How to Print the Claim for Reimbursement in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

Claim for Reimbursement is the Report Center report that builds the monthly meal-reimbursement claim for CACFP and other state nutrition programs. ElderSuite fills a blank claim from meal contractor details and from attendance, meal, and client counts already in the database — you choose the reimbursement level and the claim month, then preview the finished form.

Open Report Center from the ElderSuite main menu, select the Nutrition Reports tab, and choose Claim for Reimbursement. The Report Description reads "Monthly claim submission for meal reimbursement from state nutrition programs."

This report opens only from Report Center → Nutrition Reports. It is not in the Nutrition Center. It produces a print-ready claim in Report Viewer; it does not submit the claim to a state agency and it does not change client, attendance, or claim records.

⚙ How It Works

1. Open Claim for Reimbursement From Report Center

Open Report Center and select Nutrition Reports. In the Report List, highlight Claim for Reimbursement.

Click View Report, or double-click the report name. A please-wait message appears, then the Claim for Reimbursement window opens centered on the Report Center.

2. Choose Site Level or Contracting Entity Level

Under Select Reimbursement Level, choose Site Level or Contracting Entity Level. Both levels live in the same window and share the same month, year, and Preview action — each fills a different blank claim.

Both claims carry the contracting entity name and ID, the month and year claimed, version, preparer contact details, days of operation, total attendance, Free / Reduced / Paid participant counts, the four meal counts (Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Afternoon Snack), and the signature-block name and title.

Site Level also fills three boxes Contracting Entity Level does not: the site name, the site ID, and the Title XIX/XX client count. Choose the level at which your center actually claims from the state nutrition program. ElderSuite does not decide that for you.

The level shown when the window opens is the one last used on this computer. Changing it and clicking Preview is what ElderSuite remembers for next time.

3. Set the Claim Month and Year

Select Month and Select Year always open on today's month and year. A claim is usually prepared after the month has ended, so change Select Month — and Select Year when the claim month falls in a different year — before you preview.

Every figure on the claim is counted from the first day through the last day of the month you select.

4. Preview, Answer the Meals Question If It Appears, and Print

Click Preview. ElderSuite reads the month's records and fills the blank claim that matches the level you chose.

If the chosen month includes at least one finished day where a client has a meal recorded and no transportation times at all, ElderSuite shows the Meals Without Attendance Times question and lists those days. Answer Yes to produce the claim with those meals counted, or No to produce nothing and leave this window open on the month you chose so you can review the days first. Settling those days is a separate Nutrition Center workflow — see How to Review Meals Without Attendance in ElderSuite.

When preview finishes, the filled claim opens in Report Viewer inside the main ElderSuite window and the Claim for Reimbursement window closes. Print or save from the viewer. The finished claim is locked — figures cannot be edited on the form. Fix source records, then run Preview again.

Click Cancel (or press Esc) to close without producing a claim. Cancel does not change the remembered reimbursement level.

✅ Important Limitations

This window changes no client, attendance, or claim record. The only thing it stores is which reimbursement level was last used on this computer, and that is saved when Preview runs.

The month and year always open on today. Only the reimbursement level is remembered between uses.

Site Level and Contracting Entity Level are two blank-state forms in the same window. Producing one does not produce the other.

The claim is locked after it is filled. Override a wrong figure by correcting Meal Records, attendance, Meal Type, or Meal Contractor Information, then preview again.

Contractor name, IDs, version, and contact details on the claim come from Meal Contractor Information for the signed-in session. Blank or wrong values there print blank or wrong on the claim.

⚠ Change the Month Before You Preview

The window nearly always opens on the wrong month for a routine claim. Change Select Month (and Select Year when needed) to the month being claimed, confirm Site Level or Contracting Entity Level, then click Preview. Check the month printed on the claim in Report Viewer before you send it.

💡 Need More Help?

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