How to Complete a Meal Application in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

A Meal Application is the Meal Benefit Income Eligibility form for one client. You type the household, any benefit case, and household income, then print the form for the file.

Open Nutrition Center from the ElderSuite main menu and click Meal Applications. That opens the Meal Application List. Highlight the client on the left, then add or open the form.

ElderSuite records and prints what you type. It does not work out Free, Reduced, or Paid, and it does not set Meal Type. Set that field on the client's record after you finish the form. That is what the Claim for Reimbursement reads.

Meal Records is a different screen. It is the daily record of meals served. It does not hold a meal category.

⚙ How It Works

1. Open Meal Applications

Open Nutrition Center and click Meal Applications.

The Meal Application List shows clients on the left. Highlight the client. The right side lists that client's Meal Applications and Recurring Meal Applications.

The list opens on Active Clients. If you need a client who is no longer active, change View to All Clients.

On Limited Access, Meal Applications needs the Edit Meal Applications permission. Without it, the button is grayed out.

2. Add the Application and Complete the Form

Click Add New. The Meal Application opens for the highlighted client, with Date set to today and Print Later already ticked.

Complete the three parts that match the printed form:

• Part 1. All Household Members lists everyone in the household, including the enrolled adult. Tick No Income for anyone who has none.
• Part 2. Benefits is for a household member who receives SNAP, TANF, FDPIR, SSI, or Medicaid. Enter the name and case number.
• Part 3. Total Household Gross Income is free text. Enter the amount and how often it is received together, in the style of the on-screen example ($200/weekly).

The printed form also shows the client's address, home phone, the tail of the Social Security Number, and the Hispanic and race answers. Those come from the client's record. They are not typed on this screen.

Click Save & Close. ElderSuite needs a client and a complete Date. If either is missing, nothing is saved and no message appears.

3. Set Meal Type on the Client Record

The application does not classify the client. Set Meal Type on the profile after you determine Free, Reduced, or Paid.

1. Open Client Center and click Client List.
2. Select the client and click Edit Client.
3. Open the Admission Info tab.
4. In Categories & Types, set Meal Type to Free, Reduced, or Paid.
5. Click Save & Close.

Categories & Types stays visible on Admission Info whichever inner tab is showing.

4. Print the Form

Reopen the application and click Print. The completed Meal Benefit Income Eligibility form opens in the Report Viewer.

If the application has unsaved changes, ElderSuite asks You must save your changes before printing. Would you like to save your changes and print? Yes saves and then prints. No leaves the record unsaved and prints nothing.

Print Later turns off after the form is printed. New applications start with it ticked so you can print a group later from the list: click Print, then 'Print Later' Records or Print by Date Range.

Meal Application - Meal Benefit Income Eligibility Form in Report Center under Nutrition Reports opens this same list. It does not open a print dialog. Open the record and print from there.

5. Set a Yearly Schedule When Eligibility Must Be Rechecked

Open the application you want to repeat and click Make Recurring. On a record that already repeats, the same command reads Edit Recurring Schedule.

In Meal Application - Setup Recurring Record, set How Often to Yearly for annual re-enrollment. Monthly is the other choice. There is no weekly option.

Set Next Due Date to tomorrow or later. It will not accept today or any earlier date.

Click Continue. If How Often or Next Due Date is missing, Continue does nothing and shows no message.

The first time a record is made recurring, ElderSuite asks Copy or Convert:

• Copy makes a new recurring application and leaves the original as an ordinary record with its own date.
• Convert turns the record on the screen into the recurring one and changes that record's Date to the next due date.

Cancel on that question leaves everything unchanged.

Once the application is due, ElderSuite automatically creates the next application in the background after a successful sign-in.

Recurring applications appear on Recurring Meal Applications.

✅ Important Limitations

ElderSuite does not calculate an eligibility result from the income you type, and it does not cross-check Part 1 against Part 3.

Meal Type has no review date. The recurring schedule raises the next form. It does not change Meal Type.

Meal Applications can be printed individually or in batches using 'Print Later' Records or Print by Date Range. ElderSuite does not provide a bulk data export of Meal Applications.

ElderSuite does not record who created a meal application.

If Add New does nothing, the client list is empty. Switch View to All Clients, or make sure the client is already in ElderSuite.

⚠ The Application Does Not Set Meal Type

Completing the Meal Application does not put the client in Free, Reduced, or Paid on the Claim for Reimbursement.

The claim reads Meal Type on the client's record. Set that field in Client Center after you determine the category. Then record the meals actually served in Meal Records.

💡 Need More Help?

For step-by-step instructions, click Ask Eddie from within ElderSuite.