sort code and account number are on every invoice. Customers pay by Faster Payments or Bacs, and banks check the account name with Confirmation of Payee. There is no QR standard in the UK.
For nurseries in the UK
Many nurseries receive funded hours from the local authority. Keep the funding and the parent fees apart with two cost centres, so your report shows what each source brings in.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bill fees for many families at once?
Yes. With an invoice run you create all invoices as drafts from a CSV file, check them and finalise them together. Afterwards you see what is paid, open and overdue.
How do I handle VAT-exempt childcare?
Childcare, meals and subsidies are often taxed differently, and many providers are exempt from VAT. Which rule applies to you, you clear with your tax adviser. In Saldiqo you set the rate to 0 % per line and write the note in the closing text.
Do nurseries in the UK have to charge VAT?
Only once they are VAT registered. Registration is required when taxable turnover passes £90,000 over any 12 months, or is expected to within the next 30 days. Below that you may register voluntarily. If you are not registered, you must not show VAT on your invoices.
Do nurseries in the UK need e-invoicing?
Not today. A mandate for B2B and B2G sales with VAT is planned from April 2029, and the details were still open as of October 2026. You can keep sending PDF invoices for now.
How long should nurseries keep invoices?
Keep VAT records for 6 years. You can store receipts digitally in Saldiqo. The legal duty to keep records stays with you.
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As of October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice, without guarantee. For your case ask your tax adviser.