How to Print Meal Applications in ElderSuite

📝 Overview

ElderSuite prints meal applications as filled meal benefit income eligibility forms, ready for your files and your food program paperwork. You can print one application, catch up on applications that were set aside with a 'Print Later' mark, or print every application dated within a range of days.

Printing starts from the Meal Application List. Open the Nutrition Center and click Meal Applications. The same list also opens from the Report Center's Nutrition Reports tab, through Meal Application - Meal Benefit Income Eligibility Form. For filling in an application and choosing its Meal Type, see How to Complete a Meal Application in ElderSuite.

⚙ How It Works

Print Lives on the Meal Applications Tab

The Print button on the Meal Application List works only while the Meal Applications tab is selected. It is unavailable on the Recurring Meal Applications and Sign & Sync Documents tabs.

The Print menu offers three choices: Selected Record, 'Print Later' Records, and Print by Date Range. Nothing prints until you pick one.

For a Limited Access sign-in, the Nutrition Center's Meal Applications button needs the Edit Meal Applications permission, which an administrator grants on the employee record in the Provider Center. For more on the Nutrition Center, see the ElderSuite Nutrition Center Overview.

Selected Record Prints One Application

Selected Record prints the meal application highlighted on the Meal Applications tab. ElderSuite fills the form from that client and that application and opens it in the Report Viewer, where you print it. The record's Print Later mark is then cleared, and the list updates to show it.

'Print Later' Records Catches Up on the Backlog

A 'Print Later' mark is set on the meal application itself. It lets you defer printing and then print several applications together. Choosing 'Print Later' Records opens Meal Application - Print Confirmation, which explains what is about to print and offers three buttons:

• All Clients prints every application marked 'Print Later' across your center, sorted by client name. No client needs to be highlighted first.
• Selected Client prints every waiting application for the client highlighted on the Meal Application List.
• Cancel closes the dialog. Nothing prints, and no marks change.

The dialog has no close (X) button, so you answer it with one of these three buttons. While a run is working, a Working... display stays on screen and the print buttons are unavailable, so the same job cannot start twice.

Either print choice produces one continuous document in the Report Viewer, not a separate window for each client. ElderSuite clears the 'Print Later' mark on each application it printed, and the list refreshes when the dialog closes, so what is still waiting is easy to see. If a run fails partway through, the marks stay in place and those applications can be printed again.

Print by Date Range Prints by Application Date

Print by Date Range opens a small dialog with two dates, From and To. Both start on today's date each time it opens. They can be the same day, and the range can cover up to 31 days, so a full calendar month fits in one pass. Longer periods, such as a quarter or a year, are printed in several passes.

Click Preview to print, or Cancel to close without printing. ElderSuite gathers every meal application dated within the range and builds one combined document, sorted by client name, which opens in the Report Viewer. Recurring (memorized) applications are not included in a date-range print.

What the Printed Form Shows

Each form combines details from the client record with the answers on the meal application, such as household members, beneficiary, and dependent income. The form shows only part of the client's Social Security Number. Filled entries are locked into the page and cannot be typed over in the Report Viewer. To change what prints, update the meal application or the client record and print again.

Printing does not change any client or meal application information, apart from clearing the Print Later mark as described above.

Messages You May See

• No Client Selected: "Please select a client before printing meal applications." appears when Selected Client is clicked with no client highlighted on the list. The dialog stays open. Click All Clients, or click Cancel, highlight a client, and choose 'Print Later' Records again.
• No Records Found: "There were no 'Print Later' records found for the selected client." means nothing marked 'Print Later' was waiting. The same wording appears after All Clients.
• Missing Dates: "Please select both start and end dates."
• Invalid Date Range: "Start date must be before or equal to end date."
• Date Range Too Large: "Date range cannot exceed 31 days. Please select a smaller date range."
• No Records Found: "There were no records found for the selected date range." means no application is dated within the range, or the only ones that are are recurring applications. Remember that both dates start on today.
• Missing Files: "The report you are trying to print is missing. Please re-install ElderSuite." means the blank form is not installed on that computer. Reinstall ElderSuite, then print again.
• Print Failed: "ElderSuite encountered an issue while printing your records. Please try again." means the document could not be built. Reopen the print choice and try again.

If a printout comes out blank or cut off, see Report or Form Not Printing Correctly or Completely in ElderSuite.

⚠ Preview Runs the Whole Batch

On Print by Date Range, Preview does the entire print run, not a quick look first. Once it starts, Preview and Cancel are unavailable until the document is built, and the dialog closes afterward in every outcome. Check both dates before you click, and keep long periods to one month per run. To try a different range, open Print by Date Range again.

💡 Need More Help?

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