Headcounts and cancellations
This guide explains how the effective demand per day comes about: headcounts (anonymous number per facility/group and portion group) and cancellations for individual days, including the deadline (chargeable/not chargeable) and the source precedence.
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In stage-1 productive operation the caterer records the headcounts themselves — from the reports the facility submits, e.g. by email or phone (source caterer_manual). Only aggregated numbers are processed, no personal data. The facility and parent portal (person path) follows from 2027. |
Overview: the effective demand
For each day, a number results per facility/group × portion group:
| Building block | Meaning |
|---|---|
Headcount |
reported number of meals per portion group (e.g. "children 1–3 years: 300") |
Cancellation |
reduction for a day/period |
Effective demand |
headcount − effective cancellations |
You manage portion groups under Settings → Portion groups (D-A-CH/DGE reference values with a kitchen-wide factor). They are the reference for headcounts and for the quantity calculation.
Check portion groups
How to: Under Kitchen → Settings → Portion groups, check that the required groups (e.g. "children 1–3 years", "children 4–6 years", adults) exist. If needed, create a group with name, age range and factor via "+ own portion group".
Result: The portion groups are available as a reference; each headcount refers to exactly one portion group.
Record headcounts per facility/portion group
How to: Headcounts are recorded per facility/group, day and portion group as an anonymous number.
Result: For the selected day there is a reported number per portion group. This number is the starting quantity for production and billing.
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The caterer only records aggregate numbers (counts) per portion group — never names. Person-related reports remain in the facility’s sphere. |
Enter a cancellation for a day
How to: A cancellation reduces the quantity for a target day (or period). Recorded are scope (individual person, care group or entire facility) and from/to (to empty = only the one day).
A reason is recorded only for care groups and entire facilities, and there only organisational ones: outing, event, holidays, bridge day, training day, closing day.
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For individual people no reason is collected, deliberately — not in the parent portal either. "This person is not here that day" is all the planning needs; why someone is absent would be health data of a special category (Art. 9 GDPR) and has no place in catering software. Nothing changes for the kitchen: a week of holiday and a week of flu are the same five portions not cooked. |
Result: The cancellation appears in the list with scope, affected party and period, and reduces the quantity for the affected day.
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On the facility side, facility users report absences under Facility → Absences (person or group). For an entire facility/break there is additionally Facility → Closing days. |
Mind the deadline and chargeability
How to: Whether a cancellation still takes effect depends on the lead-time deadline of the respective kitchen↔facility pair (from the contract, otherwise the kitchen default, otherwise the preset of 2 days; optionally with a cut-off time). The displayed deadline text states the applicable rule (e.g. "up to 2 days in advance · per contract").
Result:
| Case | Effect |
|---|---|
Cancellation within the deadline |
day is not charged (quantity reduced) |
Cancellation too late (after the deadline) |
day remains chargeable (counts towards billing) |
Understand the source precedence
How to: The same demand can be reported by different sources. The precedence (descending) is:
| Source | Who reports | Available |
|---|---|---|
caterer_manual |
caterer records externally reported numbers (email/phone) |
Stage 1 (go-live 2026) |
einrichtung_reported |
facility staff (group/person) |
from 2027 |
person_parent |
parents/relatives (own child only) |
from 2027 |
Result: The source with higher precedence applies — but without silent overwriting: if the caterer corrects a reported number, the deviation stays visible (e.g. "reported 300 · corrected 288") and is logged.
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The state of this page refers to stage-1 productive operation. The person path (facility/parent portal) and the day-precise headcount matrix with source badges are being implemented (issue #197). Specific switch and field names of the caterer recording will be added once the interface is final. |
Related
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Create a service statement — generate the monthly billing from the effective demand.
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Create a menu plan — the basis for ordering/production.
Why it works this way
Why there is a deadline at all. The cancellation deadline separates "free of charge" from "chargeable". After the cut-off, goods are bought and production is planned — the cost has genuinely been incurred. The deadline is therefore not a penalty but the line from which someone carries that cost. That is why it is agreed in the contract, not fixed in the software.
Why there is a fallback value. If a report is missing, the configured value applies. Without it, production would stand there in the morning without a number — and a missing report must not mean that nobody eats.
Why your correction takes precedence. You see the delivery; the facility reports in advance. Where reality differs, your figure applies — you carry responsibility for quantities and hold the latest information.
What counts when several reports coincide
A quantity can arrive from three directions: parents cancel in the portal, the facility reports headcounts, or someone phones the kitchen and the kitchen enters a figure for the day. So that nothing is deducted twice and nothing is silently overwritten, this order applies per delivery point and day:
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The facility’s headcount — this counts as the declared target quantity. Whoever reports a figure has already accounted for everything they know, so it is not reduced by cancellations a second time.
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otherwise, with active ordering (companies, canteens): the orders.
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otherwise (nursery, school, after-school club): people × subscription days − cancellations.
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Production and billing see the same cancellation differently — deliberately:
If parents and the facility report the same absence, it counts once — and the earliest report determines the deadline. A doubly reported absence must not cost anyone more. |
When the figures disagree
If a reported figure differs from what the cancellations imply, the production list shows a case to clarify: "recorded 4 · from cancellations 9 · difference −5".
Cooking follows the recorded figure. The case is resolved at the facility — that is where the individual reports live. The kitchen deliberately sees only the numbers, never which person is involved.
Long-term absence
If the contract provides that nothing is charged beyond a certain duration, CateringOS counts consecutive absence days — with no reason and no follow-up question. Weekends do not break the chain: someone absent Friday and Monday is on their fourth absence day on Monday. Separately reported but seamlessly adjoining periods count as one absence.