Daycare Director & Staff User Manual

1.1 Opening the App & Signing In (Local LAN & Optional Remote Anywhere Portal)

• Inside the Daycare Building (Local LAN): Double-click the Daycare Desktop Shortcut on your computer, or open your browser to https://ccdaycare.local/ (or https://<your-daycare-hostname>.local/).
• From Home or Mobile Phone (Optional Remote Anywhere Web Portal): If your daycare has enabled the Remote Anywhere Web Portal Add-On ($10/mo), open https://ccdaycare.mcqueentechnologies.com/ (or https://<your-daycare-hostname>.mcqueentechnologies.com/) from any phone, tablet, or home computer—all data stays 100% stored on your on-premise daycare server!
• Enter your Username and Password and click Sign In.
• If your administrator created a new account or reset your password, you will be prompted to choose your own private password on your first sign-in.
• Automatic Security Lock: For child and financial privacy, the app automatically signs out after 15 minutes of inactivity (paused while the full-screen Parent PIN Kiosk is open).

1.2 🏠 Home Command Center, Morning Briefing & 🎂 Upcoming Birthdays

• Personalized Morning Briefing: At the top of the 🏠 Home Dashboard, the app greets you by name with today's date and live status badges (🟢 Checked In Now, 🍎 Meals Logged Today, 📌 Unread Bulletins).
• 🎂 Upcoming Child Birthdays Banner: Automatically highlights any enrolled children with birthdays coming up within the next 45 days (including 🎉 TODAY! and exact turning age) on both the Home Dashboard and the Parent PIN Kiosk.
• Tool Launcher Cards: Click any card on the Home Dashboard to jump directly to Tuition Check-In, Family Roster, 52-Week Grid, PNO/Taxes, Child PIN Kiosk, IRS Meal Log, Daily Kid Gram, Hours & Curriculum, State Licensing Binder, Waitlist & Capacity, Staff Payroll, Users & Modules, Settings, or Release Notes.

1.3 📌 Daycare Admin & Staff Bulletin Board

• Posting Announcements (Admins): Click ➕ Post New Bulletin at the top of the Home Dashboard, enter a Headline, pick a priority category (📢 General Update, 🚨 Urgent / Policy Change, 📅 Schedule & Closure, 🛠️ Dashboard / Tool Update, 🎉 Celebration / Kudos), type your message, and choose whether to 📌 Pin it to the top.
• Staff Read Receipts: Every staff member and administrator can click 👍 Mark as Read on each bulletin post so the team can see who has reviewed the update.

1.4 Light / Dark Mode, Per-Account Color Themes & Desktop Shortcuts

• 🌙 Dark Mode / ☀️ Light Mode: Click the Dark Mode / Light Mode button in the top-right header bar at any time. Your preference is saved automatically to your personal user account!
• 🎨 Color Themes, Card Styles & Background Scenes: Click ⚙️ Settings in the top-right header to pick from 7 color themes (including Cyber Tech Default and Cedar & Clover), 3 card styles, and custom login/app background scenes. Each staff member's theme is saved to their own login profile.
• Custom Daycare Name, Logo & Desktop Shortcuts: Click directly on the Daycare Name or circular logo badge in the top-left header to customize your branding. Click ⚙️ Settings → 🖥️ Add 1-Click Desktop Shortcut (🪟 Windows, 🍎 Mac, or 🐧 Linux) to place a 1-click launcher icon on your desktop.

2.1 🌸 Friday Check-In & 🧾 Printable Official Weekly Tuition Receipts

The 🌸 Friday Check-In tab is your weekly ledger for recording tuition payments and issuing receipts:

1. Use ◀ Prev Friday, Next Friday ▶, or 📍 This Week's Friday to view any week of the year.
2. Each family row automatically calculates:
   • Carry-Over (Prior Wks): Any unpaid balance (or overpayment credit) automatically rolled forward from prior weeks.
   • Tuition This Fri: Scheduled tuition based on the family's payment schedule (Weekly, Bi-Weekly, or Monthly).
   • Fees / Parent's Night Out: Any extra fees or credits added for that Friday week.
   • Current Balance: Live remaining balance owed after subtracting what was paid this Friday.
3. Recording a Payment: Click the green ✅ Full button to mark the full balance paid in one click, or type the exact dollar amount into Paid This Fri ($) and select the payment method (Zelle, Venmo, Cash, Check, ACH / Card).
4. 🧾 Printing an Official Weekly Receipt / Invoice: Click 🧾 Receipt on any family's row to open a clean, branded Official Weekly Tuition Receipt / Statement showing your Daycare Name, EIN/Tax ID, itemized Carry-Over + Tuition + Fees − Paid = Remaining Balance, and a PAID IN FULL or BALANCE DUE stamp (ideal for parents submitting Dependent Care FSA claims!).
5. Adding a Quick Late Fee or PNO: Click + Fee / PNO on any family's row to add a $25 Late Fee, Parent's Night Out, supply fee, or vacation credit right from Check-In.

