“Monthly plan” can mean several things: a fixed calendar subscription, a pack of 20 meals or pay-per-meal service settled monthly. Customers and owners can both misunderstand the bill when those models are mixed. Name the plan and explain what the payment buys.
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Tiffin Service & Daily Delivery: DAM App Full Tutorial
Watch DAM’s tiffin and daily-delivery tutorial to understand the app workflow alongside this guide. For planning topics such as pricing, menus and marketing, use the article’s examples; the video demonstrates the app rather than every business process.
Also watch: Cash, bank and UPI accounts in DAM. This related tutorial covers account records; it is not a meal-wallet or kitchen-costing demo.
Explore more tutorials on the DAM YouTube channel.
Choose a billing model
A per-meal account charges for supplied meals at the agreed rate. A prepaid meal pack tracks how many meals remain. A fixed monthly plan follows the written package terms, including eligible days and any cancellation adjustment. None of these models automatically determines how every skip should be credited.
Write down meal type, portion size, included days, extra-meal rate, cancellation cutoff, expiry or extension terms and how refunds or plan changes are handled. Use words a customer can understand without reading an accounting policy.
Example: a prepaid 20-meal pack
A fictional customer pays ₹1,600 for 20 lunches at ₹80 each. After 14 supplied meals, six meals remain. If two planned dates were skipped and the agreement preserves credits, those dates do not consume meals. An extra lunch consumes another credit unless the agreement requires separate payment.
Avoid showing “₹480 due” for the six unused meals. They represent customer credit already paid for. Keep meal entitlement and money balance separately when the systems or records require it.
Example: an advance against a running account
Another customer pays ₹2,000 in advance. Meal charges reach ₹1,840, leaving ₹160 available credit. The next ₹80 meal reduces the credit to ₹80. If the account later exceeds the advance, the excess becomes due.
Record the ₹2,000 once as money received. Do not treat it as both an opening credit and a new receipt for the same starting period.
Use DAM without assuming a dedicated meal wallet
DAM's customer payment records and recurring meal billing can support the account side of this process. Confirm how the app represents advance balances in your current version. Do not assume it provides automatic meal-pack expiry, customer self-service skips or an entitlement wallet without testing those features.
For a pack requiring a separate meal count, maintain a clear entitlement register alongside the ledger and reconcile them before renewal.
Related: customer payments, skip days and pricing.
Can the same customer switch from prepaid to postpaid?
Yes, as a business arrangement, but settle unused credit and document the effective date. Avoid carrying the old pack forward without an explanation.
Try DAM with a fictional advance and two meals to check how balances appear.