See what canteen management changes at your institution
Before vs. after adding canteen management to iVake
Where you are today
Holding you back
Cash counted at the end of the day
Sales are tallied by hand from a cash box, and the count rarely matches the notebook when the accounts office checks it.
Pain point
Provisions ordered from memory
The kitchen orders what seemed to run short last week, so some items spoil in storage while others run out before lunch is over.
Pain point
Allergies on a note by the counter
Dietary restrictions are known to the regular staff, and whoever stands in at the counter has no way to see them.
Pain point
Monthly bills built from registers
Meal charges for parents are worked out from canteen registers that never quite agree with what was actually sold.
Pain point
- 3+Registers kept for one counter
- 2+Times each day’s sales are counted
- DaysTo reconcile a month of sales
Your institution, transformed
Everything connected
Every sale recorded at the counter
Each sale is logged against the student, the item, the payment method and the time, so the day closes without a cash count to argue over.
Solved
Stock drawn down as meals are sold
What goes into each meal comes off kitchen stock as it sells, and low levels are flagged before the next order is placed.
Solved
Dietary notes on the student record
Allergy and dietary notes recorded once on the student’s file show at the counter for whoever is serving.
Solved
Bills read from the sales ledger
Wallet top-ups and meal charges post to the same ledger as fees, with nothing copied across from a register.
Solved
- 1Ledger for fees and canteen
- 0Sales re-typed from registers
- 1Login for every child in a family
Ready to make the switch? See how it works for your institution.
Counter sales without reconciliation gaps
Every canteen transaction is recorded as it happens, against the student who made it. Cash stops being the main way to pay, so there is far less of it to count and far less to go missing.
- Parents top up a prepaid wallet from the app by UPI, card or net banking, with every top-up and spend on a dated ledger
- Meal plans are deducted at the counter when the student’s ID card is scanned, within a daily limit per meal
- Canteen statements for parents are read from the sales record, not assembled from registers
Less food waste, because stock follows sales
When a meal is sold, the ingredients it uses come off kitchen stock. Orders are planned from what was actually served and what is on next week’s menu, rather than from memory.
- Each menu item carries a recipe, so a sale reduces the stock of everything that went into it
- Low-stock alerts at the level the kitchen sets, in time to reorder before the counter runs out
- A suggested order list that compares stock on hand with the coming week’s menu
Dietary flags that show up at the counter
An allergy recorded on the student’s file appears on the counter screen the moment the ID card is scanned, before anything is sold. It does not depend on who happens to be serving that day.
- Allergies, religious and medical dietary notes recorded once, on the student record
- Menu items tagged with what they contain, so a conflicting item raises a warning
- A stand-in at the counter sees the same alert, and any override is logged with their name
Canteen management features
Everything you need to run the canteen on the student record
Menu planning
Daily and weekly menus, with items, prices and the meals each one belongs to.
Counter sales
Sales against the student’s ID card, paid from a wallet, a meal plan or cash.
Prepaid wallets
Parents top up from the app, with balances and spends on a dated ledger.
Meal plans
Plans with meal types, daily limits and a validity period, deducted as used.
Dietary & allergy flags
Notes from the student record shown at the counter, with overrides logged.
Kitchen stock
Recipes that draw stock down as meals sell, with low-stock alerts.
Canteen reports
Sales, food cost per meal and waste by counter, meal type or date range.
Access & audit trail
Who can sell, change prices or adjust stock, with every change logged.
Frequently asked questions
Get answers to common questions about canteen management
How does the canteen handle students with food allergies?
When a student’s ID card is scanned, the dietary notes on their record appear on the counter screen before anything is sold. If an item tagged with a matching allergen is chosen, the counter shows a warning that names it. Staff can override in a genuine case, and each override is logged with who made it and when.
Can parents add money to the canteen wallet without visiting the office?
Yes. Parents use the same app they use for fees, attendance and results, with one login for every child. They see the wallet balance and what was bought, set a reminder for a low balance, and top up by UPI, card or net banking.
How does stock tracking work when a meal is sold?
Each menu item is linked to a recipe listing what goes into one serving. A sale takes those quantities off kitchen stock, and the kitchen gets a suggested order that compares what is left with the coming week’s menu and recent consumption. An alert is raised when any item falls below its reorder level.
What reports are available for the management and the accounts office?
Sales, food cost per meal and logged waste, by counter, meal type, day or date range, with trends across terms. Canteen income sits on the same ledger as fees, so the day book goes to Tally or Zoho Books with everything else.
How do meal plans work for students who eat at more than one counter?
A plan sets which meals are included, the daily limit and how long it lasts. Every counter reads the same student record, so a lunch taken at one counter is already counted at the next, and a second lunch is charged to the wallet instead.
What does it take to set up canteens on several campuses?
The canteen runs inside iVake rather than as a separate application. Each campus canteen gets its own menu, prices and stock, and access is set by campus and role. Students are identified with the ID or RFID cards the institution already issues.
Cloud, hosted in your region
REST API & webhooks- SSO: Google, Microsoft & SAML
Encrypted, backed up daily
Built for the DPDP Act- Full security details
Built for your institution type
See how this feature works for your specific institution
CBSE, ICSE & state-board schoolsWallets parents top up, with one login per family
Playschools & pre-primaryAllergy notes at the counter for the youngest children
Residential & international schoolsMess and canteen charges on the same student ledger
Degree collegesMeal plans that work at more than one counter
UniversitiesA canteen per campus, reported together
School groups & trustsEach branch’s canteen with its own menu and stock
Integrations, comparisons & tools
Extend canteen management with integrations, see how iVake compares, and run the numbers
Related features
Transportation
Routes, stops, boarding scans and the bus on the parent’s phone.
Parent Login
Attendance, results, fees and wallet balances, with one login per family.
Campus & Hostel
Hostel rooms, mess, facility bookings and repairs on the student record.
Stock
Stores and stock levels, with issues and purchases recorded.
Online Fee Payment
UPI, cards and net banking, with a receipt the moment payment is confirmed.
Student Management
One student record from enquiry to alumni, read by every module.
More in campus operations
Explore other features in this category
Ready to transform your canteen management?
See how iVake puts canteen sales, wallets and dietary notes on the student record, so the counter and the accounts office work from the same figures.
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