Tips for a Successful Year End (with a FREE printable checklist)

The end of the school year is here! That means it’s the perfect time to make sure your front and back of house systems are ready to go for the fall. The sooner you get a jump-start on these preparations, the better. To make it simpler, we’ve created an easy-to-follow checklist for closing out the year, along with a free printable PDF guide!

Update your software and hardware.

If necessary, now is the perfect time to update your systems. Check for new software updates to install. You will also want to evaluate if your hardware needs updating. Identify hardware with expired warranties and evaluate what the impact would be if the device needed to be repaired or replaced. If it would be more expensive to fix, it may be worth it to buy new with a fresh warranty. Check for other signs of age too. If a device is causing productivity or financial loss, investing in a newer, more reliable product may be necessary.

Backup your data.

Everyone can agree that your nutrition data such as financials and student information are highly important! That’s why we highly recommend that the end of school year database backup be saved off your server, and not routinely deleted.

Assess your inventory.

Decide what needs to go and what can stay during the summer months. Meals Plus makes this process easy with the new Mobile Inventory App. You can quickly and efficiently connect inventory in your warehouse or school to your Meals Plus Inventory Desktop. The app works with scanning hardware to make the process even quicker!

Plan menus for the upcoming year.

Start planning new recipes for your students to try out next year and publish your menus to help improve your program’s marketing efforts. With our digital menu suite, you can customize fun and professional looking online menus and digital menu boards. These tools will help you get students and parents excited for what next year has in store!

Plan ahead for next school year.

The sooner you start planning for next year, the more prepared you will be. Have cafeteria managers create the first back-to-school order now. You can also use the summer months to train new staff so they are ready for the first day. You should coordinate with the student information system too. We recommend you not enable imports again until the student information system is updated with data for the new school year.

With the help of these tips and the solutions offered by Meals Plus, you can end the year strong, and feel ready to take on the fall! To help you keep track of these steps, download our free printable End of the Year checklist!