{"id":9438,"date":"2022-10-28T14:11:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T21:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.quickschools.com\/?p=9438"},"modified":"2023-06-14T02:10:11","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T09:10:11","slug":"lunch-ordering-app-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.quickschools.com\/lunch-ordering-app-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunch Ordering App (Comparison)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As you may have noticed, we\u2019ve released a new version of the Lunch Ordering App<\/a> which supports Online Payments. However, the original version in QuickSchools<\/a> still works for schools that want to collect lunch payments via traditional means. But what are the differences between the new and old versions of the Lunch Ordering App? Here, we discuss the differences, as well as pros and cons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Original Lunch Ordering App<\/strong><\/td>Lunch Ordering with Online Payments<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Fulfill then Charge<\/td>Charge then Fulfill<\/td><\/tr>
Integrates to Fee Tracking<\/td>Integrates to Online Payments<\/td><\/tr>
Tried and True<\/td>New (Still in Beta)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fee Tracking vs. Online Payments<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n
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Original Lunch Ordering App with Fee Tracking<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The original Lunch Ordering App was designed to allow parents to submit orders freely (before the cut-off date). Parents would only be charged AFTER orders were fulfilled. Once fulfilled, the school would bill the parents via the Fee Tracking module. Parents can then make payments to the school per the usual means. If changes are required after the cut-off date, administrators can edit the orders, up until the orders are fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The key takeaway here is that the original Lunch Ordering App<\/strong> leverages the Fee Tracking module to collect fees AFTER lunch orders were fulfilled.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n
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New Lunch Ordering App with Online Payments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In contrast, the new Lunch Ordering App forces parents to pay for meals online (via the Parent Portal), BEFORE orders are fulfilled by the school. Since payment is taken immediately, there is no link to the Fee Tracking module (at least not at the moment). Instead, all payments appear under the \u201cOnline Payments\u201d menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This method frees up the school from having to chase down parents for payments. However, taking payments upfront poses some additional challenges. For example, if an order is cancelled, the parent would receive a credit for future orders. A refund is required, the school would need to process that in their Stripe account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In cases where parents want to prepay for meals, administrators will be able to add credit to parent accounts (This feature is coming soon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Features<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The version of the Lunch Ordering App that uses Online Payments (instead of Fee Tracking) is considered the NEWER version, and thus has more functionality. These new features are described below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n