Don’t look now, but the start of the school year is just around the corner.  We at PrimeroEdge want to make sure you have the easiest back-to-school ever! Soon enough, the chipper, smiling faces of your eager students will be flocking in the hallways…and the last thing you need worry about is software settings. Now is the time to prepare and set yourself up for success for the beginning of the year and beyond.

As someone who worked in PrimeroEdge’s Customer Care Department for two years, I can say with confidence I know the pressures and the stigma related to Year Begin. More importantly, I know how to alleviate those growing pains with a few simple tips to get you on the right foot for the 2018-2019 school year. After discussing with other colleagues from the Customer Care team, I compiled the PrimeroEdge Top 5 Tips for Year Begin for you and your staff.

Turn on POS machines two weeks prior to service starting

Our standard recommendation for getting ahead of the POS curve is to get your machines running and online approximately two weeks prior to your first day of service. These terminals rely on proper network connection, data flow, and synchronization between machines to function properly. By proactively booting them up ahead of time, you can ensure that everything is updated (such as student information) and everything is flowing (balances and communication between terminals). This is important because if something is wrong, we can quickly resolve it before your first student walks through the line.

Update Menu Items, Ingredients, Recipes, and Menu Grids

Picture this: It’s Day 1, and your first hungry customer, Susan, is anxiously awaiting her meal to be processed so she can join in on some friendly lunchtime banter with her peers. Your cashier is desperately looking for this year’s beef burrito bowl, but can only find last year’s chicken burrito bowl on her ExpressPoint Dynamic Menu Grids

How can you prevent this issue? Update all your Ingredients, Recipes, and Menu Grids prior to Day 1. The PrimeroEdge Menu Planning software is intuitive and updates in real time. With some preventative actions, you can easily make sure Susan gets her delicious reimbursable meal you worked so hard to deliver.

Review PrimeroEdge settings

Now onto those software settings! Most likely, the easiest part to prepare for your Year Begin is addressing the following settings within the PrimeroEdge website. With the proper permissions, you can ensure these parameters are up to date and that your system will work exactly as expected.

  • Generate Periods
    • System > Management > Generate Periods
  • Set your Grace Period
    • System > Sites and Users > SFAs > Grace Period
  • Set your Reimbursement Rates
    • System > Configuration > Reimbursement Rates
  • Set your Attendance Factors
    • Point of Service > Reimbursements > Attendance

Update all letter templates

As with every school year, your district’s message to parents on PrimeroEdge letter templates may be slightly different from the year before. Whether it is changing meal prices or simply editing disclaimers, getting all of your external communication up to date will help the processing speed of applications and verification.

With the proper permissions, you can navigate through the following selections on the PrimeroEdge website to complete this task in an efficient manner.

Point of Service Letter Templates:

Point of Service > Administration > Letter Templates

Student Eligibility Letter Templates:

Student Eligibility > Configuration > Letter Templates

Manage Applications 

Speaking of applications, one of the more seemingly cumbersome requirements for Year Begin is making sure your application processing goes smoothly. Our dedicated Customer Care team wants to help you with that need as much as possible. With your help and our expertise, your students will receive their eligibility status as quickly as possible.

Scanned Applications: If your district processes paper applications, it is important to request your 2018-2019 application template from the PrimeroEdge Customer Care team. We will send you the specified application, and with your approval, we can have it mapped in our system in no time. Our Customer Care team will then ensure your scanner is reading the new application properly, to get your 2018-2019 school year started the right way.

Online Applications: Utilizing SchoolCafé makes processing online applications easier than ever before. No clunky hardware or paper filing required! Parents are “walked-through” the application process step-by-step to ensure the greatest accuracy for submission. Not to mention, the preventative measures for the beginning of the year are virtually non-existent. A new household letter and potentially verbiage adjustments may be required to best meet the needs of your district. We developed SchoolCafé to be as hands-off as possible to make your 2018-2019 school year the most successful one yet.

I encourage you to utilize the tips outlined above to help you start the 2018-2019 school year with a smile. If you have any questions about the Year Begin processes, feel free to reach out to our Customer Care team with the contact information below:

Phone: 866-442-6030

Email: Customercare@primeroedge.com