Daycare attendance and pickup log in SharePoint

Use two SharePoint lists: Children (first name, room) and Attendance (one row per child per stay, with date, time in, time out and picked up by). A saved view filtered on Date = [Today] and an empty Time out shows who has not been signed out.

The log records what a person typed. It does not replace an emergency plan, and it does not state what a licensed program must keep. Your state's licensing rules decide that. Exact names may differ on your screen.

What not to store about a child

Decide what stays out before any column exists. Each field in these lists describes a minor or the adult who collects that minor, so each one is a field you have to defend.

Ask first. Your licensing office or attorney can name the attendance records a program must keep, how long, and where. Requirements vary by location and program type, and this guide states none of them. Use your state's licensing rules; this list only records.
Keep the roster thin. A first name and a room are enough to start. If you prefer no names at all, number the rows, as in "Child 12". Medical notes, allergies, custody terms, birth dates and home addresses do not go in either list.
Pickup adults need their own decision. A grown person's name is personal data too, so raise it with your attorney before you type any. A relationship word such as "Parent" or "Grandparent" is one cautious choice for Picked up by.
Permissions control access. A view only changes what shows on screen, and any person with list access can flip to another one. Microsoft's help page on customizing permissions for a list or library explains how to give a list its own permissions. It recommends the built-in SharePoint groups or the Microsoft 365 group, and says breaking inheritance is supported but not recommended. Your admin can tell you which fits your site.
Plan the end of each row's life. Learn the retention period from your licensing office or attorney, then delete rows when it passes.

One state example, for orientation only: Wisconsin's child care certification manual says the operator keeps a record "including the actual arrival and departure times for each child," and that the record "must include each time a child is checked in/out of the program throughout the day." Citing the state's subsidy rules, it says records are kept "at least 3 years, meaning 3 years from the attendance date," and a note for subsidy providers says to "retain the written daily attendance records for each child for at least 3 years after the child's last day of attendance." The manual also says a provider "may use an electronic form or system to capture the same information." Other states differ. Ask your own licensing office. Whether a subsidy program needs a parent sign-off depends on the state, so ask the office that pays the subsidy.

What you are building

Start with the picture of two lists and one link between them. "Children" is the roster. "Attendance" is the daily record. The link is a lookup column named Child, so staff pick a name from a drop-down instead of typing it, and "Child 12" reads the same on day 1 and day 90.

First list ever? Read "Replace a spreadsheet tracker with a SharePoint list" before this one. If entries should arrive through a form at a front desk, see "A visitor sign-in log in SharePoint". Both stay out of the steps below.

Why the paper sheet falls short

A clipboard sheet works until someone asks a question it cannot answer. Where the sheet breaks:

A blank Time out cell, with no way to tell a forgotten entry from a child still present.
Separate sheets for separate rooms, so no single page shows the whole building.
Old sheets in a box, so one date takes a search through paper.
Names visible to the next parent who signs.

A list fixes the first three. The fourth is a privacy matter, which the section above covers.

Step 1. Build the "Children" roster

Start from "+ New", then "List", then "Blank list", per Microsoft's help page on creating a list. Type the name "Children" and select "Create". Two columns are enough, and the room decision comes first because it limits the choices later.

Room (Single line of text). Type the room name, such as "Sunflower". Choose text, not Choice: "Attendance" needs to show the room, and Microsoft's lookup page puts Choice under "Unsupported column types".
Title (Single line of text). Rename the Title column "First name". If two children share a first name, switch that pair to numbered rows, as in "Child 12" and "Child 13".

Add one row per enrolled child, such as "Child 12" in a no-names setup. Remove the row when the child leaves.

Step 2. Build the "Attendance" log

Create a second blank list called "Attendance". Start with the link back to the roster, then the day's facts.

Child (Lookup). Select "Add column", then "Lookup". Microsoft's help page gives these steps: under "Select a list as a source", pick "Children"; under "Select a column from the list above", pick "First name". Select "More options" to show more columns from the source list, and tick "Room". Select "Save". Microsoft says lookup columns should be created and used within the same site, so keep both lists together.
Date (Date and Time, date only). A child gets one row per day.
Time in (Single line of text). Type a time such as "8:05". Because it is text, the list cannot add up hours for you.
Time out (Single line of text). Leave it empty until the child leaves.
Picked up by (Single line of text). Keep it to a word such as "Parent". See the section on what not to store before deciding what goes here.
Title (Single line of text). Rename it "Entry". The Child column already names the child.

