Student Accounts & Balances
Every student and staff member in Gaia has a lunch account with a running balance. Deposits load money onto the account, which is then drawn down by meal purchases at the POS. You can view and manage account balances directly from the Students page.
Viewing a Student's Balance
The account balance is displayed as a column in the Students table. A negative balance means the student owes money. Click any student row to open the detail panel and see the full transaction history, including old balance, new balance, and transaction amount for each entry.
Recording a Manual Transaction
To record a transaction, click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to a student and select "Record Transaction", or click the button on their full profile page.
In the transaction dialog, fill in:
Transaction Type: see the types below
Payment Method: Cash, Card, Check, or Account
Amount: the dollar amount
Transaction Date: defaults to today; can be backdated
Notes: optional notes for your records
Transaction Types
Deposit: adds money to the student's account balance. Use this when a student pays cash, writes a check, or makes an online payment.
Sale: records a meal purchase, reducing the account balance. POS terminals log sales automatically; use this for manual corrections or off-terminal sales.
Adjustment: a general-purpose correction to the balance (positive or negative). Use for errors, write-offs, or courtesy credits.
Refund: returns money to a student's account, increasing the balance. Use when reversing a charge or returning overpaid funds.
Payment Methods
Cash: physical cash received
Card: debit or credit card payment
Check: paper check
Account: charged directly from the student's existing account balance (used for sales)
Transaction History
The transaction timeline on a student's profile shows every transaction in reverse chronological order with:
Transaction type and date
Amount
Old balance and new balance
Payment method
Notes (if any)
You can also view all district-wide account transactions from the Transactions page in the main navigation.
District-Wide Transactions View
Go to Transactions in the main menu to see all account transactions across your district in one paginated table. You can filter by student, date range, transaction type, and payment method. This view is useful for reconciliation and auditing deposits received.