2.2 💬 Parent Reminders, 48-Hour Late Notices & Payment Receipts

Click the 💬 Message button on any family row to open the automated message generator:

• 📅 Friday Due Reminder: Friendly reminder showing this week's tuition and total due.
• 💌 48-Hr Late Notice: Polite overdue notice calculating the unpaid balance and $25.00 late fee window.
• 🌟 Payment Receipt: Itemized text/email receipt confirming the payment amount, payment method, and remaining balance.
• Send with one click via 📱 Text / SMS, ✉️ Default Email App, 📧 Gmail, or 📋 Copy Text.

2.3 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Our Families, 🌐 Website Inquiry Import, Child DOB & 🪪 Authorized Pick-Up Adults

• Click + Add New Family to enroll a family with Parent Name, Child Name(s), Email, Phone, Child Start Date, Tuition Schedule, Tuition Rate, Starting Carry-Over Balance, and 4-Digit Check-In PIN.
• 🌐 Import Website Inquiry (1-Click Lead Capture): Click 🌐 Import Website Inquiry in either the 📋 Waitlist & Capacity tab or the 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Our Families tab to paste a raw inquiry email from your daycare website (Your Name, Your Email, Subject, Your Message) or type the inquiry details directly. Click ✨ Auto-Fill Fields from Text, then choose 📋 Add to Waitlist or ✅ Enroll Directly as Active Family!
• 🎂 Child Date of Birth (DOB): Enter the child's DOB to enable automatic Upcoming Birthday Alerts and Infant (<18m) / Toddler Age-Group Ratio Tracking.
• 🪪 Authorized Pick-Up Adults & 🚨 ID Safety Alerts: Enter comma-separated approved adults (e.g., Mom, Dad, Grandma Linda (555-0199)) and any optional Pick-Up Restriction / Photo ID Alert. These appear right on the Attendance Roster and as 1-Tap Quick-Select Chips on the Parent Tablet Kiosk!

2.4 🗓️ 52-Week Calendar Grid

• Displays a full-year spreadsheet view of all 52 Fridays across every enrolled family so you can review or edit Due, Paid, and Carry-Over balances for any week of the year.

3.1 📲 Child 4-Digit PIN Kiosk, 1-Tap Pick-Up Chips, Audio Chime & Late Pick-Up Detector

• Open the 📲 Child PIN Check-In / Out tab to view live attendance KPIs (🟢 Currently Checked In, 🏡 Checked Out Today, ⚪ Not Checked In Today) and each child's 🪪 Authorized Pick-Up badges.
• 🚀 Full-Screen Parent Tablet Kiosk: Click 🚀 Launch Full-Screen Tablet PIN Kiosk. Parents enter their 4-Digit Family PIN, tap their name from the 🪪 1-Tap Authorized Pick-Up Chips, and tap 🟢 Check In Child or 🏡 Check Out Child.
• 🔔 Web-Audio Confirmation Chime & 🎨 Custom Welcome Banner: Plays a cheerful rising chime on check-in/out and displays your custom Kiosk Welcome Message (e.g., "Don't forget Water Splash Day on Friday!") plus any 🚨 Check Photo ID alert and today's 🍼 Kid Gram summary.
• ⏰ Automatic Late Pick-Up Fee Detector: Automatically flags check-outs past your closing time + grace period and lets you add the calculated $25 Late Pick-Up Fee to that family's Friday tuition in one click (or auto-post on Kiosk check-out).
• Export Attendance Reports: Click 📄 Export Attendance PDF or 📊 Export CSV (Excel) for state licensing inspections.

