Infocare Step-by-Step | Auckland Flooding 2023

*** UPDATE (03/02/2023): Important Information Regarding the Auckland Flooding 2023***

The Ministry of Education has published a bulletin 03/02/2023 to say that service who were open during the periods 30/01/2023-07/02/2023 can now claim absence funding for children not in attendance if the service is open as normal. These services are to use the Emergency Closure (EC) code for days they were CLOSED, and use “EC12 – Service Open with Attendances” for days children attended. Please remember if you had a Statutory Holiday/Anniversary Day in your calendar, this is to remain. You will need to “Modify” and “Update” your children Sign in Sheets again for this change to be actioned. 

*** Important Information Regarding the Auckland Flooding 2023***

With Auckland being declared as in a State of Emergency from 27/01/2023; the Ministry of Education have advised that all early learning services in the Auckland Region (Wellsford to Pukekohe) are to be closed. These services are to use the Emergency Closure (EC) code for these days and you do not need to apply to the Ministry of Education to access this funding.

If your service remains open for children of essential workers, funding may be claimed as normal. No emergency closure code is required, or changes to your Centre Calendar.

Please see the following steps you need to follow in Infocare.

Table of Contents

1. The “State of Emergency” period is classed as an Emergency Closure

2. Marking/modifying Child Daily Sign in Sheets for days that are covered under the Emergency Closure

3. Staff Daily Timesheets

4. Optional – How to credit fees already charged

1. The “State of Emergency” period is classed as an Emergency Closure

According to the pānui from the Ministry of Education dated 03/02/2023, the “Emergency Closure” centre calendar selection is to be used for those services closed, and “EC12 – Service Open with Attendances” for those services with children in attendance, in the Auckland Regions (Wellsford to Pukekohe). This is from Monday 30/01/2023 until Friday 03/02/2023; reopening Tuesday 7th February. Any Statutory Holidays/Anniversary Days are to remain as such.

Here is how to update your Centre Calendar and mark child daily sign in sheets:

1. Click on the “Centre”, link in the menu bar and then select “Calendar”.
2. Make sure the month is “January” and the year is “2023” and click “Modify”.
3. Select “Emergency Closure” or “EC12 – Service Open with Attendances” for the dates required for your region according to this latest information. Please note, any and all “Anniversary Days” must stay as this, and not be changed to “Emergency Closure”.
4. Once you have made the changes, click “>>” to save the changes, and move to the next month.
5. Select “Emergency Closure” or “EC12 – Service Open with Attendances” for the dates required for your region according to this latest information.
6. Once you have made the changes, click “Update” to save the changes.

NB: if you have more than one service, you can also select the options of “Area”, “Region” or “Group” in the “Centres to be updated field”.

2. Marking/modifying Child Daily Sign in Sheets for days that are covered under the Emergency Closure/Ec12 – Service Open with Attendances

1. Go to the “Sign in Selection” screen by either selecting it from your “Favourites” menu or going to “Reports, “Child Reports” and “Sign in Sheets”.
2. Update the “Date” to be 31/01/2023 and click “Search”.
3. Select the “Category” and click to modify (if you have more than one category of sign in sheet, repeat this process for all categories).
4. At the top of the screen, select all children by clicking the circle button next to “Name”.
5. Click the button that says “For ‘X’ selected children” and choose “Mark them absent”. Scroll to the bottom of the page and then click “Next Day” to navigate to the next day.
6. Repeat this process for all days covered of the Emergency Closure.
7. Once you have reached the last day the of the Emergency Closure, click “Update”.

3. Staff Daily Timesheets

Staff daily timesheets are not required for the purposes of funding on the days your service is closed to due an Emergency Closure. If you export staff timesheets from Infocare into a payroll program you can opt to enter staff timesheets into Infocare if you wish however, all staff will be required to be recorded in ‘non-contact’ activities i.e. “Other Duties” or “Non Contact”.

A full list of leave codes can be viewed by going to the “Centre” link in the menu bar, “Centre Options” and “Staff Activities”; we highly recommend that you do not make any changes to your services staff activities and instead email help@infocaresolutions.co.nz with your requested additions.

4. Optional – How to credit fees already charged

If fees have been charged during this State of Emergency period and you now no longer wish to charge fees, remove the tick from the “Charge” box in your “Centre Calendar”, and then follow the steps below to create credit Fee Adjustment invoices.

1. Go to the “Billing” menu and select “Account Processing”.
2. Enter in the Effective date for your billing cycle.
3. Click the circle button next to “Accounts” to choose all children. Click the “Create” button and click OK on the message advising you how many Fee Adjustment invoices are being created.
4. Scroll down the list of these invoices and check all Fee Adjustment invoices are correct and “Modify” if changes are required.
5. After checking and making any changes required, click the Commit button at the top right of the “Accounts Processing” “Invoices” screen.