Overview

This document provides information pertaining to Volanté's extensive meal plan features.  

Meal Plans are a subset of Declining Balance type; its application is meant to accommodate sites with meal program programs where funds are drawn from the account to perform transactions.

Meal Plan Configurations

Meal Plan Rules

In order to indicate how many meals are allowed to be charged per period, you must configure meal plan rules.

1. From BackOffice, navigate to Customer Database, and select Meal Plan (See Figure 1), and see the Meal Plan Rules tab.

   

   Figure 1: Back Office > Customer Database > Meal Plan

Use Apply Discount to discount items to zero, or another appropriate amount.  

By default, as soon as one discount is found, it will stop. If you use the Price Modifier Interfacelink MEALPLAN_CONTINUE_DISCOUNT, then it will continue to look for other discounts to apply.

For more information, see: Price Modifiers - BackOffice Setup#Setup-Tab:Misc

Functionality

• Allow only Meal Plan items to be paid on account.
• Exempts Taxes on Meal Plan items when paid on account.

Meal Plan Setup

• Create two Types:
  • Meal Plan - Check off only items with following selected tax, check off taxes PST Food, GST and Taxes are removed on Meal Plan
  • Flex Account - Do not check off above flags
• In Customer Database Global Options, check/select Use Multiple Accounts
• Create a Customer with:
  • CustomerType=Meal Plan
  • CustomerType2=FlexAccount

Customer Accounts

• User 1 = $25 Meal Plan, $25 Flex
• User 2 = $25 Meal Plan, $25 Flex
• User 3 = $25 Meal Plan Only
• User 4 = $25 Flex Plan Only

Test Cases User 1

• Test Regular case. Meal Plan Items, sufficient funds
  • Order 3 Large Pizzas = $13.56
  • Put Everything on Account Taxes are stripped Total = $12.00
  • User 1 Balance is $13.00 Meal, $25 Flex
• Test Regular case. Meal Plan Items and Flex Items Both sufficient funds
  • Order 1 Small Pizza

Differences between commonly used Customer Meal Plans

Customer Accounts and Meal Plans

There are a number of different ways you can use Volanté Customer Database and gift card system.  This document is to explain the common Customer types that are often used, when referring to Meal Plans.   Often, people call other aspects meal plans that are not actually meal plans, and the purpose of this document is to differentiate the types.

A Customer can have more than one customer type attached to their card taking advantage of multiple meal options.

There are 4 main types:

1. Meal Plans
2. Point Declining meals
3. Declining Balances
   1. Tax Free
   2. Taxable         
4. Discount Meal Plans.

Meal Plans

This is a type of customer receives a number of meals based on criteria for a certain period.  Typically means that they pay a lump sum that entitles them to eat at a location (often all you can eat / buffet style) for a predefined period of time or number of meals.  

• For example: 3 meals per day, from Sept 2 – Jan 1.  

After Jan 1st, they are no longer eligible and if they do not eat all their meals, they lose them.  This is often a government controlled meal plan system often used in schools. The premise behind this is that the student would be purchasing food in a large amount (effectively categorizing this food as "groceries", and thus no tax is required on the purchase) in which the cafeteria / establishment will hold on to and serve them a bit each day. 

When the period expires, the food is considered to go bad and thus remaining food can be obtained from this after.

• A Discount is used to reduce the price of the item / items sold to 0 Dollars, showing that the gross amount sold would be the value of the meals however net values would be $0.
• Meal Plan button must be pressed in order to trigger the deduction of the meal plans available.
• Meal Plans can also be used to allow a maximum number of meal plans to be used as well. For example you are able to eat 3 a day, however a total of 100 is aloud during the time period.
• This Type is very similar to Points Declining as well, however allows more strict restrictions on when the meals can be used.

Points declining meals

This type of customer type is often used when a customer chooses to purchase a set number of meals at a discounted rate.  Example: Purchase of 20 Meals for $150.00 instead of their individual pricing of 10 dollars each.   These meals can be redeemed at any time for a specified meal type until depleted.  Often this is used for Buffet and all you can eat situation, where an item is sold as Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.   However can also be used for a number of items, or a $ value of items as well.     

• A Discount is used to reduce the price of the item / items sold to 0 Dollars, showing that the gross amount sold would be the value of the meals however net values would be $0.
• A Discount button must be pressed in order to trigger the deduction of the points declining meals available.
• A number of points are applied to the account and can be used at any time.  There is generally no expiry on this, and is often used when a customer can purchase additional meals at any time.
• Meals can be increased at the Cashier through a simple purchase of an item addition points will be added to the account.

Declining Balance

This type of customer is very common and often referred to as Account Cards or Gift Cards.  The purpose of this type is to do line busting (Fast Lines) by eliminating the use of credit cards and cash counting.  Much like gift cards, the customer places money on to the cards, which is then deducted from at the time of purchase.  In some cases, additional features are offered with this account to attract people into opting into the system.

• VIP type discounts can be applied to the customer – giving a percentage off of the food they are purchasing.  – Can be set to trigger only when the funds on the card are used, or just by swiping card.
• This type is a form of media (payment- On Account) and in such does not decrease the sales sold that day.
• Loading of these cards is done directly to the card (Credit Account) and will not affect the sales when done. 
• With some Government rules, this type of account supports tax-Free and Taxable settings, and can have taxes removed or kept on the items purchased.  This is unlike a standard gift card, which is always taxable.
• Also, unlike a gift card, you have the advantage of a complete customer database's set of fields, and can track a lot of information on the customer.

Discount Meal Plans

This type of customer is very similar to Declining balance.  It can take advantage of all of the features in the declining balance, or can be simply setup as a VIP type card that gives a discount to the meal that the person purchases.  Typically these type of cards discount by swiping the card and thus no money needs to be applied to the card to use, they often also have a yearly membership type fee associated. 

Sample Meal Plan questions to determine what you need. 

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