Cashless New Starters, Pupil Progression and Leavers Process

Transcription

1 Cashless New Starters, Pupil Progression and Leavers Process Call Visit allpay Limited, Fortis et Fides, Whitestone Business Park, Hereford, HR1 3SE

2 Contents Page Contents Page 2 Support... 2 Contact Details 2 Managing New Starters, Pupil Progression and Leavers... 3 Definitions 3 Introduction 3 Step 1 Marking Pupils as Leavers... 4 Step 2- Update Year and Form Groups... 6 Update Year Group process overview 6 Using Copy and Paste to update Year and Form Groups 6 Deleting Groups 9 Step 3 Update Leavers on Cashless Back Office... 9 Update Cashless Back Office Leavers data 11 Step 4 Importing New Starters and Year Progression SIMS File pre import data validation 16 Step 5 Producing the Leavers Report and New Pupil Registration Letters New Pupil Registration Letters 23 Leavers Report 25 Frequently asked questions Support Contact Details Telephone and support is available from allpay during office opening hours. Office opening hours are 8:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday. Please call +44 (0) or cashless.support@allpay.net with any support queries. allpay Limited would like to make you aware that all calls to our numbers will be charged at 3 pence per minute, and our , and numbers will be charged at 7 pence per minute plus your phone company s access charge, which may vary depending on provider. 2

3 Managing New Starters, Pupil Progression and Leavers Definitions Below are a list of commonly used terms and their meanings: Guardian the named individual who is responsible for paying towards a pupil meal account. Pupil/Student the named individual who will be identified at the till when making a meal purchase. Cashless EPoS the allpay system that when installed on the necessary till will be used for facilitating transactions. New Starter a pupil who needs to have a meal account created on the allpay Cashless System. Leaver a pupil who needs to be removed from the allpay Cashless system. Please note that a leaver can be removed at any time in addition to end of year Leavers. MIS Extract (e.g. SIMS) A data file output from a School MIS (Management Information System), typically as an Excel CSV or Notepad (.txt) file. Year Group Extract A data file output from the School MIS (Management Information System), which contains the Year Groups and Form Groups associated with the School. Cashless Back Office this can be found on the Windows desktop, and is started by selecting the topoff icon. Cashless Web Portal the website you are required to access is and that you have appropriate access permissions. Introduction At the end of each academic year, pupils will either advance to the next year or leave school; this is called Pupil Progression. In addition a pupil may leave or join school at any time during the academic year. The 5 steps in the table below will illustrate how this requirement is accomplished using allpay Cashless. Step Process Application Step 1 Mark Pupils as Leavers Cashless Web Portal Step 2 Update Year and Form Groups Cashless Web Portal Step 3 Update Leavers on Cashless Back Office Cashless Back Office Step 4 Importing New Starters and Year Progression Cashless Back Office Step 5 Producing the Leavers Report and New Pupil Registration Letters Cashless Back Office 3

4 Step 1 Marking Pupils as Leavers This stage will mark the Leavers (individuals or a single year group) for deletion on the Cashless Web Portal. Access to the Cashless Web Portal requires a valid account and password, which is different to the Cashless Back Office log-on. Please ensure you have the necessary log-on credentials before you begin. 1. Navigate to the Cashless Web Portal sign in page, which can be located at 2. Sign into the Cashless Web Portal. 3. Select User Management, then Pupil Progression. Select User Management Select Pupil Progression 4. Select the appropriate organisation. 5. Beneath the box I want to process a small selection of users, select Go. Select School Name Select Go 6. Select the year the Leaver(s) are in, enter the surname for an individual pupil or enter the % sign for multiple pupils, this will list all surnames for the selected year. 4

5 Select Search Enter a Percentage sign Select Year Group 7. Select all pupils or individual pupils as required, and select Set as leaver for each record. Important: Do not select Progress to next year 8. Select Next. Select ALL Pupil Accounts to mark as Leavers Select INDIVIDUAL Pupil Accounts to mark as Leavers Select Set as Leaver Select Next 9. Select View to review the pupils marked as Leavers. The list of Pupils due to be marked as Leavers is displayed here Select View Important: If you need to review the list of pupils you have selected to be marked as leavers, select the Back button (shown below). 10. To proceed, select the Please Confirm Changes box and select Save. 5

