Guide · For directors and compliance leads · 25 minutes

Compliance and licensing

Inspection readiness is not a week of preparation before a visit — it is whether the records were kept on the days they were made. This is what RoundUp tracks, and the rhythm that keeps it true.

Last updated: September 1, 2026 · Print this guide

1. The compliance dashboard

One screen, six numbers. If you look at nothing else weekly, look at this.

2. Ratios

Ratio rules are built in per jurisdiction — all 50 states plus DC, and the Canadian provinces and territories — so your rooms are measured against the rule that actually applies to you rather than a generic table.

• Confirm each room's rule matches your license, not just your state's default — mixed-age rooms and nap-time exceptions vary
• Check the live count before you pull someone out of a room, not after
• Treat an out-of-ratio period as an event to explain, because that is what it will be during an inspection
• If your state has an unusual rule, set it up with support rather than approximating — an approximate rule is worse than none, because people trust it

3. Immunizations

• Record each child's immunizations with their due dates, so "due" and "overdue" mean something
• Record exemptions explicitly, with whatever documentation your state requires — an exempt child is not a gap, but an undocumented one is
• Work the "due" list monthly; families respond to a reminder weeks ahead and resent one the day of an inspection
• Multi-dose vaccines are tracked per dose, so a partial series shows as partial rather than complete

4. Staff certifications and background checks

• Record CPR, first aid, food handling, and any state-required training with expiry dates
• Watch the "expiring soon" count and book renewals before the month they lapse — courses fill up
• Record background checks with their dates and renewal intervals
• Audit staff accounts quarterly against who actually works here; someone who left in March should not still have access in July

5. Medication

Two separate records, and the distinction matters: an authorization is a parent's permission with an expiry, and an administration is a log entry saying a dose was actually given.

• Get the authorization before the first dose, with dosage, timing, and an end date
• Log every administration at the time it happens — who gave it, when, how much
• Do not administer against an expired authorization; the dashboard's expired count is the list to clear
• Set reminders for scheduled doses so a midday medication is not remembered at pickup

6. Daily health checks

Where your state requires an arrival health check, log it as part of check-in rather than as a separate sweep. A check recorded at the door is contemporaneous; one reconstructed at ten o'clock is not, and an inspector can tell.

Sunscreen application is logged the same way, with its own permission.

7. Incidents

The incident flow is deliberately more than a text box, because an incident record is the document most likely to be read by someone outside your center.

1. Record it

   Start from a template so the required fields are not left to memory in a stressful moment. Write what happened, not what you concluded.

2. Notify the family

   Same day, and record that you did. The family acknowledges with a signature, which is what closes the loop.

3. Escalate to the director

   Serious incidents route to the director, who signs off. That signature is the difference between a note and a record.

4. Follow up

   Add follow-up notes as things develop — a next-day check on a bump, a change to how the room is set up. This is the part that shows an inspector you acted, not just recorded.

8. Drills

• Run fire, lockdown, and any other drill your state requires, on the required interval
• Start from a drill template so the same details are captured each time
• Record the date, duration, participants, and anything that went wrong — a drill with no observations was not evaluated
• Check the dashboard's drill list monthly; a missed interval cannot be made up retroactively

9. Inspections and violations

• Record each licensing inspection with its date, inspector, and outcome
• Log every violation cited, individually rather than as a summary
• Resolve each one with what you actually changed and when — resolution notes are the first thing checked at the follow-up visit
• Keep the history; a pattern across visits is something you want to see before your licensor points it out

10. When a licensor walks in

Unannounced visits are the normal case. What you can pull, in the order they usually ask:

1. Current attendance and ratios — who is in the building right now, per room, against requirement
2. Child records — emergency contacts, authorized pickups, allergies, immunizations
3. Staff records — certifications with expiry dates, background checks
4. Medication — current authorizations and the administration log
5. Incidents — the recent log with family notification and director sign-off
6. Drills — dates and observations
7. Prior violations — and what you did about each

11. The rhythm