1
What You'll Want Handy
Here's what makes the renewal (or switch) conversation move fast. Pull what you can from your current system — most of it you'll want at your fingertips anyway, and a quick export beats digging through a binder.
- Your reimbursement statements from the last year A year's worth lets you spot the patterns — timing, amounts, the deductions that keep showing up.
- Your current sponsor agreement and fee schedule Worth a re-read before you renew — especially the fees, withholds, and how termination actually works.
- Your most recent monitoring or review report Glance at what came up and how it got resolved.
- Enrollment records and meal counts The last few months is plenty — you'll need them for any application or apples-to-apples comparison.
- Your current operating budget Useful if you're weighing whether going independent pencils out.
- Staff time logs (food vs. daycare minutes) If these still live on paper timesheets, you're not alone — but it's the single highest-leverage thing to digitize. A clock-in with a 'start food work' button saves hours of monthly reconciliation.
2
Questions to Ask Your Sponsor
Use these in your renewal conversation — or when interviewing new sponsors.
- What's the exact breakdown of fees, deductions, and withholds? Get this in writing. Ask for a sample reimbursement statement.
- What's your average reimbursement turnaround time? From claim submission to deposit in your account.
- What documentation will be required this year that's different from last year?
- Who is my point of contact, and what's the typical response time?
- What support do you provide if I'm selected for audit or review?
- What's included in monitoring visits, and how often?
- What training is required for me and my staff?
- How do you handle denied claims or disputed deductions?
3
Where Is Time and Money Leaking?
Skim the list. Any one of these is a fixable problem — none of them require you to live with another year of it.
- Receipts: Are milk, whole-grain, or sugar disallowances eating your reimbursement because no one catches them until after the claim?
- Meal counts: Are you (or your cook) hand-checking attendance against meal counts every month before submission?
- Audit prep: If a reviewer walked in tomorrow, would you be pulling boxes — or one-clicking an export?
- Renewals: Does the H1606 / H1540 / H4502 paperwork still feel like a summer dread project?
- Staff time logs: Are food-vs-daycare minutes being tracked on paper your kitchen turnover keeps re-learning?
- Food expenses: Are you proving food-program money went to food in a spreadsheet you rebuild every month?
- Clawback risk: Have unexplained deductions or retroactive disallowances cost you real reimbursement this year?
4
If You're Considering Independent CACFP
Going direct means more control — and more responsibility. Be honest about whether your center is ready.
- Administrative capacity Do you have someone (you or staff) with 5+ hours/week to dedicate to CACFP admin?
- Bookkeeping and recordkeeping Are your meal counts, attendance, and receipts already well-documented?
- Audit-ready, not audit-scared With time-stamped digital records and a one-click audit export, a TDA review becomes a quick verification — not a week of pulling boxes. The question isn't whether you can handle audits; it's whether your records can.
- State agency relationship Have you talked with your state CACFP office about their application process and timeline?
- Cash flow buffer Independent reimbursements can take 30-60 days; can your operations weather that?
- Software or systems You'll need a way to track meals, manage records, and prepare claims.
5
Your Decision Timeline
Open enrollment is a window — not forever. Move through these steps in order.
- This week: Gather the documents above.
- Next 2 weeks: Schedule a renewal conversation with your current sponsor. Ask the questions in section 2.
- If considering a switch: Identify 2-3 alternative sponsors. Set up exploratory calls.
- If considering independent: Call your state CACFP office to confirm process and timeline.
- Before the window closes: Make a clear decision — renew, switch, or apply. Don't drift into renewal by default.