A school nutrition POS system that uploads in real-time keeps students and their families on the same page about account balances. Everyone’s busy these days, so families need the flexibility to view a student’s available balance on the go, and then fund it accordingly when needed. POS system delays throw a wrench in the works when the balance shown doesn’t reflect purchases yet to post. A parent or guardian who checks their student’s balance in the evening may think the account is funded for the week, but a delayed debit can lead to a student encountering a low balance the next day at lunch.
To illustrate the confusion and frustration a POS system can cause, we’ll take a look at the story of seven-year-old Larry—he’s a kid who loves ice cream a bit too much for his weekly lunch budget. An online payment system that updates in real-time could have saved his family some stress.
How a school nutrition POS delay made ice cream a daily treat
Larry stood in the lunch line at school on a Monday like any other. He focused on balancing his newly filled tray of Sloppy Joes when he saw it there in the cold case—a single serving cup of vanilla ice cream.
His eyes shifted left and right as he neared the case. Would his parents see him add it to his tray? Ice cream was typically reserved for after dinner, if he ate his vegetables. He snagged the frozen serving and entered his student ID into the POS terminal, then shuffled off with his overloaded tray. But the POS system wasn’t integrated to sync with Larry’s account in real time.
He only felt safe once he was seated at his lunch table where he dove into his sweet treat.
As they sat around the dinner table that night, Larry and his family discussed the day and, just as they always did, Larry’s parents asked him what he had eaten for lunch. He grinned while he chewed on a big bite of green beans, exclaiming he’d eaten Sloppy Joes.
Later that night, Larry’s father Fred logged into his son’s meal account to check that there were plenty of funds to cover the child’s meals for two weeks. It’s a semi-regular routine for Fred because he likes to stay ahead of low balances.
Fred noticed his son’s meal account information hadn’t been updated for the day. He chalked it up to a technology delay and headed to bed, assuming the sloppy Joe ran a typical debit from the account.
Fred learned the value of real-time school POS syncing
Larry continued to buy ice cream with his lunch all week long. It was a dream come true. He started believing that his parents had actually come around. They usually knew what he used his lunch money account to buy from his account, so maybe they were glad he’d found his favorite treat at school.
But Larry would soon find out that his parents weren’t as cool on the idea as he thought.
Larry walked into his house after school later the next week. He couldn’t wait to ask his father when they could plan an outing for some more ice cream. Instead, he found his father at the kitchen counter with a questioning look on his face.
Fred told Larry about the low-balance notice he had received that morning. Larry spent two weeks of lunch money in one week because of his ice cream discovery–some days he’d added more than one cup. Unfortunately, Fred didn’t find out until it was too late. Larry’s parent’s funded his account before it was completely depleted, but they had a talk with the treat-loving kiddo about saving his favorite dessert for dinner time and trips to the downtown dairy bar–an outing they decided would do them all some good after their talk.
Real-time school nutrition POS syncing delivers accuracy and convenience
It’s not a nutrition director’s job to manage a student’s insatiable appetite for ice cream. But there are a few issues that could have been resolved if Larry’s school district relied on a solution with immediate and accurate data:
- Fred may have known that Larry was sneaking ice cream without permission earlier
- There would be a clearer picture of Larry’s meal payment account and the funds
- Fred could apply limits or restrictions to the items Larry purchases for meals
When data for your program syncs automatically, your department avoids sticky situations like delayed payments, application processing gaps, and missed reimbursement opportunities.
On top of that, you and your team save time by eliminating the administrative task of uploading and downloading data.
When you move to a cloud-based solution, your software no longer owns you. Your team has access to accurate data and can run reports as needed–not when the software tells them it’s time.
Your school nutrition team deserves reliable and modern technology that builds confidence, trust, and satisfaction. A cloud-based solution with current and accurate data reduces frustration from families, ultimately increasing meal program participation for districts.
Learn more about how real-time syncing can supercharge your nutrition program today!