Salis Care · a dedicated arm of Salis Accounting
Accountants for children's care homes.
Accounting that understands what it takes to run a children's home: shift-heavy payroll, placement-level profitability, cash that has to cover payroll before the local authority pays, and figures that need to stand up to regulators and commissioners.
The challenge
Children's home finances are unlike any other business.
Income is fragmented across placing authorities, staffing dominates costs, and the numbers have to satisfy regulators as well as the bank. Four pressures come up again and again:
Regulatory scrutiny
Ofsted (England) and Care Inspectorate Wales expect providers to show they are financially viable, not just well run.
Complex payroll
Rotas, enhancements, agency cover and sleep-ins make it easy to slip below National Minimum Wage without noticing.
Unclear profitability
Without costs allocated by home and placement, it's hard to know which placements, or which homes, actually pay their way.
Slow fee reviews
Fee negotiations with commissioners go better with a clear, evidence-based cost model behind them.
Services
Everything a children's home provider needs from its finance function.
Care-specific bookkeeping
- Reporting by home, service line and legal entity
- Per-placement profitability
- Restricted and grant-funded money tracked separately where it applies
- Bank, card and expense reconciliation in Xero
- Monthly management reporting
Payroll for care homes
- Shift-aware payroll, including enhancements and agency
- Sleep-in pay and National Minimum Wage checks every pay period
- Pension auto-enrolment
- RTI submissions, P60s and P45s
Compliance and regulator-ready reporting
- Financial information to support Ofsted and CIW requirements
- Annual accounts and corporation tax
- VAT review (care services are usually exempt, but not everything you sell is)
- Not-for-profit and charity fund reporting
Growth and funding advisory
- Cash-flow and fee-rate modelling
- Evidence for local authority fee reviews
- Financial plans for opening a new home
- Board, lender and investor reporting
How it works
Three steps, no disruption to the homes.
Discovery call
We learn about your homes, your fee structure and where admin is taking up time. Free and no obligation.
Clean-up and set-up
We tidy the books, set up reporting by home and placement, and set payroll up to handle rotas and sleep-ins properly.
Ongoing partnership
Monthly reporting, compliant filings, and a director conversation about what changed, why, and what happens next.
For new providers
Opening a new children's home? Get the numbers right from day one.
Applying to register means showing you can run the home safely and sustainably. Our Ofsted Registration Financial Viability Package gives you:
- A multi-year financial viability forecast built on realistic occupancy, fees and staffing
- A start-up cost and funding plan, including the cash you'll need before placements start paying
- Clear financial documentation to support your registration application
- Go-live set-up and handover: Xero, payroll and monthly reporting ready for your first placement
We work alongside your Responsible Individual or registration consultant. Registration decisions rest with the regulator.
Why the first year needs a cash plan
New homes often feel the squeeze late in their first year: start-up costs are spent, staff are on payroll, and occupancy and payment terms take time to settle. A rolling 8–12 week cash forecast shows the pinch points while there's still time to act.
Try the finance diagnostic →What Salis adds
From figures to controlled action.
Reliable monthly close
Placements, payroll, debtors and bank reconciled every month.
Home-level clarity
Consistent reporting by home and service line.
Forward cash visibility
A rolling forecast with clear ownership of actions.
Director conversation
What changed, why, and what happens next.
Without a finance control rhythm
- Year-end figures arrive after decisions were needed
- Staffing and agency movements are hard to explain
- Home-level profitability remains unclear
- Cash pressure is spotted too late
Working with Salis Care
- Monthly performance linked to placements and staffing
- Payroll, rota and agency costs reviewed consistently
- Profitability and cash visible by home
- Risks, actions and owners documented each month
Free resources
Practical tools for children's home owners.
The Care Home Owner's Finance Handbook
Ten financial areas every children's home owner needs to get right, with a ten-point finance health checklist.
Read the handbook onlineThe finance diagnostic
Put in summary figures for one home and see the ten numbers that matter each month: occupancy, staffing, agency, debtor days, cash runway and more.
Try the live diagnosticThe 10 Numbers Every Children's-Home Owner Should Know Each Month
The guide behind the diagnostic: what each number means and what to do when it moves.
FAQ
Questions from children's home providers.
Do you provide accounting for children's care homes in the UK?
Yes. Salis Care works with children's residential homes and supported living providers across England and Wales, covering bookkeeping, payroll, management accounts, year-end accounts and tax, cash-flow forecasting and financial planning.
How much does Salis Care cost?
Fees are fixed and monthly, and depend on the number of homes and entities, the size of your payroll and the level of reporting you need. You'll get a written proposal after a free discovery call, so you know exactly what you're paying before you commit.
Can you help with Ofsted financial viability for a new children's home?
Yes. We build the multi-year forecast, start-up cost and funding plan, and supporting financial information for your registration application, working alongside your Responsible Individual or registration consultant. Ofsted makes the registration decision; our job is to make sure the numbers are realistic, clearly explained and defensible.
How do you handle sleep-in pay and National Minimum Wage?
Time spent asleep on a sleep-in generally doesn't count towards National Minimum Wage, but time spent awake and working does. Problems usually come from averaging, salary sacrifice, deductions or unrecorded waking time pushing someone below the minimum in a particular pay period. We check pay against hours worked every pay period, so issues are caught before they become back-pay liabilities.
Can you show which placements and homes are profitable?
Yes. We allocate staffing, property and overhead costs to each home, and where it's useful to each placement, and compare them with the fee received. That gives you a clear basis for fee reviews, accepting new referrals and deciding where to grow.
Do you work with not-for-profit and charitable providers?
Yes. Where money is given for a specific purpose, such as a grant or restricted donation, we track it separately with a clear audit trail. In Wales, where providers are moving to not-for-profit structures, we support the financial modelling, reporting and implementation planning. The legal and regulatory restructuring itself should be led by suitably qualified legal and sector specialists, and we're happy to work alongside them.
Which areas do you cover?
England and Wales. We work remotely, so the location of your homes doesn't matter.
What software do you use?
We work in Xero for bookkeeping and reporting, with automated receipt and bill capture, and can connect payroll and rota data so reporting by home is consistent. If you're on other software, we'll talk through whether moving makes sense.
What question would your numbers make us ask?
Book a confidential first conversation. Summary-level figures are enough, and no child or placement-identifiable information is needed.