Many school cafeterias have traded cash payment or ticketing programs for point of sale (POS) systems. As in retail stores or restaurants, POS systems provide an array of features and functionality beyond just completing payment transactions, but school cafeteria POS systems need unique features for the specialized application in which they are used. Here are five features your POS systems must have:
1. “Public” Access.
Your school cafeteria POS system should integrate with an online portal to allow parents and guardians to manage their children’s accounts. Access is “public” in that non-school employees can access accounts, but with individual logins, only the student’s parent or guardian can access their account information. With this feature, parents can track account balances, review transactions, and set spending limits. Parents also have the ability to restrict specific food items due to dietary or cultural restrictions.
2. Multiple Tenders and Online Payments.
School cafeteria POS systems need to accept a wide array of payment types. The system should enable payment via credit or debit cards, bank account information, and automated clearing house (ACH) transactions. The matter of credit card fees must be addressed — with either the school absorbing them or passing them on to the cardholder.
The POS system should also allow for payments online — parents will appreciate the convenience of adding funds when it is convenient for them to do so, and this also eliminates loss associated with a student carrying a payment to school.
3. Free or Reduced Meal Management.
Another feature that is essential to school cafeteria POS is the ability to manage free and reduced meals. The POS software may enable you to take an application through your POS system and calculate eligibility. The system should also be able to easily change a student’s status and indicate this when the student makes a purchase so the correct balance is communicated to the cashier. Managing free and reduced lunches in this manner also provides confidentiality to students benefitting from the program — there is nothing that differentiates them from any other student at the checkout. By managing your free and reduced meal program though the point of sale, there will be an accurate accounting of all students eligible for the program and more students who participate, helping you to maximize your reimbursements.
4. Reporting.
Because they can automatically generate reports, school cafeteria POS systems can save managers and administrators countless hours with closeout/sales, meal counts, and student/patron lists. You can also complete state and federal reimbursement reports, including the ability to calculate what your reimbursement will be.
5. Administrative Control.
Make sure your school cafeteria POS system gives you the control to set definitions, e.g. the cost of meals at particular schools, the cost for a meal based on standard or reduced status, and to manage à la carte items and their prices.
Also look for intuitive user interfaces that can display à la carte items to help cashiers move students through the line more quickly.
Upgrading to a POS system for your school cafeteria is a significant investment — both in finances and resources to establish new processes for your employees and students. Make sure you choose the best system with features that give your school everything it needs to successfully deploy and benefit from this technology.
