Test an adult day care startup with daily attendance, not capacity alone
A Korean adult day care center business plan usually combines approved capacity, staff, floor area, shuttle vehicles, meals, and projected revenue.
Actual operating cash, however, is driven by the number of people who attend on an average operating day and by how many days the center opens each month.
Two centers with the same capacity of fifty can have very different care-worker counts, user-days, meal cost, benefit revenue, and cash runway when one averages twenty-five users and the other averages forty.
This calculator keeps approved capacity separate from average daily users and connects both to the 2026 Korean adult day care benefit-fee schedule and the general staffing screen.
It estimates staffing by role, monthly revenue, operating cost, the break-even daily-user count, utilization sensitivity, shuttle-vehicle sensitivity, and a twelve-month cash schedule.
It is not a designation approval tool or a local demand forecast, so use the result to prepare questions, drawings, quotes, and an official pre-consultation with the municipality and the National Health Insurance Service.
Who can use this planning model
- Prospective operators comparing capacity and floor-area options before signing a lease
- Founders who need a role-by-role loaded labor budget for care, health, social-work, food, office, and shuttle staff
- Teams that want to replace a headline official fee with an evidence-based average after grade mix, service duration, and claim adjustments
- Operators testing whether one more shuttle vehicle is affordable before designing routes
- Borrowers and investors checking the collection-lag runway in addition to fit-out cost and refundable deposit
The 2026 Korean adult day care benefit-fee schedule
MOHW Notice 2025-247 sets the general adult day care daily benefit amounts effective January 1, 2026.
The amount varies by long-term-care grade and the time band used on that day.
Selecting a representative grade and duration loads the matching official amount, while the verified average daily benefit fee remains editable for a real business plan.
Korean adult day care daily benefit fees by grade and service duration for 2026| Daily service duration | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Cognitive support |
|---|
| 3 to under 6 hours | KRW 41,820 | KRW 38,720 | KRW 35,740 | KRW 34,120 | KRW 32,490 | KRW 32,490 |
| 6 to under 8 hours | KRW 56,060 | KRW 51,930 | KRW 47,940 | KRW 46,300 | KRW 44,650 | KRW 44,650 |
| 8 to under 10 hours | KRW 69,730 | KRW 64,590 | KRW 59,640 | KRW 58,010 | KRW 56,360 | KRW 56,360 |
| 10 to 13 hours | KRW 76,820 | KRW 71,160 | KRW 65,750 | KRW 64,090 | KRW 62,460 | KRW 56,360 |
| Over 13 hours | KRW 82,370 | KRW 76,310 | KRW 70,500 | KRW 68,860 | KRW 67,240 | KRW 56,360 |
An official headline amount is not the center average
A real center serves several grades and time bands, while absences, monthly benefit limits, additions, reductions, and claim adjustments can change recognized revenue.
The selected amount is therefore a starting value rather than permission to multiply one fee by every planned user-day.
Replace it with a weighted average supported by an anonymized claims sample or a detailed user roster, and use the claim realization rate as a separate conservative haircut.
Enter non-covered revenue only for items that may lawfully be disclosed and agreed, such as eligible meal-ingredient charges, and never charge separately for an activity already included in the benefit fee.
Staffing changes at the seven-, ten-, and twenty-five-user thresholds
The planning screen follows Article 29 and Annex 9 of the Enforcement Rule of the Older Persons Welfare Act for general adult day care.
It starts with one director, one combined health professional from the nurse, nursing-aide, physical-therapist, or occupational-therapist group, and a reference minimum of one assistant or driver.
One social worker appears at ten planned users, one office worker appears at twenty-five, and one cook remains in the plan unless qualifying full-meal outsourcing is selected.
General adult day care staffing screen and the thirty-five-user example| Role | Planning rule | At 35 users |
|---|
| Director | One at all modeled user counts | 1 |
| Social worker | One from 10 users | 1 |
| Health professional | One combined nurse, aide, PT, or OT position | 1 |
| Care worker | One per 7 users, rounded upward | 5 required |
| Office worker | One from 25 users | 1 |
| Cook | One in-house, or zero only under qualifying full outsourcing | 1 |
| Assistant / driver | Reference minimum one, with actual planned drivers entered separately | 1 |
Staff-count rounding matters
Thirty-five daily users divided by seven gives five required care workers.