3.2 🍎 IRS Standard Meal & Snack Tracker (CACFP / Schedule C Auto-Deduction)

• Check off daily 🥞 Breakfast, 🍎 AM Snack, 🥪 Lunch, 🥨 PM Snack, 🍝 Dinner, and 🥛 Eve Snack (or click ⚡ 1-Click Mark Checked-In Kids).
• Automatically calculates your daily and YTD IRS Standard Meal Allowance Deduction (up to 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner, and 3 Snacks per child per day without needing grocery receipts) and syncs directly to your Schedule C Business Tax Worksheet.

3.3 🍼 Daily "Kid Gram" Reports, 🩹 State Licensing Binder & 📋 Waitlist / Ratio Planner

• 🍼 Daily Kid Gram Reports: Log each child's daily mood, nap duration, appetite, diaper/potty count, and "🎒 Please Bring Tomorrow" supply reminders (diapers, wipes, extra clothes). Displays automatically on the Tablet Kiosk when parents check out, or print/send via Text/Email.
• 🩹 State Licensing & Safety Drills Binder: Track child allergies, EpiPen/emergency medication on site, physician info, immunization expiration dates (with 30-day alerts), Boo-Boo/Incident & Illness reports, and monthly Fire/Tornado evacuation drill logs. Click 📄 Print Complete State Licensing Binder (PDF) anytime.
• 📋 Waitlist & Age-Group Ratio Capacity Planner: Monitor your live enrolled headcount and Infant (<18 Months) Ratio against your state-licensed capacity, see the exact date the next infant turns 18 months old, and convert waitlist families into active enrolled families with ✅ Enroll.

3.4 📚 Operating Hours & Curriculum, 💼 Staff Payroll & 🏡 Year-End Tax Statements

• 📚 Hours & Curriculum: Set Monday–Friday hours, holiday closures, weekly themes, learning objectives, and meals, and click 🖨️ Print Parent Newsletter.
• 💼 Staff & Payroll (W-2 / 1099-NEC / Schedule C): Add staff members, log Friday paychecks with hours worked and withholdings, print pay stubs, and auto-sync gross payroll to Schedule C.
• 🏡 Year-End Parent Dependent Care Tax Statements (IRS Form 2441): In 🌙 PNO, Fees & Tax Receipts, enter your Daycare EIN and Address and click 🖨️ Print Parent Tax Receipts.

4.1 💾 Saving, Restoring & Zero-Knowledge Off-Site Encrypted Backups

• All data is automatically saved inside a LUKS2 512-bit hardware-encrypted vault on your on-premise daycare server every time you make a change, plus an automatic 2:00 AM daily backup on the appliance (retained for 30 days).
• 🔒 Zero-Knowledge Off-Site Encrypted Cloud Backup: In ⚙️ Settings, enter your private Backup Encryption Passphrase and click ☁️ Encrypt & Upload Off-Site Backup Now. Your appliance encrypts your database locally with AES-256-CBC before uploading the opaque .enc file to McQueen Monitor, and you can click ♻️ Decrypt & Restore anytime.
• To save an extra copy to your computer or a USB flash drive, click ⚙️ Settings → ⬇ Save Backup (.json) (automatically named with your Daycare Name and today's date).
• To restore a saved backup file, click ⚙️ Settings → ⬆ Restore Backup and select your .json file.

4.2 📦 Installing a Software Update (.tgz Package) with Live Progress Bar

• When McQueen Technologies provides a software update file (Daycare_Appliance_Bundle.tgz or Daycare_Appliance_Bundle_v2.5.3_r27.tgz), click ⚙️ Settings → 📦 Update Software and select the .tgz file.
• Watch the real-time 0% → 100% Progress Bar track upload bytes, elapsed seconds, and all 7 installation & 11-point security audit stages while keeping 100% of your families, payments, attendance, and staff data intact.

4.3 🏷️ Viewing Build Version, Revision & Release Notes

• Click the 🏷️ v2.5.3 • Rev 27 — Release Notes button on the Home Dashboard, inside ⚙️ Settings, or in the bottom footer at any time to view the current software version, revision number, build date, and complete OS + Application changelog.

4.4 🛠️ Contacting McQueen Technologies Technical Support

• Click the 🛠️ Tech Support — (254) 350-8143 button in the bottom-right footer of the app at any time to submit a support ticket or call/text Cody McQueen directly at (254) 350-8143 or cmcqueen@mcqueentechnologies.com.