6 Select Please confirm changes Select Save Step 2- Update Year and Form Groups This section will only apply if your organisation s year groups and forms will be amended, if there is no change in year group structures then advance to Step 3 Update Leavers on Cashless Back Office. If the existing year groups have been amended for the next academic year, then the Cashless Web Portal will need to be updated. Update Year Group process overview To add a new group classification, enter the name under the appropriate group heading and select Add. To remove a group classification, select the name and select Delete. Important: A Year Group cannot be deleted if it is linked with any existing pupils. Groups have a maximum of three levels, Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3: Group 1 This is the Year Group. Group 2 This is the Form Group. Group 3 This group allows further sub-sets of Form Groups. Important: Only a Group 1 Structure can exist without a sub group, a Group 3 must have an associated Group 2 and a Group 1, whilst a Group 2 must have an associated Group 1. Using Copy and Paste to update Year and Form Groups 1. Ensure the MIS Year Group Extract is available, which can be in the form of an Excel CSV or Notepad (.txt) file, examples are shown below. 6

7 2. After running the required MIS Year Group Extract, log on to the Cashless Web Portal. Example Excel CSV and Notepad (.txt) files. Excel CSV file Notepad (.txt) 3. Select Manage School. Select Manage School 4. Scroll down the screen and ensure the Manage Grouping section is visible. 5. Ensure the required MIS Year Group Extract (Excel CSV or Notepad.txt) is also open. Highlight Year Group 6. Highlight the Year Group to be copied. Example Excel CSV file copy Example Notepad (.txt) file copy 7

8 Select Copy 7. Right mouse button click on the highlighted text, a pop-up edit options window will now be displayed. 8. Choose Copy from the pop-up menu, as displayed in the examples above. 9. Within the Cashless Web Portal, click on Group 1 data entry box, ensuring the cursor is in the box. 10. Paste the data into the box to the left of the +Add box by right clicking the mouse and selecting Paste. Select Paste 8

9 11. Choose the +Add box, the pasted data will now appear in the Group 1 Structure. Important Note: In order to amend Group 2 or a Group 3, steps 3 11 from the above section should be repeated, with the difference that a Group 2 or Group 3 Structure will be amended. Deleting Groups In the example below a Group 2 value can be deleted within the Group 1 value that has been selected. Important - Year groups cannot be deleted if pupils are still linked to a group. If a Group 2 or Group 3 value is present, then a linked Group 1 value cannot be deleted. Step 3 Update Leavers on Cashless Back Office Now the Cashless Web Portal has been updated, the Cashless Back Office Leavers will need to be updated. To achieve this from the Cashless Back Office the following update needs to be run. 1. Open Cashless Back Office, by selecting the topoff icon from the windows desktop ensuring you have the necessary access permissions. Please check with the main Cashless Back Office user for confirmation of access. 9

10 2. From Meal Accounts choose Allpa then choose Synchronise Account Groups & Swipecards (from Allpay). Select Meal Accounts Select Synchronise Account Groups & Swipecards (from Allpay) Select Allpay 3. A confirmation screen will appear. Select Yes to continue. Select Yes 4. A pink box will appear briefly. Do not close this box and wait for the box to disappear before you continue to the next step. 10

11 5. From Meal Accounts, select Allpay and select Extract Allpay csv (from Allpay. Select Meal Accounts Select Allpay Select Extract Allpay csv (from Allpay) 6. Select Yes to this message, as the necessary data needs to be extracted from the Cashless Web Portal. Select Yes Update Cashless Back Office Leavers data The data extracted from Cashless Web Portal now needs to be imported into Cashless Back Office, this next action should be run immediately after the extract action above has been run. 1. From Meal Accounts choose Allpay then Load Allpay csv. Select Meal Accounts Select Allpay Select Load Allpay csv 11

