No Kid Hungry's CEP Calculator
The CEP Calculator enables school nutrition staff to:
- Compare side-by-side each school’s expected annual revenue and the entire school district’s expected annual revenue under both CEP and standard NSLP (standard counting and claiming)
- Customize your financial analysis by manipulating expected breakfast and lunch participation rates by school, and see the impacts on revenue in real-time
- Optimize your revenue with CEP by using strategic grouping, powered by the CEP grouping tool, Meals Count. It’s built right into the calculator!
For step-by-step guidance on how to use the CEP Calculator, view the short demo below.
For troubleshooting support, please refer to the information provided below the demo.
Troubleshooting
Having trouble using the CEP Calculator? Most issues can be resolved with a few quick troubleshooting steps. Start by checking whether Excel macros are enabled, then review your data for formatting or other issues that may prevent the calculator from reading your information correctly. The guidance below walks you through the most common issues and solutions. If you continue to experience problems after trying these steps, contact your IT department or reach out to the No Kid Hungry team at bestpractices@strength.org for additional support.
Enabling macros
If you need to enable macros (bits of programming code that perform certain actions automatically on your computer), you may need to take one of two sets of actions:
- If you see a yellow security warning banner with an "Enable Content" button, click the "Enable Content" button. This will allow the macros within the calculator to run your numbers.
- If you see a red security warning banner, you may not be able to run Excel macros on your computer. Consult with your I.T. staff about your permission to run macros.
If you need additional information about macros, please see the following links:
- Enable or disable macros in Microsoft 365 files: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vba/enable-or-disable-macros-in-microsoft-365-files
- Meals Count back-end code: https://github.com/opensandiego/mealscount-backend (for I.T. staff to see the code powering the calculator)
Other issues
Here are some other common issues that users experience when using the calculator:
- Cells not populating or getting N/A results,
- “Error Encountered” pop-ups,
- Some schools not being counted in the grouping function, or
- Grouping function taking too long,
If you are experiencing any of these errors, start by examining your data for any special characters, blank cells/rows, merged cells/rows, or hidden columns. These things will disable the calculator from reading the data correctly, and cause functionality issues.
Try copying the Excel sheet with all the school data into a new, clean copy of the CEP calculator using the “Paste Values” option to paste ONLY the data, thereby removing any special characters. This step should alleviate most of the problems.
If you are still having issues, try these additional steps:
- Clear any invisible formatting by selecting your data range in the excel sheet, in the top ribbon, find the “Editing” group, click “Clear formats” (eraser icon).
- Unmerge any merged cells, as import tools cannot read them properly.
- Unhide all columns. Hidden columns can hide blank or troublesome data.
- Clear “ghost data” by reviewing your data and deleting any unused, blank columns, rows, or cells that Excel might still register as part of your active range.