Childcare is a labor business: ratios mandate the staff, and payroll is by far the largest cost. The number that decides whether a center makes money is labor cost as a share of tuition revenue, and it's a tightrope — staff too lean and you break ratio, staff too rich and you erode margin. This dashboard puts that ratio front and center, by site and by role, alongside the overtime and float coverage that quietly reveal where the schedule is short.
What this dashboard answers
What's our labor cost as a percent of tuition, and which centers run rich or lean? How much is going to overtime, and where? How much tuition do we earn per labor hour? The economics page tracks labor cost against tuition revenue with labor-cost-% by site, against a benchmark reference line, and revenue per labor hour. The overtime page shows overtime hours and cost by site, regular-vs-overtime hours by month, and a site-by-role matrix of labor cost and its share of tuition.
The metrics that matter
Labor cost % of tuition is the headline — the controllable lever that separates a profitable center from a break-even one; operators commonly target a band in the mid-40s to low-50s percent depending on model and region. Overtime cost and overtime rate are the early-warning signals: rising overtime, especially on float/substitute roles, usually means a center is understaffed and paying premium to cover ratio. Revenue per labor hour ties it back to productivity — it tells you whether the hours you're paying for are well matched to enrollment.
Why the data is trapped
Payroll and hours live in Procare, Brightwheel, Sandbox, or a separate payroll system; tuition revenue lives in billing. Putting them in the same view — labor cost over tuition revenue, by site and by role, with overtime split out — requires joining two sources the platforms keep apart and reporting it per center. That join is exactly the cross-tab the whole vertical's economics depend on, and exactly the one no single tool rolls up across locations, so operators reconstruct it in a spreadsheet after the period closes, too late to act.
How to read it
Lead with labor cost % of tuition by site against the benchmark line — a center well above it is over-staffed or under-enrolled, and one well below may be running thin on ratio (cross-check the ratio-compliance report). Then read overtime: a spike on float/substitute roles at one site is a staffing-gap signal worth fixing before it shows up as burnout and turnover. Revenue per labor hour confirms whether hours match enrollment. The sample uses fully synthetic, anonymized data — no real payroll or financial records.
Metrics it tracks
| Metric | What it means |
|---|---|
| Labor Cost | Staff wages — regular plus overtime — for the period. |
| Tuition Revenue | Tuition revenue earned for the period. |
| Labor Cost % of Tuition | Labor cost ÷ tuition revenue — the single biggest controllable margin lever in childcare. |
| Overtime Cost | Overtime wage dollars — premium hours that signal understaffing. |
| Overtime Rate | Overtime hours ÷ total hours — how much of the schedule runs on premium pay. |
| Revenue per Labor Hour | Tuition revenue ÷ total staff hours — tuition earned per hour of labor. |
Used by: Multi-site owner/operators and finance
Frequently asked questions
What is a good labor cost percentage for a childcare center?
Labor is the largest cost in childcare, and operators commonly target labor cost in roughly the mid-40s to low-50s percent of tuition revenue, varying by model and region. Run leaner and you risk breaking ratio; run richer and margin disappears. The value of the report is seeing which centers sit outside the band and why.
Why is overtime a warning sign in childcare?
Overtime — especially on float and substitute roles — usually means a center is short-staffed and paying premium wages to cover its mandated ratios. Rising overtime is an early indicator of understaffing that, left alone, turns into burnout and turnover, so the overtime rate is worth watching alongside labor cost percentage.
Can I build this on my own payroll and tuition data?
Yes. Export staff hours and wages from your payroll or platform and tuition revenue from billing in Procare, Brightwheel, or Sandbox, and use this as a template — we model it into a Power BI report. The sample uses synthetic data, so there's no real payroll or financial information here.
Build this report on your own data
Clone this Childcare centers template — describe it and we’ll generate sample data so you can try it free, or upload your own export. You get a fully modeled, branded Power BI project that opens in Power BI Desktop.
Use this as a template →