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Meal records

Record servings, review attendance and keep a signed daily record.

Children building with wooden blocks alongside a teacher in a bright classroom

What this is

Meals keeps a private daily meal and attendance record for Texas, California, Florida, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Georgia, North Carolina and Washington centers. Record servings when they happen, then review and sign the day.

Do this

  1. After you sign in, open Daily reports and choose your school. The Children overview opens automatically with the first permitted room; use Room beside the school selector at the top to switch lists. Loading the list does not mark attendance or record servings. A manager saves program details in School setup → Food program.

  2. Record a serving for each child who receives this meal. Choose Meal, the meal type and children served, then Save. Share a family update starts off; turn it on for food, amount eaten and notes, then Save & share. Already-recorded children need an explicit extra serving and reason. Keep staff and other meals under Meal records and daily review.

  3. Check attendance. The list updates when you change rooms, dates or meals, and after recording a change. Use Review servings, then the serving’s three-dot menu to correct a mistake with a reason.

  4. As a manager, open Meal records and daily review → Daily review and signed copies and review and sign the daily record. Download the signed copy, open the file and choose Print.

  5. Open Tuition → Food reimbursements → Eligibility to copy the dates and file label from a reviewed household decision. Choose the children and record each child’s own category. Confirm the original before saving; use Correct review or Add renewal for later changes.

  6. Open Tuition → Food reimbursements (under Assistance & reimbursements at a center) and choose a date in the month. Review signatures, attendance and eligibility gaps, then use each day’s menu to see counts. Download a private CSV workpaper for the sponsor’s separate claim process.

  7. As Owner or Org admin, open School setup → Food program and review Record retention for every covered program year, agreement, final claim and open issues.

