Money & Co-minder

[SammyL]

Hi,

I'm in the pre-reg process & am starting childminding with someone else.

We have agreed to split the fees paid 60/40, but how would the business expenses be paid?

eg. the monies I can claim for wear & tear, council tax etc. Would they come off the tax bill at the end of the year or would you recommend we deduct them monthly from the fees paid before splitting it 60/40?

I'm in the process of moving house to accommodate the childminding & my friend has 2 children & I have 1. My partner thinks it will be financially better for me to do this on my own but as we are both starting out we thought it would be better to do this together. She just seems very reluctant to talk money & i;m a very business minded person who wants to get all of the issues that could cause problems down the line resolved now.

Just to mention though, she was going to start on her own but asked if we could work together when I said I was moving to a bigger house.

We have in addition to the above agreed to put so much per month away for expenses / running costs.
Are we better being self employed or forming a partnership?
Would the money be paid into my account & they me pass it on to my her or would we open a joint account?

Any advice & help will be gratefully received, as you can probably tell, the financial side is worrying me due to not wanting to upset but also not wanting to be ripped of & end up footing the bill for everything.

Thanks in advance & sorry for the rambing!! :(

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I would recommend that you do all your accounts for the year and then split the money. Surely the wear and tear would come into the percentage when it is worked out?

If you both took money out of the business during the year the profit takings at the end would be adjusted.

[butterfly]

Will you both be working out of YOUR house or will you be using both houses?

I work alongside another minder but we keep our finances totally seperate. She has her mindees and I have mine (when a new family approaches us we agree between us who they should go with depending on days/hours etc). Families pay each of depending on the hours we are their key worker for.

We get together most days between 9.30 and 12.30 (usually at mine) but are seperate before school, and in the afternoons and after school. At first we stayed at mine for the majority of the day but it got too much for me always having so many children in my house all the time and always my things being ruined! Also we found it much better for the children to be able to sleep in our seperate homes as there is more room and it's quieter. That also allows you to have a quieter day if the other isn't working or if you just need some time out.

If everything is happening in your house then all the wear/tear money should be yours. She shouldn't be claiming for household expenses if she's not using them. If you're going to be splitting money etc I would suggest you get a water tight contract/agreement sorted between you otherwise you will end up feeling resentful and probably fall out!

[Cammie Doodle]

Carolyn and I work together Tues Wed and Thurs usually at mine as I have decking leading out of the playroom/ dining room so its better for crawlers, at least this way they can enjoy the outdoors whatever the weather. We share some families, but all money is separate it never comes into it really (apart from when we share costs of gifts for the children or shared equipment ) Carolyn gets paid for her hours and i get paid for mine. I worked from Carolyns the other day as my boiler was being mended :thumbsup: meant I could carruy on working and not lose earnings, very handy having a Minder/ Friend next door

[Chatterbox Childcare]

How are you co minding then?

Co minding is on your certificate and it doesn't sound like that is what you are doing?

[butterfly]

We looked into getting it on our certificates but were advised against it. If I wanted to register my colleague as an official co-minder the area in my house would be taken into consideration and we probably wouldn't have been able to have our full quota of children. Plus in my area I would need to seek planning permission. Our's is an unofficial arrangement and both Ofsted and our LA are happy with it!

[Chatterbox Childcare]

We looked into getting it on our certificates but were advised against it. If I wanted to register my colleague as an official co-minder the area in my house would be taken into consideration and we probably wouldn't have been able to have our full quota of children. Plus in my area I would need to seek planning permission. Our's is an unofficial arrangement and both Ofsted and our LA are happy with it!

I was in the same boat and decided against it but the arrangement you have now, as you stated above, is not co-minding

[SammyL]

Thank you for your replies.

I'm really confused now as I didn't realise I had to register this on my certificate.

We just wanted to mind out of the same property & were wondering on how we would share costs etc.

I think i'll call ofsted tomorrow for some clarification.

Thanks for your help tho!! :)

[karensmart4]

I work alongside a co-minder from my house.

I work longer hours so the actual hours that she works she gets 40% of the earnings plus we each put £5 a week into petty cash for outings, children's presents etc.

I purchase anything new as I think it's my house, I starting the minding and she joined me and it's my choice to do it and I get the 60% so the extra percentage covers this.... obviously when I'm working alone I get 100%.

We are both registered independently but from one house and last year we had independent Ofsted inspections (I thought this was a bit odd but luckily we both got the same grading).

We are both self employed and do our own tax returns, she doesn't put in for many expenses as I cover the biggest part of these.

I hope that makes sense :)

[MrAnchovy]

Note that if you have someone else working in your house it is usual to have them pay part of the cost of new carpets, curtains, furniture etc. when these are replaced. They can then claim the 10% wear and tear allowance (it doesn't matter that the amounts don't match up).

If they pay you 'rent' (either a fixed sum or a percentage of income etc.), they can deduct this as an expense but you must declare it as income (it should go in the 'other income' section of the tax return so you don't pay Class 4 NI on it though - it is not income to your childminding business).

[SammyL]

I work alongside a co-minder from my house.

I work longer hours so the actual hours that she works she gets 40% of the earnings plus we each put £5 a week into petty cash for outings, children's presents etc.

I purchase anything new as I think it's my house, I starting the minding and she joined me and it's my choice to do it and I get the 60% so the extra percentage covers this.... obviously when I'm working alone I get 100%.

We are both registered independently but from one house and last year we had independent Ofsted inspections (I thought this was a bit odd but luckily we both got the same grading).

We are both self employed and do our own tax returns, she doesn't put in for many expenses as I cover the biggest part of these.

I hope that makes sense :)

Thank you so much - this makes lots of sense. I called Ofsted today & they confirmed this also :) Phew - big relief.

x

[SammyL]

Note that if you have someone else working in your house it is usual to have them pay part of the cost of new carpets, curtains, furniture etc. when these are replaced. They can then claim the 10% wear and tear allowance (it doesn't matter that the amounts don't match up).

If they pay you 'rent' (either a fixed sum or a percentage of income etc.), they can deduct this as an expense but you must declare it as income (it should go in the 'other income' section of the tax return so you don't pay Class 4 NI on it though - it is not income to your childminding business).

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.
Just to clarify - even though my friend will be working from my house, she can still claim expenses such as wear & tear?

Thanks for all your help...i'm sooooo new to all this!

[karensmart4]

Don't forget that you and any co-minder have to record what time you both start minding and what time you finish (a time sheet) this way as well as it being an Ofsted regulation you have a definite record of hours.

You obviously do this with the children too...... and don't forget times need recording to the minute. :thumbsup:

[MrAnchovy]

Just to clarify - even though my friend will be working from my house, she can still claim expenses such as wear & tear?

Providing they incur relevant costs in the way I explained this should be OK, although I don't know enough about your particular circumstances to be sure and nothing I or anyone else says is binding on HMRC anyway.