Childminder Start-Up Grants and Registration
Written and reviewed by the Childcare Accountants editorial team. Last reviewed 29 July 2026.
Starting as a childminder means two registrations that people often muddle: registering to be allowed to childmind, and registering with HMRC because you are now self-employed. Getting both right at the start, and knowing what start-up support is available, saves money and stress later.
This is what setting up as a childminder involves on the money and registration side. Registration here is England, through Ofsted; Scotland and Wales register through their own regulators.
Registering to Childmind
In England you register with Ofsted before you can childmind for payment, which involves the checks, training and requirements they set. In Scotland this is the Care Inspectorate and in Wales it is Care Inspectorate Wales, on their own terms.
That registration is separate from your tax. It makes you allowed to work; it does not deal with HMRC, which is the second step people forget.
Registering as Self-Employed
Once you start childminding for payment you are self-employed, and you register with HMRC for Self Assessment. From that point you keep records of your income and your expenses and file a return each year. Registering on time avoids a penalty and is straightforward when done early.
Starting the record-keeping from day one, rather than reconstructing it a year later, is the single best thing a new childminder can do for their tax, and it makes the household-costs and food claims far easier to stand behind.
Start-Up Grants and Support
There is start-up support for new childminders, including grants aimed at growing the number of childminders, though the schemes and amounts change and vary by area, so the current position is worth checking rather than assuming. Where a grant is taxable income, it has to go on your return, which is easy to overlook.
We help new childminders get registered with HMRC, set up simple records, and treat any start-up grant correctly, as part of getting a childminding business onto a sound footing. To start off right, tell us your plans.