Daycare / childcare / preschool software, built around live staff-to-child ratio engine

Arkathos gives a daycare a workspace tailored to how the work actually runs — This workspace is built around enrolling children, billing recurring + subsidy tuition, and keeping staff-to-child ratios and state licensing in compliance. Arkathos tailors a daycare workspace around 5 agents: Quartermaster, Treasury, Marshall, Watchtower, Herald.

Compliance a daycare can't afford to miss

Watchtower tracks every license, bond, insurance policy, and continuing-education requirement for a daycare, with renewal cadences and staged reminders so nothing lapses.

• A daycare must maintain a Child Care Center License, through the State child care licensing agency (e.g., TX HHSC Child Care Regulation, NJ DCF Office of Licensing, NY OCFS, PA DHS/OCDEL, CA CDSS Community Care Licensing), which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a State Childcare License, through the State DCF / DHS Licensing, which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a Certificate of Occupancy, through the Local Building Dept, which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A daycare must maintain a Child Care Staff Annual Training / Professional Development Hours, through the State child care licensing agency (mandated under the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant / CCDBG), which renews every year.
• The Child Care Staff Annual Training / Professional Development Hours carries a continuing-education requirement of 15 hours per year (6h Health & Safety (CCDBG topics: safe sleep/SIDS, emergency preparedness, medication administration, injury prevention), 4h Child growth & development, 2h Child abuse recognition & mandated reporting, 3h General / other state-approved topics).
• A daycare must maintain a Fire Safety Inspection, through the Fire Marshal, which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential, through the Council for Professional Recognition, which renews every 3 years.
• A daycare must maintain a Health / Sanitation Inspection, through the Local Health Dept, which renews every year.
• The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential carries a continuing-education requirement of 45 hours every 36 months (45h Early childhood education / child development (across the 8 CDA subject areas)).
• A daycare must maintain a Staff Background Checks / Fingerprinting, through the State / FBI, which renews every two years.
• A daycare must maintain a Pediatric CPR / First Aid / AED Certification, through the American Red Cross / AHA, which renews every two years.
• A daycare must maintain a Pediatric CPR & First Aid Certification, through the American Red Cross / American Heart Association (or state-approved training provider), which renews every two years.
• A daycare must maintain a Comprehensive Background Check Clearance (fingerprint + child abuse/neglect registry + sex offender registry), through the State child care licensing agency & FBI Next Generation Identification (per CCDBG), which renews every 5 years.
• A daycare must maintain a Medication Administration Certification, through the State-Approved Trainer, which renews every two years.
• A daycare must maintain a CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program) Participation Agreement, through the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (state-administered by education/health/human-services agency), which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a Mandated Reporter Training, through the State Agency, which renews every 3 years.
• A daycare must maintain a Director / Staff Credential (annual training hours), through the State Office of Child Care, which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a Fire & Health/Sanitation Safety Inspection / Certificate of Occupancy, through the Local fire marshal & state/local health department, which renews every year.
• The Director / Staff Credential (annual training hours) carries a continuing-education requirement of 20 hours per year.
• A daycare must maintain a Professional Liability & Abuse/Molestation Insurance, through the Commercial insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a CACFP Food Program Enrollment, through the USDA / State Agency, which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a General Liability Insurance, through the Commercial insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a Cyber Liability Insurance, through the Commercial insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A daycare must maintain a Workers' Compensation Insurance, through the State-regulated insurance carrier, which renews every year.

Everything Arkathos runs for a daycare

These are the agents set up first for a daycare — and because it's one platform, every plan includes all 16 Arkathos agents. Also included whenever you need them: Sentinel, Guardhouse, Scribe, Courier, War Room, Armory, Mint Warden, Vault Keeper, Bulletin Board, Client Portal.

• Quartermaster — Online booking & appointments, Calendar & availability, Events & waitlists, Automated reminders, Job dispatch & scheduling.
• Treasury — Invoicing & payment collection, Expense tracking, Accounting & bookkeeping, Business tax prep & filing, Recurring billing & subscriptions, Financial dashboards & reports.
• Marshall — Payroll runs, Employee & HR records, Tax withholding & filings, Time & PTO tracking.
• Watchtower — License & permit tracking, Certification & continuing-education (CE) tracking, Renewal reminders & alerts, Compliance document vault.
• Herald — SEO & get-found content, Social media scheduling, Email & newsletter campaigns, Brand voice & content studio, Review & reputation growth, AI-overview & directory visibility.

Your tailored daycare workspace

These are net-new, daycare-specific capabilities — not a generic CRM bolted onto your industry.