12 2. Select Locate File and choose the necessary file to import. Select Locate File 3. Select Computer from the left hand menu and select Local Disk (C:). Select Local Disk (C:) Select Computer 4. Select the sqloffice folder. Select sqloffice 5. Select the cv folder. Select csv 6. Only one file should be displayed here and ensure today s date is displayed in the Date modified field. 12

13 7. Select the one available file and select OK. Check Date modified 8. You will now be taken back to the original screen. 9. Select Update Account Details and ensure a tick is displayed. Select Update Account Details Select Advanced Options Select Load 13

14 10. Select Advanced Options. 11. At the Advanced Options button ensure that Remove Accounts/Guardians not included in csv File is ticked. This action will remove the leavers from Cashless Back Office. Select Remove Accounts/Guardians not included in csv File Select Close 12. Select Close 13. At the main screen select Load to continue. 14. At the Confirmation Required window select Yes. Cashless Back Office will now check to see which accounts to be removed, the Allpay CSV Remove Accounts/Guardians window requests confirmation of both the Pupil and Guardian accounts to be deleted 15. Select Proceed to continue. 14

15 16. At the Confirm Removal screen select Yes to confirm removal of the accounts. Note: This action cannot be reversed. Select Yes 17. The Operator Information window will display the results, select Accept to continue Select Accept 18. A confirmation message will be shown. Select Accept to close the confirmation screen and select View Log File. Select View Log File 15

16 19. From the log file, check to see if any records have been Skipped. 20. If any records have Skipped, please contact allpay s IT Support Team before continuing. Select Close to continue. Check for Records skipped Select Close After completion of these taks, proceed to Step 4 Importing New Starters and Year Progression Step 4 Importing New Starters and Year Progression Immediately after the completion of Step 3 a School MIS (e.g. SIMS) extract of the new Guardian/Pupil details must be produced. Run your organisation s MIS extract which will provide the necessary new starters and also provide an update to the Year and Form Groups for existing Pupils on the system. This file should be saved to a secure network location or to an encrypted removable device, such as a USB memory stick. Note: The MIS extract can either be in the form of an Excel CSV file or a Notepad (.txt) file SIMS File pre import data validation All MIS data files should be validated before they are imported onto the cashless system, this allows for any errors in the data to be corrected before the MIS data is uploaded onto the cashless system. Any problems identified will be logged in a file. This tool is known as the SIMs Import File Checker. Note: This process must always be run before the Load SIMS CSV tool is run. Ensure that the MIS output file to be checked is in a known and accessible location. 1. At the cashless back office home screen choose Meal Accounts then choose Setup. 2. At the Setup menu choose SIMs Checker. 16

17 3. Choose the Continue button. 4. Choose Locate File to browse for the required file, choose the Change button to use a different file. The Datasource and Database fields will be already populated, there is no need to change these values. 5. Choose the Check button, this will start the process of checking the data in the file. When the file check has completed, the progress screen will be displayed for about 10 seconds (click the mouse to close the screen before the 10 seconds period). 17

18 6. A results text file SIMsCheckerLog.txt will be created, to view this log file choose Meal Accounts then Setup, at the Setup menu choose View Last Check log. Tip: The SIMsCheckerLog.txt file can also be accessed by navigating to the location C:\sqloffice, and locating SIMsCheckerLog.txt. On the till this file can be found in C:\sqltill. The results of the last log file will be displayed. Tip: Copy and paste the text in the log file into a Word document or into Notepad, the results can then be printed. 18

