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CHAPTER SIX
FISCAL MANAGEMENT
KEY CONCEPTS
Resource is a means (person or thing) through which an end or goal is attained.
MESH Formula: materials, equipment, space, and human energy must be
synchronized to meet goals.
Full cost of child care service is greater than actual expenditures or amounts paid by
families; difference made up by public or private subsidies and often by foregone wages
of child care staff.
Fees must strike balance between affordability and cost of quality.
Budget is a plan for how program will use its resources to meet goals; part of planning
process.
ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS FOR STUDENTS
1. Have students work in pairs to arrange an interview with the manager of a child development
program in your community. Ask the following questions:
What is your biggest financial problem as manager?
What have you done to solve this financial problem?
What type of assistance do you have with financial matters? An accountant? A
bookkeeper? A clerk?
Do you plan using a monthly budget?
Do you keep a petty cash fund?
2. Invite a representative of your local Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Agency to
your class. Before the visit, have students brainstorm a list of questions about child-care rates
and availability in your community. If the CCR&R has conducted a workforce study, find out
how salaries in your community compare with the average rates determined by the Cost,
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Quality, and Child Outcomes Study Team. Are centers in your community able to charge
competitive rates and still pay salaries that are at least equal to the averages found in the
study?
3. The sample budget in the text (figure 6.5 on p. 113) is included as a digital spreadsheet in the
etext version. If digital projection equipment is available, access the spreadsheet and
4. Repeat the same activity with the sample cash-flow analysis (figure 6.7 on p. 117).
Have students explore the childcare software management software programs online at the