• Live staff-to-child ratio engine (Marshall): Compute real-time ratio per classroom from staff clocked-in (Time tracking) divided by present children (Children/Kiosk) against age-group ratio rules, alerting the moment a room goes out of ratio and blocking check-in beyond licensed capacity. This is the existential daily-compliance object and nothing currently computes it.
• Daily digital sign-in/out with guardian signature + authorized-pickup (Marshall): Kiosk/portal check-in and check-out for each child with timestamp, guardian e-signature, and authorized-pickup verification (photo/PIN). Mandatory attendance record that also feeds the ratio engine and subsidy reconciliation.
• Child health records: immunization schedule + allergy/medical action plans (Marshall): Per-child immunization tracking with due-date alerts, allergy/medical action plans, medication-administration consent, and emergency contacts surfaced on the Children roster. Required documentation that Watchtower then watches for expirations.
• Subsidy / voucher + CACFP food-program billing (Treasury): Split private tuition from government subsidy (VPK/Head Start/state voucher), reconcile subsidy payments against attendance, and document USDA CACFP meal counts for food-program reimbursement. Daycare revenue is dual-stream and plain Invoices can't separate it.
• Staff certification + training-hour + background-check tracker (Watchtower): Track each staff member's CPR/first-aid/SIDS/medication-admin certs, annual continuing-education training-hour minimums, and fingerprint/background-check status with expiry alerts, since lapsed staff certs put the license at risk.
• Daily parent reports + photos via portal (Client Portal): Per-child daily report (activities, naps, meals, diapers/bathroom, mood) plus a photo feed pushed to parents through the portal, matching the documented 'daily reports, photos, sign-in/out for parents' expectation.
• Incident / injury report with mandated-reporter workflow (Scribe): Structured incident/injury report with parent acknowledgment e-sign, retention, and a mandated-reporter escalation path, satisfying the incident-reporting and mandated-reporter obligations.

The agents and tabs you get

Quartermaster for a daycare surfaces Bookings, Waitlist, Availability, Calendar, Chat. Treasury for a daycare surfaces Invoices, Transactions, Financial sheet, Chat. Marshall for a daycare surfaces Employees, Time tracking, Children, Kiosk, Payroll, Chat. Watchtower for a daycare surfaces Compliance items, Calendar, Overview, Chat. Herald for a daycare surfaces Get found, Directories, Compose, ✦Studio, Schedule, Brand voice, Chat.

Frequently asked questions

best daycare management software for small daycare

Common picks are Brightwheel, Procare, Lillio, and Daily Connect. Look for attendance/ratio tracking, billing, and parent messaging. All-in-one platforms like Arkathos bundle CRM, scheduling, payroll, and compliance under flat pricing instead of per-child fees.

how much does daycare software cost per child

Per-child plans usually run $1-4 per child monthly; flat plans range from ~$44 entry to $200+ advanced. Watch setup fees, per-staff charges, and 2.5-3.5% payment processing. Arkathos uses flat pricing with no per-seat or per-child fees.

how do i collect tuition from parents automatically

Use billing software with recurring invoices, ACH/card autopay, automatic late fees, and reminders; subsidy tools split parent-pay from CCDF/state portions. Arkathos's Treasury agent handles invoicing, autopay, and late-fee automation.

daycare app to track staff to child ratios

Apps monitor teacher-to-child ratios in real time and alert when a room goes out of ratio; QR or PIN check-in auto-logs attendance for licensing. Arkathos's scheduling agent tracks attendance and staffing coverage.

do i need software for a small home daycare

Not required, but it replaces binders and spreadsheets for daily logs, incident reports, immunization records, and inspection readiness, cutting admin time. Arkathos's compliance agent centralizes these records for audits.

how to fill empty spots in my daycare

Improve local SEO, respond to inquiries within five minutes, run a referral program, and work your waitlist proactively so seats never sit empty. Arkathos's CRM and marketing agents automate inquiry follow-up and tours.

best cacfp food program software for daycare

CACFP tools like KidKare, My Food Program, EZChildTrack, and Brightwheel log meal counts and food components against USDA meal patterns and auto-generate reimbursement claims, reducing errors and maximizing eligible reimbursements.

does daycare software handle payroll and staff scheduling

Many platforms track staff clock-in/out and export hours to payroll like Gusto; some schedule shifts around ratios. Arkathos runs payroll natively alongside scheduling, so hours flow through without a separate export.

is brightwheel free for daycare

Brightwheel offers a free tier plus paid premium plans (roughly $0.99/child and up); reviewers note pricing can feel unclear. Parents get check-in, online payments, and daily photo reports. Flat-rate platforms like Arkathos avoid per-child math.

What licenses and insurance does a daycare need?

Arkathos tracks 21 items for a daycare, including Child Care Center License, State Childcare License, Certificate of Occupancy, Child Care Staff Annual Training / Professional Development Hours. Each renewal and expiration is monitored in Watchtower with staged reminders.

What continuing education is required for a daycare?

The Child Care Staff Annual Training / Professional Development Hours carries a continuing-education requirement of 15 hours per year (6h Health & Safety (CCDBG topics: safe sleep/SIDS, emergency preparedness, medication administration, injury prevention), 4h Child growth & development, 2h Child abuse recognition & mandated reporting, 3h General / other state-approved topics). The Child Development Associate (CDA) Credential carries a continuing-education requirement of 45 hours every 36 months (45h Early childhood education / child development (across the 8 CDA subject areas)). The Director / Staff Credential (annual training hours) carries a continuing-education requirement of 20 hours per year. Watchtower logs hours by category and flags shortfalls before the deadline.

Which Arkathos agents does a daycare get?

Arkathos tailors a daycare workspace around 5 agents: Quartermaster, Treasury, Marshall, Watchtower, Herald.

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