Module 5 Meal Claim Submission SFSP Online Training 2016 Page 1

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2016 Summer Food Service Program Online Training Module 5—Meal Claim Submission

Learning Objectives • Understand general procedures in submitting an original claim

• Understand the Child Nutrition Information and Payment System (CNIPS) and the claim process

• Complete the General Information Section of a claim

• Know how to enter site meal data

• List the process for the certification box and for submitting claim for payment, including correcting claim errors

Target Audience • Executive director/authorized representative • Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) administrator/director • Accounting personnel • Claim preparer

Estimated Time Required • 25 minutes

Tasks • Read instructions • Review CNIPS claim form screen shots • Review Web sites and resources • Complete and submit online quiz

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Submitting an Original Claim Form • Sponsors must submit monthly meal claims using the CNIPS.

• Sponsors must submit all original and upward adjustment claims by the 60th day following the last day of the claim month to be considered a valid claim for reimbursement.

• Sponsors cannot split one claim month into two separate claims.

• Sponsors may submit a combined claim for up to three months if the following criteria are satisfied:

o The meal service days for the first and the last months are for 10 days or less. For example, June 2014 (10 days) + July 2014 (22 days) + August 2014 (10 days) = July 2014 claim.

o All sites in the combined claim are approved to operate in the months that are being combined.

o It is highly recommended that the agency reconciles the Monthly Consolidation form with the final SFSP Claim for Reimbursement to ensure meal counts and calculations are entered correctly.

Steps in the Claim Submission Process

• Claim Process Step 1—Open your Internet browser and go to the CNIPS home page from the following Web site at https://www.cnips.ca.gov.

• Claim Process Step 2—Enter your User ID and password in the fields provided and select the Log On button to access the system.

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• Claim Process Step 3 —Once logged on, go to Year tab from the system menu bar. Select the Year before proceeding to Claims.

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• Claim Process Step 4 —Select Claim Entry from the Item list.

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• Claim Process Step 5 —After Step 4, the SFSP Claim Year Summary screen displays. Under the Claim Month column, select the month for which you are ready to file a claim, i.e., July 2014.

o The system will allow you to open only the active claim months you have been approved to operate in the SFSP.

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• Claim Process Step 6—Select Add Original Claim button. o For Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, use the Upload Data button to upload a

site-specific claim data directly from a file into CNIPS. This data must be extracted and formatted according to the POS File Layout Specifications found on the CNIPS Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/cn/index.asp.

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• Claim Process Step 7—The Claim Site List for the chosen month is displayed. Go to Sponsor Claim Information, located below the claim month, to open the General Information section of the claim.

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• Claim Process Step 8—Complete the General Information section of the claim. Ensure that the following fields are filled out correctly:

o Line 1—The From and To fields. o Line 2—Skip. This line will auto populate a value after site meal data are

completed. Lines 3 through 8—Number of Participating Sites and Total Number of Days Food Served fields by meal type served during the claim period.

Note: Even though a site only operated one day during the claim period, include this site and all information required on the screen shot below (i.e., period covered by this claim, number of participating sites, and total number of days food was served).

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• Claim Process Step 9 —Select Save button.

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• Claim Process Step 10—Select Finish to save the Sponsor Information data.

• Claim Process Step 11—You will return to the Claim Site List screen. To enter site meal data, select Add next to the site name you are claiming meals.

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• Claim Process Step 12 (CNIPS Screen shot on the next page)—This page displays the sponsor name and sponsor address on top left, and site name and site address on top right of the screen. Enter the site meal data in the appropriate fields.

o For noncamp sites, enter the meals served by meal type in First Meals Served and Second Meals Served.

o For sites approved to claim second meals served, enter the actual number of second meals served. The CNIPS calculates the reimbursable second meals by multiplying the sponsor’s total meals per meal type for the claim period times two percent.

o For camp sites, second meals served cannot be claimed.

o For camp sites, enter the meals served by meal type in Camp Meals Served

column.

o AM Snacks and PM Snacks—claim snacks served in the appropriate data fields. (Community Child Nutrition Snack Project (CCNSP) discontinued 12/31/2015)

o Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper meals served must be claimed in the appropriate

data fields.

o The CNIPS will only allow claim data entry for approved meal types and corresponding meal service type. For example, if you are approved to serve only vended lunch in a rural location, you will only be allowed to key lunch meal data under the Self-Prep/Vended-Rural section.

o After entering the site meal data, select Save.

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• Claim Process Step 13—After saving the site meal data, select Finish.

• Repeat steps 11 through 13 to enter all site claim data.

• Claim Process Step 14—After sites’ meal data are entered and saved, the sites’ status changes to Pending. Proceed to claim submission by clicking Back button.

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• Claim Process Step 15—The Certification screen displays after going back from Step 14. Check the certification box before selecting the Submit For Payment button.

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• Claim Process Step 16—An error messages will appear if there are site claim and/or general information errors. To view errors details, select Claim under Claim Items.

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• Claim Process Step 17—Site status and number of errors are shown on the right hand side of the site name. Go to Modify to correct the data.

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• Claim Process Step 18—Error descriptions in red font on top of the page direct you to which data needs attention and correction. Correct all errors and repeat save and finish steps.

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• Claim Process Step 19—Once all site data errors are corrected, saved, and finished, select the Back button. Re-certify and select Submit for Payment button.

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• Claim Process Step 20—When all errors are corrected, a pop-up box displays to confirm that the claim has been submitted successfully. Select the OK button. The claim status changes to Accepted.

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• Claim Process Step 21—Go to Summary under Claim Items to view meal counts and reimbursement details.

(Note: Do not select Claim again if you do not intend to modify the claim as you may unnecessarily change the status back to Pending. A claim in Pending status can not be processed for payment.)

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• Claim Process Step 22—After selecting Summary in Step 21, the SFSP Claim for Reimbursement Summary page displays, see illustration below, and continued on the next two pages.

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• Claim Process Step 23—Log out of the program after reviewing the reimbursement summary.

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Resources See the California Department of Education (CDE) Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/nt/sfsp.asp for more information about CNIPS and submitting claims for reimbursement.

The CNIPS SFSP User Manual is located in the CNIPS Web Document at https://www.cnips.ca.gov/Docs/CNIPS%20SFSP%20Sponsor%20Manual%20v1%200.pdf. This manual provides a general overview of how to use CNIPS for SFSP sponsors.

Program Staff If you have any questions about the claim process, please contact your agency’s assigned CDE Nutrition Fiscal Analyst. The Nutrition Fiscal Analyst Directory is located on the CDE Nutrition Services Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/nt/.

You can also contact the CDE Nutrition Services Division toll free number at 800-952-5609, Option 3, or by e-mail at SFSP@cde.ca.gov.