Food Service (Portal)
This article is for parents to use. Districts can choose to provide this information to their parents or use it as a guide for creating district-owned documentation.
The Food Service screen allows parents and students access to the following food service information:
- Current account balances
- Transactions (food item purchases, account deposits of cash, check and credit card, when enabled)
- Account history (historical transaction records)
- Account adjustments (debits/credits)
The link to the Food Service screen does not display for everyone. Specific school operations and settings determine whether this link displays. Similarly, the Payments link, which allows you to electronically deposit funds into food service accounts, is only available if that feature is used by the school.
The link to the Food Service screen displays in the Portal index, as shown:
Account Types
Depending on school setup of food service accounts, the organization of the Food Service screen may vary. Some users may have family accounts, where one account is shared by all individuals in the household. Other users may have individual accounts, where an account exists for each member of a household.
Image 2: Family Account versus Individual Student Food Service Accounts within the same Household
Viewing Account Information
The Food Service screen includes the following features.
Image 3: Account Information
Account Information Area
The following information is available at the top of the screen:
Image 4: Individual Accounts
Column | Description |
---|---|
Account Name | This column lists the names of household members who have individual Food Service accounts. |
Account Number | This column indicates the number associated to the accounts established for the household. |
Balance as of (Current Date) | This column indicates the balance for each account, as of the current date. |
Transaction Detail Area
The Transaction Detail area, located in the middle of the page, controls which transactions are displayed in the list at the bottom of the page. Information may be filtered based on the fields in this section:
Image 5: Transaction Detail
Field / Button | Description |
---|---|
Show Transactions for | This dropdown field allows the user to select the person/account to be reviewed or printed. If switching between accounts, click the Go button to refresh the information in the Transaction List table. If accounts are set up as family accounts, the user can choose to view/print specific student transactions or family account transactions. |
Month | When the Month button is selected, the user may select a month from the dropdown list that appears. After clicking the Go button, all transactions posted for that month will display. The Ending Balance total at the bottom of the page will be the balance as of the last day of the selected month, OR, the current date, if the selected month is the current month. |
Date Range | When the Date Range button is selected, the user should enter a start date and an end date in the two fields that appear. After clicking the Go button, all transactions posted on and between the specified start and end dates will be displayed in the Transaction List table. |
Go | Clicking on the Go button refreshes the display of the Transaction List table, based on the criteria currently displayed in the Transaction Detail area. |
Clicking on the Print button will generate a PDF of transaction data, based on the criteria currently displayed in the Transaction Detail area. |
Transaction List Table
The following types of information may appear in the table at the bottom of the screen, if the account has applicable transactions posted:
Image 6: Transaction List
Column | Description |
---|---|
Date | This column contains dates on which transactions occurred. |
Patron | The patron to whom the transaction directly relates. |
Item | The transaction type - generally a deposit or (food) purchase, but may also include adjustments, voided items and starting balances.
|
Comment | Entries in this column provide additional details on the transaction listed in the Item column. These are a standard set of labels applied to the transaction.
|
Debit | This column indicates a purchase or adjustment amount that reduced the current account balance. |
Credit | This column indicates a deposit or adjustment amount that increased the current account balance. |
Below the Transaction List table are two three totals: Total Debits, Total Credits, Ending Balance as of [Date].
These totals are for the Month or Date Range currently displayed in the Transaction Detail area.
Example of Printed Account Information
Clicking on the Print button will generate a PDF of transaction data, based on the criteria currently displayed in the Transaction Detail area.
Image 7: Example of Printed Account Information for a Household Account
