A nanny binder that also keeps the pay records
The Nanny Binder & Household-Employer Records Kit is for families who employ a nanny, a backup sitter or a housekeeper. A printed nanny binder covers routines, allergies and who can pick up. What a printed binder can’t do is the pay arithmetic: how many hours you guaranteed, whether this week ran into overtime, how much paid time off is left, and what you have paid each person this year. This kit keeps both halves in one file and does the arithmetic.
It works in Excel and Google Sheets — delivered as an .xlsx plus a one-click “Make a copy” Google Sheets link. Share it with a partner if you like, but not with your caregiver: sharing the file shares every tab, pay records included, so give your caregiver the printed binder pages instead.
How do you track a nanny’s hours and pay each week?
You type hours in one place. The Time & Pay Log takes one row per employee per day — a day type (Worked, PTO, Paid holiday, Sick, Family canceled or Unavailable), which of two rates applies, the hours, and any miles or expenses. Mileage is priced at the rate in force on that date, from a dated table you keep on Setup.
Weekly Pay turns those rows into what you owe for every employee and every workweek:
- hours worked, paid leave, and the hours you guaranteed side by side
- paid-not-worked hours and a separate guarantee top-up when a week falls short of the guarantee because the family canceled
- overtime past 40 hours a week by default (the threshold is a Setup setting) for an employee you mark live-out, at a weighted regular rate when two hourly rates apply in one week
- gross wages, then reimbursements in their own column, then the total to pay
A finished week with no rows logged for an employee who has guaranteed hours is flagged (“No rows logged - guarantee owed?”), so a vacation week you forgot to log never quietly pays nothing.
Live-in vs. live-out is a setting because federal overtime rules treat live-in domestic workers differently (opens in new tab). State rules can differ, so check yours before you set it.
Guaranteed hours when the family cancels
Guaranteed hours are easy to disagree about. Log a canceled day as Family canceled and those hours count toward the guarantee; the week shows actual, guaranteed and paid-not-worked hours next to each other, so the top-up is visible rather than argued about. Days the employee could not work go in as Unavailable and lower that week’s guarantee instead.
PTO, sick time and holidays
PTO & Leave keeps each employee’s balance: carried in (capped), accrued to date, used, the balance now, a projection to the end of the year, and the hours that would run past your carryover cap. Sick time and paid holidays are tracked beside it.
Quarter-by-quarter wages for up to 4 household employees
The Year Rollup totals cash wages for each employee by quarter, using the date each week was paid, and checks each year total against the threshold figure for that year (the 2025 and 2026 figures ship pre-filled; verify them against the current IRS Publication 926 (opens in new tab) and replace them each year). It shows the quarter the threshold was reached, totals the household’s quarters, and flags each quarter against the quarterly wage figure on Setup (also pre-filled). It keeps the records; it does not compute any tax. If you are still working out whether the threshold applies to you, start with what the nanny tax is and what makes you a household employer.
A year-end packet for your payroll service or preparer
The Year-End Packet gathers per-employee totals — wages by quarter, hours, overtime, paid-not-worked hours, leave and reimbursements — and the household quarters into one tab to print or share. Below it, a documents-on-file list works out a keep-until year for each record from its retention basis: tax records on the Publication 926 clock, Form I-9 on the hire-and-end-date rule (opens in new tab), and fixed years for everything else. For what else to keep and for how long, see how to organize records when you employ a nanny.
The caregiver binder
The other side of the workbook is the binder itself: Children & Routines, House Rules, Health & Consent (allergies, medications and signed consents, each flagged as it nears expiry), Emergency & Pickup (contacts and a pickup list that flags permissions ending soon and anyone not authorized), a Work Agreement tab, and a Daily Log for meals, naps (with the nap length worked out), activities, mood and notes for parents. The Dashboard pulls this week’s pay, household wages so far and a “needs attention” list onto one screen.
The 12 printable binder pages give your caregiver the same structure on paper, including a weekly timesheet and a work agreement summary, and the 16-page guide explains the method behind every column. For a walk-through of what goes in each binder section, see what to put in a nanny binder.
If you only need the caregiver side for now, the free Nanny Daily Log & Emergency Info Sheet is a printable with the daily log and an emergency call-down page, shown filled in for the same fictional household and then blank to print. It is a direct download with no email and no account; it does not work out pay.
Own it, don’t rent it
Payroll services run payroll and file returns as an ongoing paid service. This kit is not a payroll service. It is a file you buy once to keep your own records straight — no app account and no renewal — and the packet it builds is what you hand to whoever does run payroll or prepare your return. For how the two compare, see a spreadsheet vs. a nanny payroll service.
What this kit is not
It organizes your records and works out wages owed from the rates, hours and policy you enter. It does not calculate taxes or withholding, file anything, or give tax, payroll, legal or medical advice. Wage and overtime rules vary by state; confirm yours with your state labor department or a payroll provider. The threshold figures ship pre-filled for 2025 and 2026; verify and replace them each year. It stores no Social Security numbers. The example household in the workbook is fictional.
