Mess plan and kitchen headcount with SmartMy Feast
The resident's mess plan starts at check-in and ends at check-out, from rules set per hostel, room type and resident category. Approved leave switches the meals off with credit. Residents absent at last night's roll call, or out for hours, are left out of the kitchen's headcount.
PLANSFrom GrowthWith SmartMy Feast
Why it matters
In most hostels the mess register and the hostel register are kept by different people. Residents on leave are still cooked for, and residents who moved out still appear on the meal list. In SmartMy Hostel the mess plan is part of the stay. It starts at check-in and ends at check-out, with nothing typed in the kitchen. An approved leave switches off every meal it covers, with the credit the meal plan allows, and an early return switches them back on. The kitchen's headcount also leaves out residents absent at last night's roll call. With door devices, it can leave out those out for hours.
The problem it solves
- The kitchen cooks for 200 every night while 30 residents are home for the weekend.
- A resident on two weeks' leave still pays for meals and argues at the settlement.
- The mess manager learns of new residents from the warden a week late.
- Residents who moved out stay on the meal list for months.
How it works
- Open the hostel and go to the Mess tab. Add a rule: Room Type and Resident Category (empty means all), the Meal Plan, the Mess that serves it, and the Billing.
- At check-in the resident gets the plan of the most specific rule. It runs to the end of the plan period, or the day before the planned move-out.
- A daily job starts the next period by itself while the stay lasts.
- When a leave, outing or vacation is approved, every plan meal inside it is switched off. The meal plan's credit applies.
- If the leave is cancelled, the meals come back. If the resident returns early, the meals after the return come back.
- The kitchen's Headcount and Demand Forecast leave out meals switched off. For meals before noon, they also leave out residents absent at last night's roll call.
- At check-out the plan ends that day, with credit for the meals left as the meal plan says.
Everything it does
Mess rules
- Per hostel, in order; Room Type and Resident Category empty mean all
- The rule naming both room type and category wins over one naming one, then the first in order
- Meal Plan and Mess (the outlet) of SmartMy Feast
- Customer Type: the student hostel type to start with
- Billing: Included in the rent; with Campus fees also Mess fee (fee module) with a Fee Plan
Mess fee through Campus fees
- Each period of the fee plan's schedule becomes a Mess Fee due on the student's fee ledger and gives the meal plan for that period
- Joining mid-period is prorated by meals or by days, as the fee structure says
- Meals not taken are waived on the unpaid mess fee or given back as credit when the period closes
- The fee structure can stop meals when the mess fee is overdue past its days
- No confirmed schedule for the day: the plan is not started and the stay gets a note
Leave and meals
- Approved leave, outings and vacations switch off each plan meal that starts and ends inside the leave
- Each switched-off meal names the leave
- Cancelling an approved leave switches the meals back on
- Marking the return switches back on the meals after the return time
Kitchen headcount
- Left out: meals switched off by leave
- Left out: residents marked absent at the previous day's finished roll call, for meals served before noon
- With attendance devices: residents whose last punch is out for longer than Not Counted for Meals After (hours out), for today's meals
- Not Counted for Meals After (hours out): per hostel, 0 to start with, which means not used
- Anyone left out is still served if they come
On the stay
- A Mess tab with the plan, the mess and the end date
- Food cashiers and food administrators also see the plan periods there
- The stay's history notes each plan started
Who uses it
Hostel Manager / AdministratorSets the mess rules of each hostel and the hours-out setting.
Food service managerKeeps the meal plans and reads the headcount and forecast.
WardenApproves leave and takes roll call, which keep the headcount right.
ResidentGets the meals with the stay and credit for meals missed on leave.
Where you use it
- Web: the hostel's Mess tab; the stay's Mess tab; Food Service > Planning > Headcount and the Demand Forecast in SmartMy Feast
- Not in the SmartMy Hostel app: the mess menu; residents see menus in the SmartMy Feast app or on its diner portal
- Not a separate mess charge on hostel invoices: with hostel invoices the mess is included in the rent; a separate mess fee needs Campus fees
What you control
Settings
- Mess rules: per hostel, room type and resident category
- Billing: Included in the rent to start with; Mess fee (fee module) with Campus fees
- Not Counted for Meals After (hours out): per hostel, 0 (not used) to start with
Approvals
- Hostel leave chain: the leave's approval is what switches the meals off; see Leave and out-passes
Notifications
- No message of its own: residents hear about the leave decision through the hostel's leave messages
Works with
SmartMy FeastNeeded for this page: meal plans, the mess outlets, credits, and the Headcount and Demand Forecast screens.
SmartMy CampusNeeded only to bill a separate mess fee on the student fee ledger.
Questions
Does the kitchen have to add each new resident?
No. The plan starts at check-in from the hostel's mess rules, and the next period starts by itself.Are meals switched off for a resident on leave?
Yes, once the leave is approved. Every plan meal that falls inside the leave is switched off, with the credit the meal plan allows.What if the student comes back early?
When the warden marks the return, the meals after the return time are switched back on.Can a resident who is out still eat?
Yes. Leaving someone out of the headcount only changes how much is cooked. They are still served if they come.Can residents see the menu in the hostel app?
Not in the SmartMy Hostel app. Menus are in the SmartMy Feast app and its diner portal.Related features
DAILY LIFELeave and out-passes with guardian approvalResidents ask for leave or an out-pass on the portal or in the app. The guardian, the warden or both approve it. Going out and coming back are recorded, and guardians and wardens hear when someone is not back.DAILY LIFERoll call by hostel, block and sessionThe warden takes the night roll call for a hostel or one block, on the web or the phone. Residents on approved leave are already marked. Guardians and wardens are told of every resident absent without leave.ATTENDANCE DEVICESAttendance devices at the gateFingerprint, card, face or QR devices at the hostel gate send their punches to SmartMy Hostel. They go through a small program on a PC at the site, are read by the server, or are pushed by the device itself. Leave out and back, late entries and roll calls are then made from the punches.STAYSCheck-in with checklist, documents and guardianA resident checks in only when the checklist is done, the documents are verified and a guardian is on record where one is needed. A manager can let them in anyway, and the reason stays on the stay.CHECK-OUT AND SETTLEMENTCheck-out checklist: inspection, assets and keysA resident leaves through a checklist: room inspected, assets returned, keys and cards given back. Check-out waits for every mandatory item, and only a hostel manager can go on without one, with the reason kept on the stay.SCHOOLS AND COLLEGESHostel charges on the student fee ledgerA school or college hostel can bill through SmartMy Campus fees instead of hostel invoices. Rent, deposits, electricity and fines become fee dues of the student, and parents pay them with the other fees. Circulars can be sent to the residents of chosen hostels or blocks.
See it with your own blocks and classes.
Tell us how many hostels and students you have. We will show you an allotment, a leave request approved by a parent and a night roll call, set up the way your hostel works.