19 After any errors have been corrected then the Load SIMS CSV tool should be run, which is detailed in the Load SIMS csv section. File Check Scenarios The following scenarios are checked within the SIMs Pupil File (and Integris Pupil File): 1. File format: csv header record checked for the correct number of comma separated fields. File is rejected if the header record is wrong. 2. Record format: each record is checked for the correct number of comma separated fields. 3. Empty UPN and Empty Admission number: records with neither number will be rejected. 4. Empty UPN number: UPN numbers should always be present (an exception can be made for new starters where the UPN number has not yet been assigned). 5. Empty Admission number: admission numbers must always be present and are assumed to be unique and fixed for a given pupil. 6. Year Group: the year group must be present. 7. Mandatory Pupil fields: these are: forename, surname, housename or number and post code. 8. Mandatory Guardian fields: these are: forename, surname, housename or number and post code. 9. New UPN: where a UPN is not found in the system (as will be the case for a new pupil), the Admission number is checked as well. If a match is found for the Admission number then the UPN number has changed. This is highlighted in case the change of UPN was unintentional. 10. Deleted Pupils: for new pupils (UPN and Admission number not found), the deleted pupil history is checked for the same UPN, if a match is found this is logged. 11. Guardian Names: where a pupil record already exists in the system, the guardian s name is checked against all guardians recorded for the pupil. If an exact match for the Guardian s first name and last name cannot be found a new guardian log is recorded. Where a guardian s name has been changed (due to a SIMs correction or intended name change), the name already recorded in the system must also be changed to precisely match the guardian name in SIMs. SIMs Staff File: 1. File format: csv header record checked for the correct number of comma separated fields. 2. Record format: each record is checked for the correct number of comma separated fields. 3. Empty Employee number: records without an employee (payroll) number will be rejected. 4. Mandatory Staff fields: these are: forename, surname, house name or number and post code. 5. Deleted Staff Members: for new staff members (employee number not found), the deleted staff history is checked for the same Employee Number, if a match is found this is logged. 6. Guardian Names: where a staff record already exists in the system, the guardian s name is checked against all guardians recorded for the staff member. If an exact match for the guardian s first name and last name cannot be found a new guardian log is recorded. The New Starter and Pupil Progression information should now be imported into Cashless Back Office. 1. From Cashless Back Office select Meal Accounts followed by Allpay and select Load SIMS csv. 19

20 Select Meal Accounts Select Allpay Select Load SIMS csv 2. Select the Locate File button Select Locate File 3. Browse for the MIS Extract file (which can be either an Excel CSV or a Notepad.txt file). Select the file and select OK. Select the file you want to Import Select OK 4. Select Update Account Details and ensure a tick is displayed. 20

21 Select Update Account Details Select Advanced Options Select the New Student Entry Defaults Select Load 5. Select Advanced Options and ensure there is a cross next to Permanently Remove Accounts not Included in csv File. 6. Amend the New Student Entry Defaults. This will amend the Emergency Meals, Credit Limit and Daily Spend Limit values for New Starters only. 7. Select Load. 8. A confirmation screen will appear. Any accounts skipped will mean that there are errors with these accounts. Select Accept to return to the previous screen. 9. An Error Log File is created to address any errors with the data and this can be viewed by selecting View Log File. Viewing Error log file details. If the system has indicated that there are errrors present these can be either viewed and/or printed. Viewing the Error Log from the Log File section choose View. 21

22 Printing the Error Log from the Log File section choose Print. Choose Select to browse for an available printer. Important Information: Any errors should be corrected on your MIS System (i.e. SIMS), and then re-run Steps 1 10 to Import the data. 10. Once completed, you need to import the file a 2 nd time. This will ensure that your Free School Meal allowances are applied to the applicable accounts on the system. 11. Return to the file load screen and the file should already be selected again, ready for import. 12. Select Update Account Details and ensure a tick is displayed. 13. Select Advanced Options and ensure there is a cross next to Permanently Remove Accounts not Included in csv File. 14. Amend the New Student Account Defaults. This will amend the Emergency Meals, Credit Limit and Daily Spend Limit values for New Starters only. 15. Select Load. 16. A confirmation screen will appear. Select Accept to return to the previous screen. 17. On the next screen, select Close. Select Close 18. From the Cashless Back Office choose Meal Accounts then Allpay and then Upload Account Changes (to Allpay). 22