Step 3. The door routine: in at drop-off, out at pickup

One row covers a child's whole day, written in two touches at the door.

At drop-off, the room's sign-in person opens "Attendance" and selects "New". They pick the child, enter the date and Time in, and save.
At pickup, the same person opens that morning's row, fills in Time out and Picked up by, and saves. If a child leaves and comes back the same day, start a new row for the second stay, so every in and out is on record.

The same sign-in person types both touches at the door, never from memory at closing.

Treat each row as a plain note of what happened. Mistakes will occur, so agree on a correction habit with your licensing office or attorney before you need one. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: add a short remark to the row where a typo occurred, and do not wipe the original entry.

Step 4. Two saved views: still here, and in the building today

Two questions repeat through the day: whose pickup has not been recorded, and who came in at all. One saved view answers each. Build the first one first.

View 1, named "Not signed out yet"

In "Attendance", open the view menu and pick "Edit current view", which opens the classic view editor.
Under "Filters", choose "Show items only when the following is true".
Select the Date column, set "is equal to", and type [Today].
Add a second line with "And": Time out, "is equal to", and leave the value box empty.
Tick Child, Room, Time in, Time out and Picked up by. Save it as "Not signed out yet".

Microsoft's help page on filtering a view says you cannot use the [Today] or [Me] filters from a column header, and that these two filters need the classic view editor (Edit current view, then Filters). Its examples for Date columns use "is equal to".

View 2, named "In the building today"

Open "Not signed out yet", pick "Save view as" from the view menu, and name it "In the building today".
Choose "Edit current view" and delete the Time out filter line. Keep Date is equal to [Today].

Phones and tablets: with the Lists apps for Android and iOS retired in mid-November 2025, a tablet at the door runs the list in its browser from https://office.com/launch/Lists. Microsoft recommends the mobile web version.

Both views are screens of what staff typed. They raise no alarm and cannot serve as a head count in a crisis. For emergencies, use the method your own emergency plan names.

Step 5. Close out the day

Before staff leave, open "Not signed out yet" first. A row still showing means a Time out was never typed. Ask the room lead what happened and correct the row. This check stands in for someone reading the paper sheet at closing.

On a set day, an admin can open "Attendance" and sort by Date to look for gaps. A date with no rows can mean a closed day or a missed list, so check it against the calendar.

What to avoid

Putting health, allergy or custody details in either list. Store them only where your licensing office and attorney direct.
Treating a view as a lock. Anyone with list access can open another view.
Using the log as the emergency plan. Staff rely on the method that plan names.
Entering ratios or head counts as if the list verified them. It records and nothing more.
Sharing the site with the whole company. Ask your admin for the site's current member list.
Making Room a Choice column. Lookups reject that type, so Room would not show through Child.
Keeping rows with no end date. Old rows are a liability, so delete on the retention schedule.
Filling the day in at closing time from memory.

Honest limits

The list holds whatever a person typed. It cannot confirm who actually collected a child, and no identity check happens inside it. If you need a signature or photo identification at pickup, build that into the front-door routine separately.

Counting is outside its job as well. Nothing here totals the children in a room or tests that total against a rule. For staffing numbers, ask your licensing office which record they expect.

On technical ceilings: Microsoft gives the default List View Lookup Threshold as twelve lookup columns. This build has one lookup, so this build sits far below that ceiling. Microsoft also says a delete of more than 1,000 items may be blocked when lists are joined by a lookup, which matters when you clear old rows in bulk.

Last, the whole thing rests on people. If a room owner skips a morning, that day has gaps, and the list looks fine while being wrong.

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

How long do daycares keep attendance records?

The length is set by your state. One example: Wisconsin's child care certification manual, citing its subsidy rules, says records are kept "at least 3 years." Ask your licensing office or attorney for your own state's rule.

Can this replace a daycare sign in sign out sheet?

It can take the place of the paper sheet at the door: one row per child per day, with Time in, Time out and Picked up by, typed by the room's sign-in person. It is a record, not an emergency plan.

What columns does a daycare attendance sheet template need?

In this build: Child (a lookup to the roster), Date, Time in, Time out and Picked up by. A sample row: Child 12, 2026-10-21, Time in 8:05, Time out 5:10, Picked up by Parent.

Can I use this to account for children in an emergency?

No. It is a record of sign in and sign out. Follow your own emergency plan, which should name the method staff use.

Does this list meet my licensing requirements?

This guide cannot say. Rules differ by place and by program. Use your state's licensing rules, and ask your licensing authority or attorney which records you must keep and how. This list only records what staff type.