Child Care Subsidy & Return-to-Work Calculator (Australia, 2025-26 and 2026-27) | Excel

Is going back an extra day really worth it? This workbook tells you, in dollars, for your family.

Enter both incomes, the days you work now and the extra day you're thinking about, and your children's care. You get:

• Your net gain from working more, per year, per extra day and per hour, after income tax, the Medicare levy and the extra child care cost. In the example family, a 4th day adds $16,000 a year before tax but leaves $5,868 (37%) once tax and child care are paid.
• Your Child Care Subsidy percentage for each child, including the higher rate for second and younger children under 6, worked to 2 decimal places the way Services Australia does.
• Your out-of-pocket cost per day, per week and per year: the gap fee you pay the service while 5% of your CCS is withheld, and the true cost once it's paid back.
• A plain-English summary of your answer, written from your numbers.

What generic templates miss, and this one doesn't:

• Extra income can lower your CCS percentage on every day of care, not just the new one. The workbook shows by how much.
• The 3 Day Guarantee (law since 5 January 2026): 72 subsidised hours per child per fortnight, or 100 when each parent does more than 48 hours of work or study a fortnight. Working an extra day can lift you from 72 to 100 hours, and the workbook shows when.
• Hourly rate caps for centre-based day care, family day care and outside school hours care, for children below school age and at school.
• 2025-26 and 2026-27 CCS rates and income tax rates, switchable with one cell.

Inside: Home, Dashboard, Your Family (inputs), Results, Workings (every step for every child), Rates (with sources), Checks and Notes & Sources. Example family included. Built for Microsoft Excel (formulas recalculated and tested in LibreOffice).

Built and checked by a CPA. Every formula tested against a separate calculation.

Every rate and rule was checked against Services Australia, the Department of Education, the Federal Register of Legislation and the ATO on 23 October 2026. The sources are listed in the file.

Not included: in home care, Additional Child Care Subsidy, HELP repayments, Family Tax Benefit and work costs.

Designed by Plain Numbers Co with the help of AI tools. Listing images are designed previews of the actual file.

30-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE: if it doesn't work for your situation, message us within 30 days. We'll fix it, or refund you in full if you'd rather. This is in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, which are not excluded.

General information only, not financial, tax or legal advice. It doesn't take your personal circumstances into account. Check your Child Care Subsidy with Services Australia and your tax with the ATO or a registered tax agent before making decisions.