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 property, 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 headcount.
PLANSFrom GrowthWith SmartMy Feast
Why it matters
Many PGs include food in the rent, but the kitchen and the desk keep separate lists. Residents away for the weekend are still cooked for, and residents who moved out stay on the meal list. In SmartMy Stay 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. The headcount leaves out residents absent at last night's roll call.
The problem it solves
- The kitchen cooks for 120 every night while 30 residents are home for the long weekend.
- A resident away for two weeks still pays for meals and argues at the move-out settlement.
- The cook learns of new residents from the caretaker a week late.
- Residents who moved out stay on the meal list for months.
How it works
- Open the property 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 Customer Type.
- 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 property, 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 hostel student type to start with; choose your own type for working residents
- Billing: Included in the rent, the only choice for a property that sends its own invoices
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). This is counted from the time the headcount is made
- Not Counted for Meals After (hours out): per property, 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 property 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 property's Mess tab; the stay's Mess tab; Food Service > Planning > Headcount and the Demand Forecast in SmartMy Feast
- Not in the SmartMy Stay app: the mess menu; residents see menus in the SmartMy Feast app or on its diner portal
- Not a separate mess charge on the invoice: the mess is included in the rent
What you control
Settings
- Mess rules: per property, room type and resident category
- Billing: Included in the rent
- Not Counted for Meals After (hours out): per property, 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 property's leave messages
Works with
SmartMy FeastNeeded for this page: meal plans, the mess outlets, credits, and the Headcount and Demand Forecast screens.
Questions
Does the kitchen have to add each new resident?
No. The plan starts at check-in from the property'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 resident 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 we charge the mess separately from the rent?
Not through this link. For a property that sends its own invoices the mess is included in the rent; set a rent plan that covers it.Related features
DAILY LIFELeave and out-passes with guardian approvalUse it only if you want it. Residents tell the property when they go out or away, on the portal or in the app. From Growth, working residents' leave can simply inform; on Starter the caretaker approves it. Going out and coming back are recorded, and you hear when someone is not back.DAILY LIFERoll call by property, block and sessionA roll call is there if your property wants one, as many women's PGs and student-heavy co-livings do. The caretaker takes it for the property or one block, on the web or the phone. Residents on approved leave are already marked, and absences are told to the wardens and the guardian, where there is one.ATTENDANCE DEVICESAttendance devices at the gateFingerprint, card, face or QR devices at the property gate send their punches to SmartMy Stay. They come through a small program on a PC at the site, read by the server, or pushed by the device itself. Leave out and back, late entries and roll calls can then be 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 the category needs one. 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.BILLINGRent bills raised each periodEvery night the system adds the rent that has fallen due, puts the open charges on invoices and sends them to whoever pays. When a resident gives notice, moves room or leaves early, rent already billed is corrected with an adjustment or a credit note.
See it with your own beds and rent plan.
Tell us how many beds and properties you run. We will show you a booking, a month of rent and a move-out, set up the way your PG works.