23 Select Meal Accounts Select Allpay Select Upload Account Changes (to Allpay) 19. Select Yes on the Upload Changes pop-up window. Select Yes 20. The Cashless Web Portal has now been updated. Step 5 Producing the Leavers Report and New Pupil Registration Letters New Pupil Registration Letters As a final related operation the media requests for New Starters should be processed within Cashless Web Portal. 1. Login to the Cashless Web Portal by visiting and entering your login details. 2. From the homepage, select Barcode requests pending from the statistics menu on the right hand side of the page. 23

24 Select Barcode requests pending 3. From the next screen, select the top check box to select ALL registration letter requests for New Starters due to be printed. 4. Select Accept and print to continue. Select the checkbox to select all letter requests 5. After the screen has loaded, you need to select the click here to download your files link. Select Accept and print Select click here to download your files 6. The file containing the letters will now appear and the letters can be printed in the usual manner. 7. Once the letters have been printed, select the Red Cross to close the file. Note: Windows 8 Users will need to close the file in the standard way using the Windows 8 file options. Select the Red Cross to close 24

25 Leavers Report The Leavers Report will need to be run to provide a list of the pupils who have been marked as leavers, along with their closing balance. 1. From the Web Portal Homepage, select Reports, followed by MI Reports. Select Reports Select MI Reports 2. On the next screen, ensure the Start date and End date is the date you completed Step 3 Update Leavers on Cashless Back Office. 3. From the list of Available reports, select the Leavers Report. Select Start Date Select End Date Select Leavers Report 4. The list of Leavers is now displayed on screen. Select Download as CSV to download the report to your computer. Select Download as CSV 25

26 5. A download box will appear at the bottom of the screen. 6. Select the downward facing arrow next to Save and then select Save as. Please Note: The file save process will differ, depending on the version of Windows you are using. There will always be an option to Save as so please ensure this is always selected. Select Save as 7. Once downloaded, browse for the file and double mouse click the file to open in Excel. 8. The following data will be available to you in the report: PupilName The name of the Pupil who has been marked as a Leaver. FinalBalance The final closing balance of the account. LeaversDate The date the pupil was marked as a Leaver on the Cashless system. Institution The name of the School the Pupil was marked as a Leaver from. 26

27 Frequently asked questions Q: A leaver has a younger sibling who will remain at the school, can I transfer funds to the younger siblings account? A: Yes, this can be achieved using the Transfer Balances function on the Cashless Back Office. Please refer to the the Cashless Back Office User Guide Managing Accounts section for further information. Q: If there is missing data in the School MIS (e.g. SIMS) export data file how can we correct these errors? A: If errors are detected in the School MIS (e.g. SIMS) file an on-screen alert with an error summary will be displayed, an error report can be accessed and sent to the relevant staff for correction, after correction simply rerun the data load process. Q: Can we monitor the account balances for the Leavers account, especially for those with debt? When the leavers are marked on the Cashless Web Portal, a Leavers Report can be produced. This report will show a final balance, the account can be in credit or debit. Please see Cashless Web Portal Guide Reporting section for further information. Q: For the last few months of a Leavers account can we change the credit limit only on these Leavers accounts? A: Yes, use the Bulk Adjust Accounts function, specifying the years and registration groups required. Please see Cashless Back Office User Guide Managing Accounts section for further information. Q: How are Leavers account balances zeroed and refunds made to the guardians account? A: Using the Refund Account Balances function the meal account balance will be reset, refunds are to be made in line with your organisation s policy. Please see Cashless Back Office User Guide Managing Accounts section for further information. Q: We have had late notification of some New Starters; can we run the New Starter process again? A: Yes, New Starters can be run as many times as is required. Please see Step 5 - Add New Starters to the Cashless System of this guide for further information. Q: We have not changed our Year Group and Form structure do we need to run the Update Year Group process? A: If there have been no Years or Forms created or deleted, then the Update Year Group process is not required. Q: What is the process for new and departing staff? A: The New Starters and Leavers process for Staff is treated the same as New Starters, and Step 5 - Add New Starters to the Cashless System should be followed. The School MIS (e.g. SIMS) extract would only contain Staff data. Year Group structure changes would not be required. 27