How it works

Daily record
Each school keeps original child identities, six meal types and attendance evidence. School transfers do not replace those identities.
Where each task lives
All staff record and correct daily servings in Daily reports, within their permitted locations and rooms. Managers configure the program in School setup → Food program and review eligibility and monthly reimbursement in Tuition → Food reimbursements. Managers sign complete daily records; Owner and Org admin review retention and software approval. The meal form can save counts plus an optional family update together. Family-only updates are available for earlier dates, existing servings or unavailable counting. Editing or deleting an eating update leaves serving evidence intact. Attendance and amount eaten never create servings.
Servings and attendance
All servings are recorded, including extras. Attendance comes from check-in records. Staff and non-program meals have separate totals.
Corrections and signatures
A correction keeps the original and its reason. Signed copies stay unchanged; later changes require a new review and signature.
Access
All staff can record daily servings within their permitted locations and rooms. Managers need school and care-record access to sign, print, configure the program or review eligibility and reimbursements. Only Owner and Org admin change retention and software approval reviews.
Keeping records
Program-year and final-claim dates, agreements and recorded issues determine retention. Unknown reviews and holds keep records. Later reviews cannot shorten earlier saved dates, and any included child hold keeps the shared daily record.
Household eligibility
Ashby keeps copies of reviewed decisions, not benefit applications. Siblings can have different categories. Missing or expired information stays unconfirmed in Ashby and never blocks meals. Keep original paperwork at school; do not enter income, Social Security numbers or benefit case numbers. Corrections keep earlier reviews; all covered program years and any child hold protect the shared history.
Paper backup
Use the approved paper form if the app is unavailable. Keep the original signed form. Earlier meals cannot be backfilled as new point-of-service entries.
Reimbursement workpaper
Texas centers can open Reimbursement from Monthly review, copy the sponsor-approved site enrollment basis and services, review the confirmations, then calculate a closed month. Save CSV downloads the estimate after checking saved evidence again. Saved meal and eligibility evidence is rechecked; stale reviews and evidence gaps require another review. Extra servings are not silently discarded. The result separates meal reimbursement and cash-in-lieu before sponsor adjustments; it does not approve or submit a claim.
California inputs
California ordinary non-pricing centers using fixed percentages can prepare enrollment-study counts and average daily participation. Save CSV rechecks the records. California category conversion, state supplements and reimbursement dollars are not calculated; pricing, wraparound and special programs require sponsor review.
Florida inputs
Florida ordinary nonprofit centers can prepare MIPS inputs using the monthly attended enrollment roster, actual serving days, approved meals and reviewed whole-dollar expenses and income. Official originals, any alternate-form approval and timely counts must be reviewed first; required paper records for this month and the previous 12 months stay on site. Ashby does not verify meal-end times or replace official forms. For-profit, shift-care, over-capacity and special claims are unsupported.
Minnesota inputs
Minnesota ordinary nonprofit centers can prepare CLiCS inputs. Include every enrolled monthly attendee once, even without a meal; exclude nonattendees. Review total eligible attendance and days open operating CACFP. Attendance averages round up. Check classroom and shift transitions, licensed capacity, dated menus, meal patterns and HIS originals. Confirm the school’s approved participation and method. This prepares inputs only; no reimbursement or filing.
Georgia inputs
Georgia ordinary nonprofit single-shift centers can prepare ATLAS attendance, roster and meal inputs. Include only children who attended and were present for a meal that month. Review total eligible attendance and meal-serving days; the average rounds up. Retain annual enrollment, current IES and original meal records. Review the approved method and separately complete financial cost details using supported expenses and the approved budget. No reimbursement or filing.
North Carolina inputs
North Carolina ordinary nonprofit centers with children under 13 and at most three approved meal services can review daily first meals in infant, ages 1–2, 3–5 and 6–12 bands. Missing ages and unsupported schedules withhold preparation. Check original attendance, separate non-program counts, menus and the official monthly summary. CONNECTS mapping, claiming percentages, reimbursement and filing remain separate. In preservation, record the final expenditure-report submission date; unknown dates and unresolved matters keep records preserved.
Washington inputs
Washington ordinary nonprofit centers can prepare the monthly eligibility method used from October 2025. Include every enrolled attendee once, including children without meals. Retain the required Participant Eligibility Roster and original enrollment/EIEA forms; household electronic signatures require an OSPI-approved process. Review point-of-service counts, menus, costs and any prior field-trip notification. WINS conversion and authorized filing remain separate.
Ohio count review
Ordinary nonprofit Ohio centers can prepare daily counts after reviewing enrollment, certified eligibility originals, attendance, meal patterns and point-of-service records. Review the August 2026 electronic-record policy, including two designated people with access, staff training and backup/recovery arrangements. Ashby does not replace the original eligibility certification or certify system compliance. CRRS application approval, current forms, claiming method, deadlines and authorized filing stay separate; no dollars or claim are submitted. Keep the current program year and previous three years, longer for unresolved reviews and the final-claim floor.
Pennsylvania count review
Ordinary nonprofit Pennsylvania centers can prepare reviewed daily meal counts with current enrollment, effective eligibility, point-of-service and original menu, attendance and cost evidence. This does not verify the approved claiming method or map CN PEARS fields. Review those requirements and filing authority separately with PDE or your sponsor; no dollars or claims are submitted. In Record retention, enter when the final fiscal-year claim was paid. Unknown payment dates keep records; the later paid-date floor retains them for at least three further years.
Illinois inputs
Ordinary nonprofit centers can prepare actual daily free, reduced and paid counts by service for review against the ISBE 67-22 recap. Check current annually signed enrollment for every claimed child, reviewed eligibility dates, counts taken while children are eating, and official meal, attendance and menu originals. Enrollment totals never allocate meals. Authorized representatives complete separate WINS site and sponsor claims; this preparation calculates no dollars and submits nothing. For-profit, Head Start, outside-school-hours, at-risk, shelter and adult claims are unsupported.
New York inputs
Ordinary nonprofit centers preparing their own meals can prepare DOH-3703 inputs. Enter all enrolled categories, all days open and summed daily attendance, including days without meals. Review originals first. An authorized representative must separately complete the agency claim; the Ashby daily signature does not certify it. Seconds, for-profit, at-risk, shelter and adult claims are unsupported.
Monthly review
Recorded totals include extra servings and keep staff/non-program meals separate. No record means unknown, not zero. Gap totals count child-days. The review uses current signatures, attendance and eligibility; it does not verify meal patterns, site claiming percentages or sponsor approval.
Claims
Meal records do not establish household eligibility or submit claims. Use your sponsor’s approved reimbursement process.
Home daycares
A home daycare logs meals in Daily reports. Food reimbursements (a row on Tuition, also opened from Daycare setup → Food program) counts each child’s breakfasts, lunches, snacks and suppers for a month (one of each meal per child per day; morning, afternoon and evening snacks together) and the days each child was here. Print it or download a spreadsheet for your sponsor’s claim form, which is still yours to send.

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