Guides

Set Up MealSecretary Step by Step

Short guides for the tasks you do first. The names in these guides match the menus and buttons you see inside MealSecretary.

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1. Create your organization

5 minutes · Organization owner

  1. Go to Start Free and sign up with your email address or mobile number. Enter the verification code you receive.
  2. Open My organizations and choose Create organization.
  3. Enter the organization name, choose its type (for example Company, Factory, School or Hospital) and your country.
  4. Tick what your organization does with meals—for example “Runs its own foodservice”—and choose Create organization.
  5. You land on the Overview page with a “Get started” checklist. Follow it from top to bottom; every step can be done later.

2. Add your canteen or dining hall

2 minutes · Organization admin

  1. In your organization, open Locations.
  2. Enter the name of the canteen, dining hall or serving point and choose Add location.
  3. Add one location for each place where meals are served. Members and Meal Programs can be linked to locations.

3. Create a Meal Program

5 minutes · Organization admin

  1. Open Meal programs and fill in the form: name (for example Lunch), meal type, days of the week and serving time.
  2. Set the cutoff—the last moment members can pause, resume or order extra meals before the kitchen starts preparing.
  3. Choose whether eligible members are included by default (recommended) or must opt in each day.
  4. Allow additional and guest meals if you want, then choose Create program.
  5. Add holidays and closures under Calendar & exceptions so no meals are planned on those days.

4. Add or import members

10 minutes · Organization admin

  1. Open Members. To add one person, choose Add member and enter their name and Employee ID. Email and mobile are optional.
  2. To add many people, open Import members and choose Download a template.
  3. Fill in the template in your spreadsheet program and save it as CSV. Keep one row per person.
  4. Upload the file. MealSecretary checks every row first and shows any problems—such as a duplicate Employee ID—before anything is saved.
  5. Open a member to enroll them in a Meal Program. Members do not need accounts; they can link their record later with a claim code.

5. Issue cards and serve meals

10 minutes · Admin and serving staff

  1. Open a member and choose Issue card. Pick a MealSecretary meal card (we generate a printable barcode) or register an existing card number, then print the card from the member page.
  2. Give serving staff a role that allows serving under Roles & access.
  3. At the counter, open Serving counter, choose the meal and scan a card—or type an Employee ID or name.
  4. Green means eligible: choose Serve. A second scan shows “Already served” with the time, so duplicates are prevented.
  5. Mistakes can be corrected or reversed from the Recently served list. Every correction asks for a reason and is recorded.

6. Run a day: pauses, extra meals and preparation

Daily · Admin and kitchen

  1. Members pause or resume meals from My meals before the cutoff. Admins can also pause meals for someone or record leave.
  2. Extra meals for guests or overtime are ordered before the cutoff from Daily meals.
  3. Open Daily meals to see the expected count for each meal and location.
  4. At the cutoff—or earlier with Start preparation now—the quantity is committed. Late absences are recorded without rewriting the committed number.

7. Prices, charges and payroll

15 minutes · Finance or admin

  1. Open Prices & subsidies, choose the meal type and set the price. Add a company subsidy if the organization pays part of the meal.
  2. From now on, each served meal creates a charge for the member’s share. Charges lists every one, with credits for reversed serves.
  3. Open Payroll, create a period (for example October) and choose Collect charges.
  4. Review totals per Employee ID, add adjustments with reasons if needed, then Approve and Lock period.
  5. Choose Download CSV for your payroll system. After payroll runs, choose Mark as submitted and then Confirm deducted.

8. For members: link your account to your workplace record

3 minutes · Any member

  1. Ask your organization for a claim code, or sign up with the email or mobile number your organization has on file.
  2. Create your account and open Link my records.
  3. Enter the claim code, or review the records MealSecretary found for you, and choose Link records.
  4. Your meals, history and charges now appear under My meals and Meal charges. Nothing is duplicated.

Ready to follow along?

Open MealSecretary in another tab and set up your organization as you read.

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