Thirty-six users gives 5.14, which is rounded upward to six rather than rounded to the nearest whole number or truncated.
With one reserve worker in the example, the planned care-worker count moves from six at thirty-five users to seven at thirty-six users.
The calculator recomputes this step cost at every integer user count instead of assuming smooth linear labor cost.
Reserve staff and concurrent roles are separate decisions
A regulatory reference count is not automatically a workable roster after leave, training, vacancies, meal breaks, and shuttle overlap.
Add reserve care workers explicitly and enter the actual driver plan instead of assuming that one reference position covers every route.
The model does not automatically apply the narrow concurrent-role exception that may be available to some centers below ten users.
Qualifications, full-time status, working hours, concurrent duties, and the official measurement of user count require case-specific confirmation.
Revenue, cost, and break-even formulas
Monthly revenue
- User-days equal average daily users multiplied by monthly operating days.
- Benefit revenue equals user-days multiplied by the verified average fee and the claim realization rate.
- Non-covered revenue equals user-days multiplied by eligible daily non-covered revenue per user.
- Total revenue adds benefit revenue, non-covered revenue, and recurring other monthly revenue.
Monthly cost and profit
- Staff cost multiplies each planned role count by its loaded monthly unit cost.
- Variable cost multiplies user-days by meals, programs, shuttle variable cost, and other daily cost.
- Fixed cost adds rent, utilities, insurance, systems, vehicle fixed cost, marketing, financing, and other recurring cost.
- Monthly operating profit subtracts staff, variable, and fixed costs from total revenue.
The break-even daily-user count is the first integer from one through approved capacity for which monthly operating profit is zero or positive.
This is more reliable than dividing fixed cost by a single-user contribution margin because the calculator rebuilds the staffing table at every user count.
It therefore captures the labor jumps around eight, ten, fifteen, twenty-two, twenty-five, twenty-nine, thirty-six, and other thresholds created by the one-per-seven rule.
If a later staffing jump creates another loss after the first break-even point, the calculator displays a reversal warning so that one headline number does not hide the adjacent risk.
Worked example using the illustrative defaults
The example assumes capacity of fifty, thirty-five average daily users, twenty-four operating days, Grade 3 service from eight to under ten hours at KRW 59,640, and a 98% claim realization rate.
It also assumes one reserve care worker, two shuttle vehicles, one driver, and the illustrative labor and operating costs visible in the input form.
These values are neither market averages nor recommended quotes, and their only purpose is to make every calculation traceable before you replace them.
Illustrative default monthly profit and opening-cash result| Measure | Illustrative result | Interpretation |
|---|
| Monthly benefit revenue | KRW 49,095,648 | Eight hundred forty user-days, fee, and realization rate |
| Monthly total revenue | KRW 53,295,648 | Benefit revenue plus KRW 4,200,000 non-covered revenue |
| Monthly operating cost | KRW 54,500,000 | KRW 35,100,000 staff, KRW 8,400,000 variable, and KRW 11,000,000 fixed |
| Current monthly profit | -KRW 1,204,352 | The thirty-five-user illustration remains loss-making |
| Break-even | 39 users at 78% | First non-negative month after the care-worker threshold at thirty-six users |
| Minimum opening cash | KRW 213,781,011 | Setup, deposit, operating cost, and one-month collection lag |
| Additional funding needed | KRW 63,781,011 | Gap after the illustrative KRW 150,000,000 available cash |
Do not read the example as a profitability promise
The example rent, labor, shuttle, and meal figures are not survey averages for any Korean city.
Actual results can move materially with wage conditions, property use, fit-out scope, route mileage, food contracts, user grade mix, and recognized claims.
Do not raise the fee assumption merely to make the model profitable; document why a grade-and-duration mix supports the amount.
The result of 39 users is valid only for this exact input bundle and must be recalculated when quotes or employment terms change.
Floor-area planning and the 48.6% labor-spending reference
Conservative capacity-area screen
The general adult day care screen starts at 90 m² of gross floor area and adds 6.6 m² of living or bedroom space for each capacity place above five.
At capacity fifty, the additional living or bedroom amount is 297 m² and the conservative gross-area planning result is 387 m².
This arithmetic cannot decide whether shared area counts, whether a room is properly separated, whether the building use is eligible, or how a mixed-use facility allocates common space.
Ask the municipality to review the actual floor plan before signing an irreversible lease or construction contract.
