Childcare admin: the dates, codes and invoices to keep track of

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Childcare support in England depends on a few dates and one code, and they sit with different people: HM Revenue and Customs, the local authority and the nursery. This page lists what to track, and then sets out a small system for the paperwork.

The dates that matter

The three-month sign-in. GOV.UK says that to keep Free Childcare for Working Parents or Tax-Free Childcare you must confirm that your details are up to date every 3 months. You do this by signing in to your childcare account, which shows when the next check is due. GOV.UK says Tax-Free Childcare stops if you do not confirm, so treat the date as fixed and do it in the first week.

The term deadlines. Funded hours start at the beginning of a term. The date your child turns 9 months sets which one:

• Turning 9 months between 1 September and 31 December: hours from 1 January, apply by 31 December.
• Turning 9 months between 1 January and 31 March: hours from 1 April, apply by 31 March.
• Turning 9 months between 1 April and 31 August: hours from 1 September, apply by 31 August.

You can apply from when your child is 23 weeks old. The funded hours article explains why applying near the deadline is a risk.

The earnings test. To get 30 hours, you and your partner each need to expect to earn a minimum over the next three months. For someone aged 21 or over that is £2,643.68, which is £203.36 a week. That figure is 16 hours at the National Living Wage, which is £12.71 an hour from April 2026. Neither of you can have an adjusted net income over £100,000 for the current tax year. A change in work during a three-month period, such as a reduction in hours, is worth checking against the minimum before the next sign-in.

The code

If your application for funded hours is approved, you receive an 11-digit code that proves you are eligible. You give it to your childcare provider. Keep it somewhere you can find it quickly, because a provider that changes, or a second child starting, is a reason to need it again.

The provider also has to be eligible. For Free Childcare for Working Parents, GOV.UK says the provider needs to be on an Early Years Register with Ofsted or with a registered early years childminder agency. For Tax-Free Childcare, the provider must be signed up to the scheme, so check this before you apply. A short email to the provider asking them to confirm both is enough.

What to track on invoices

Funded hours reduce the invoice, but they do not make it simple. A record of what each month's invoice contains takes ten minutes to set up and saves most of the arguments later.

For each invoice, note:

• The month and the number of funded hours applied.
• The hours charged at the full rate.
• Any extras, such as meals or trips.
• The amount paid from Tax-Free Childcare and the date it left the account.

GOV.UK's early education guidance, in its update of 21 February 2025, reaffirmed that there must be no mandatory charges for parents in relation to the free hours. A month-by-month record lets you ask a precise question if something looks wrong, such as which line on the invoice relates to the funded hours.

Working out the Tax-Free Childcare top-up

For every £8 you pay into the account, the government adds £2. The top-up is capped at £500 every 3 months, and £2,000 a year, for each child (higher limits apply if a child is disabled).

The cap converts to what you pay in. To receive a full £500 in a quarter you pay in £2,000, which gives £2,500 to spend on childcare. Across a year, £8,000 paid in produces the full £2,000.

Say your invoices for a quarter come to £2,400. If you pay all of it from the account, you put in £1,920 and the government adds £480. That is under the cap, so the full 20% applies. If the invoices for the quarter came to £3,000, the top-up would be £600 in theory, but the £500 cap applies. You put in £2,000, the government adds £500, and the remaining £500 comes from you directly. Enter your own costs into the childcare calculator to see the effect.

A family receiving Universal Credit may be able to claim up to 85% of childcare costs, up to £1,071.09 for one child and £1,836.16 for two or more children, from 6 April 2026. The Universal Credit childcare article covers how that element works.

A simple filing system

You do not need software. A paper set-up that lives in one place works, and it is easy to hand to a partner or a grandparent who does the nursery run.

• A year planner on the wall. Ad A large wall planner with a full year across shows the quarterly sign-ins, the term dates, and the dates the nursery closes, all in the same view. Mark the sign-in dates in a colour no other event uses.
• A document file. Ad An expanding file with monthly or labelled pockets holds invoices, the code letter, the nursery contract and the fee schedule. File each invoice when it arrives.
• A notebook for the log. Ad An A5 notebook with a ruled grid is enough for the invoice record described above, and it stays with the folder.
• Index tabs. Ad Sticky index tabs in two or three colours mark which invoices have been checked against the funded hours and which are still waiting.
• A place for the code. Write the 11-digit code inside the file's front cover, not on a sticky note.

If you prefer to keep records on a phone, a photo of each invoice in a dated folder does the same job, as long as you back it up.

A yearly routine

1. At the start of each term, check the funded hours on the nursery's invoice against what you were told.
2. Sign in to the childcare account every three months and note the date of the next check on the planner.
3. File each invoice and update the log when it arrives.
4. Review the figures against the guide before any change in hours, work or number of children.