Child care management software also referred to as child care administrative software or daycare accounting software is a term used to describe a unique category of business software

Business software

This article is about software made for business, if you were looking for the business of selling software, see Software business.Business software is generally any software program that helps a business increase productivity or measure their productivity...

 designed specifically for use by child care centers, preschools and similar child oriented facilities. Such software is intended to increase staff productivity by recording unique child and family information.

This category of software incorporates aspects of other types of business software, notably accounting software

Accounting software

Accounting software is application software that records and processes accounting transactions within functional modules such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and trial balance. It functions as an accounting information system...

, but typically addresses business management issues that are unique to child care and beyond the scope of generic business software. Immunization

Immunization

Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent ....

 tracking and record keeping for the Child and Adult Care Food Program

Child and Adult Care Food Program

The Child and Adult Care Food Program is a type of United States Federal assistance provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to States in order to provide a daily subsidized food service for an estimated 3.2 million children and 112,000 elderly or mentally or physically impaired adults in...

 (CACFP) are examples of the specific nature of such software that appeals to a niche market

Niche market

A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact...

.

Child care management software is typically developed by an independent software vendor

Independent software vendor

Independent software vendor is a business term for companies specializing in making or selling software, designed for mass marketing or for niche markets...

, also known as an ISV . Capabilities vary by vendor but may include tracking one or more of the following:

• Child immunizations
• Emergency contacts
• Authorized pick up persons
• Photographs of children or pick up persons
• Waiting list management
• Classroom rosters and reporting
• Summer camps, activities and after school programs
• Child scheduling and attendance
• Child/teacher ratios
• Student meal counts
• Menu planning
• Automated billing for private pay and subsidized child care
• Family tax statements and receipts
• Electronic payment processing
• Staff scheduling
• Payroll and time cards
• General accounting and financial reporting