Monthly labor-spending reference
The calculator compares a monthly planning ratio with the 2026 adult day care labor-spending reference of 48.6%.
Its numerator includes social-worker, health-professional, and care-worker cost plus only the additional labor that the user has confirmed as eligible.
Its denominator is monthly benefit revenue rather than total revenue including non-covered charges.
The statutory rule looks at annual actual spending, eligible roles, and recognized labor items, so this monthly proxy is a warning light and not a compliance determination.
Step-by-step use
- Enter capacity and measured floor area.
Use the capacity proposed for designation, gross floor area, and living or bedroom area from the current drawing rather than a broker advertisement.
- Set realistic average daily users and operating days.
Use expected attendance rather than the number of inquiries, and remove closures and holidays from monthly operating days.
- Replace the representative fee with verified evidence.
Select a grade and duration to load the official amount, then enter a documented weighted average reflecting actual mix and claim adjustments.
- Build loaded labor cost by role.
Include employer social-insurance contributions, retirement reserve, and recurring allowances, then add reserve care workers and planned drivers separately.
- Separate shuttle and meal fixed and variable costs.
Put vehicle lease, depreciation, and fixed insurance in monthly vehicle cost, while fuel, meal ingredients, and program materials belong in user-day cost.
- Review break-even and the twelve-month cash schedule together.
A profitable earned-revenue month can still have negative cash when claims are collected later, so inspect the lowest cash month and additional funding need.
- Turn warnings into an official pre-consultation checklist.
Ask the municipality and NHIS about floor area, concurrent roles, meal outsourcing, driver coverage, claim timing, and labor-spending eligibility before committing capital.
How to interpret shuttle sensitivity
The vehicle table keeps the current user count and driver plan constant and changes only vehicle fixed cost.
It answers a narrow budget question about the monthly financial effect of one fewer or one more vehicle.
It does not decide whether the route plan can carry every user safely or on time.
Budget test
- Replace fixed cost per vehicle with the same accounting scope for every option
- Keep driver cost separate so a vehicle change does not silently remove a worker
- Compare the monthly profit difference with the cost of missed or delayed service
Route feasibility test
- Map actual addresses, travel time, pickup windows, and simultaneous route conflicts
- Check seating, wheelchair restraints, vehicle structure, insurance, and required supervision
- Confirm that shuttle work does not create an uncovered care period inside the center
Understand the twelve-month cash schedule
Earned revenue and cash receipts are different columns.
With a one-month collection lag, benefit and non-covered revenue earned in month one does not appear as cash receipts in month one, while setup expense and the refundable deposit leave immediately.
The model then moves average daily users by the monthly net-growth input, caps them at approved capacity, and rebuilds revenue, staffing, and operating cost for each month.
Twelve-month cash schedule concepts and their interpretation| Output | Meaning | Example |
|---|
| Lowest cash month | The month with the smallest ending-cash balance | Month 5 |
| Minimum opening cash | Opening amount required to keep modeled cumulative cash at or above zero | KRW 213,781,011 |
| Additional funding | Minimum opening cash less available cash, floored at zero | KRW 63,781,011 |
| Month-12 receivables | Revenue earned but not yet collected because of the lag | KRW 70,045,709 |
| Month-12 ending cash | Modeled cash after startup and monthly flows | -KRW 41,837,568 |
Minimum modeled cash is not a recommended reserve
Minimum opening cash only prevents the modeled balance from falling below zero under the entered assumptions.
It does not add a safety reserve for construction overruns, delayed designation, slower hiring, vehicle failure, user cancellations, claim disputes, or an unexpected amendment.
Build separate downside cases with slower growth, lower realization, higher labor cost, and a longer collection lag before deciding how much liquidity to secure.
Practical planning scenarios
Compare capacity before a lease
Test capacities of thirty and forty in the same candidate building.
Compare floor-area gaps, the office-worker threshold, and break-even utilization.
Keep user growth conservative because a larger room does not create demand.
Compare in-house meals and outsourcing
Run a qualifying full-meal outsourcing case against in-house cook and ingredient cost.
Enter the vendor price as a real cost rather than merely removing the cook.
Confirm contract scope, hygiene responsibility, and evidence separately.
Test a shuttle expansion
Replace fixed vehicle cost with comparable quotes.
Review monthly profit with one fewer and one more vehicle.
