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Guides to Attendance & Meal Counts

Last Update 7 maanden geleden

Guide to Attendance using Daily/"Present" Guide to Attendance Using In/Out Times Guide to Attendance by Headcount Guide to Meal Counts by Name Guide to Meal Counts by Headcount

Guide to Meal Counts by Headcount

What is a meal count by headcount?

A meal count by headcount means that you are providing an overall participant count for the meal instead of marking the specific participants. In other words, a meal count by headcount tells us how many participants ate a meal, but cannot tell us who ate the meal.

How do I take a meal count by headcount?

  • You will start by clicking the button on your main site dashboard.
  • Depending on your configuration, your button might look like any of those below:
  • Choose the date, meal and roster
  • Enter the counts
    • Can't type a number in the box? Your settings might require that you use the up/down arrows.
  • Click the green "Save" button


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What is a First Meal?

First meals are the main meal count. We add the word "First" to distinguish from second meals.


If you only see "Count" and not "First Meals" that means that your site is configured for a simplified display (see below).

What is a Second Meal?

A second meal is when a participant comes back after consuming their first full meal and requests another. A percentage of second meals are reimbursable for the Summer Food Service Program, but no second meals are reimbursable for the CACFP.


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What are Meals Served to Program Adults?

These are free meals given to an adult that is an employee or volunteer assisting with meal preparation or service. These meals are never reimbursable. However, the cost of meals served to Program adults can be included in sponsor SFSP budgets and can be an allowable use of SFSP funds, if approved by the state agency.

What are Meals Served to Non-Program Adults?

These are meals that are distributed to adults that are not employees or volunteers at the site. For example, meals given to parents who are accompanying their children would qualify as a meal to a non-Program adult. These meals are never reimbursable. The cost of providing meals to non-Program adults cannot be included in SFSP budgets and is NOT an allowable use of SFSP funds.

What are non-reimbursable meals?

These are meals that cannot be served at all. Some potential reasons why a meal would not be reimbursable include:

  • Meal missing a required component
  • Unsafe food temperatures
  • Damaged meals

If a center or site enters that a meal is non-reimbursable, can I require them to provide a reason?

Yes, to require a reason to be provided for non-reimbursable meals, check the box in Site Details called, "Require Reason for Meals that are Non-Reimbursable (Headcount Only)"


When a number is entered into the Non-reimbursable meals, then a text box appears on the right to enter a reason.

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What are leftover meals?

Leftover meals are the meals that are remaining after the meal service is over. Users cannot enter a number in the "Leftovers" box. Instead the number is calculated automatically by the software using the following formula:


Leftovers = Meals Available - Meals Used 


  • Meals Available =Meals Received/Prepared + Meals Available from Prior Days
  • Meals Used = First Meals + Second Meals + Meals Served to Program Adults + Meals Served to non-Program Adults + Non-reimbursable Meals

What is the "Number of additional children requesting a meal"?

This field is for recordkeeping purposes to determine if meal order quantity needs to be increased so that each participant who wants a meal receives one.

Do sponsors have the option to simplify the screen for only the "first meal" count?

Yes, if you only want your centers or sites to enter "first meals", then uncheck the box in Site Details for "Display all options on meal count screen" and the other choices will be hidden and only "Count" will be displayed:

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When can meal counts by headcount be entered?

That depends on your sponsor settings. Sponsors can restrict users to the following time frames:

  • Only approved meal times (aka "point of service")
  • By midnight of each day
  • By a certain day of the week
  • By a certain day in the calendar month (for the month prior)


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    I'm trying to enter my meal counts, but I don't see the meal type on the dropdown menu.

    If you don't see the meal type on the dropdown, that means that

    • The meal hasn't started yet. For example if your afternoon snack time is 2:00 pm, then you won't see "pm snack" as an option on the dropdown until 2:00 pm
    • You are not authorized to enter meal counts right now because of the sponsor restrictions on meal count entry times.

    Can a sponsor require a center or site to use this screen like a "clicker" where they can't enter a final number in the box, but they need to click the up arrow every time a meal is served?

    You sure can. You will want to check the box in Site Details labeled, "Require incremental meal counts for headcount sites".


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    My meal count buttons are greyed out. Why can't I add meal counts?

    The meal count button could be greyed out for a number of different reasons, depending on the sponsor settings. Possible reasons include:

    • A menu needs to be entered
    • An infant menu needs to be entered
    • A food production records needs to be created
    • A food production records needs to be finalized
    • A food temperature needs to be recorded
    • You have clicked "Submit to Sponsor" for this month already
    • There is a holiday or closure recorded for the day

    There will either be an on-screen message about the reason or there will be hover text (hold your mouse button over the grey button and read the text that appears).


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