Validate the preferred count with actual addresses, time windows, and driver rosters.
Stress opening liquidity
Run monthly net user growth at zero, one, and two.
Compare the lowest cash month and additional funding need in each case.
Keep downside, base, and upside assumptions as separate decision records.
Pre-designation evidence checklist
- Bring the building register, measured floor plan, capacity, staffing table, operating rules, and business plan to the municipal designation team
- Confirm building use, fire and evacuation, accessibility, room layout, and allocation of common area before an irreversible lease commitment
- Ask NHIS about the 2026 fee schedule, additions and reductions, claim timing, collection timing, and labor-spending eligibility
- For meal outsourcing, verify full-service scope, food-safety responsibility, vendor price, and evidence supporting a no-cook plan
- For shuttles, document vehicle structure, restraints, insurance, driver qualifications, route timing, and coverage inside the center
- Replace every illustrative default with lease, construction, vehicle, meal, insurance, financing, and employment evidence
- Create a separate plan for dementia-dedicated service, co-located home-care services, or any other model outside general adult day care
Frequently asked questions
Q.Does capacity or average daily users determine staffing?
A.The calculator rebuilds the planning staff count from the entered daily users so that operating sensitivity remains visible.
Designation and staffing filings may use specific measurement periods and facility facts that this model cannot determine.
Do not interpret a large approved capacity as permission to operate indefinitely with a small daily-user staff plan.
Q.Is the one-per-seven care-worker result rounded to the nearest number?
A.No.
It is rounded upward so that a fraction does not create an uncovered requirement.
Seven users produce one, eight produce two, twenty-one produce three, and twenty-two produce four before reserve workers are added.
Q.Does meal outsourcing simply remove the cook cost?
A.The checkbox changes the planning reference count for the cook to zero.
A qualifying full-meal contract, hygiene controls, vendor price, and evidence still require confirmation.
Enter the vendor amount in variable or fixed cost so the comparison does not omit the outsourced service.
Q.Can I enter any amount as non-covered revenue?
A.No.
Enter only items that may lawfully be disclosed and agreed under the relevant contract and rules.
Duplicate charges for included programs or speculative income will overstate break-even performance.
Q.Does a result above 48.6% prove compliance?
A.No.
The screen is a monthly proxy against benefit revenue.
The actual rule depends on annual spending, eligible roles, and recognized labor items, so the result cannot replace statutory reporting.
Q.Can profit turn negative after the first break-even point?
A.Yes.
A single added user can trigger another care worker or an office role, causing a step increase in cost.
The model checks later user counts and displays a reversal warning when that occurs.
Q.Does minimum opening cash include a contingency reserve?
A.No.
It is the mathematical amount that keeps the entered twelve-month cumulative cash balance from falling below zero.
Add a separate reserve for delays, construction changes, vehicle breakdowns, slower demand, and claim disputes.
Q.Can I use this for dementia-dedicated or combined services?
A.No.
The model covers general adult day care only.
Dementia-dedicated staffing, concurrent-role rules for co-located services, and shared-cost allocation require a separate plan.
Official basis, verification date, and exclusions
Facility and staffing references were checked against Article 29 and current Annex 9 of the Enforcement Rule of the Older Persons Welfare Act.
Designation and claims context was checked against Articles 31 and 38 of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act and Article 23 of its Enforcement Rule.
Benefit fees and the 48.6% adult day care labor-spending reference were checked against MOHW Notice 2025-247, effective January 1, 2026.
The official sources were verified on August 22, 2026, and a later amendment may not yet be reflected in this calculator.
What the calculator does not decide
The model does not determine designation approval, local demand, permitted building use, fire and evacuation compliance, food hygiene, vehicle structure or insurance, individual qualifications or concurrent roles, tax, financing eligibility, dementia-dedicated staffing, or shared resources with home-care services.
Its result is an initial feasibility screen and does not guarantee designation, revenue, profit, occupancy, or financing.
Obtain case-specific confirmation before signing a lease, hiring staff, ordering vehicles, constructing the facility, or committing investment capital.
Replace the examples, then take the evidence to pre-consultation
Start with conservative daily users, fee realization, and collection lag, then review every staffing, area, labor, and cash warning.
Replace illustrative costs with drawings, quotes, contracts, and employment terms, and use the resulting table as a structured question list for the municipality and NHIS.