Record Keeping & Accounting


Record keeping and accounting is important at any farmers’ market. Adding a CalFresh EBT program means accounting for a new form of currency in the market. The amount of CalFresh sold (distributed scrip) and redeemed by vendors will not always be the same, as sometimes customers hold on to the scrip for use on another day. Because outstanding scrip is a liability for your market or organization, it is important that you account for it and ensure that the funds are earmarked.

Likewise, the market manager, Board Treasurer or Bookkeeper will want to make sure that all CalFresh EBT transactions post to the market’s bank account.

Best Practices

Best Practices for Record-Keeping and Accounting Systems

  • Treat EBT scrip like you would any currency. Never leave scrip unattended at the info booth.
  • Some markets opt to check in and out a pre-determined amount of scrip to the market manager at the beginning and end of the market day. This method ensures checks and balances for the EBT currency.
  • Your wireless POS device will generate a record of total transactions after each market day. This can assist with the end of market-day reconciliation between scrip distributed and redeemed.
  • You should record the number of tokens/vouchers you redeem from each vendor each day and the total number of tokens redeemed each day.
  • The record of total transactions and the daily total of tokens redeemed will be different, as some tokens are kept by customers to spend, or vendors to redeem another day.
  • The outstanding amount should be earmarked in case the scrip is redeemed at a later date.
  • Sample record-keeping forms are available under Templates below.



EBT Edge

Check your EBT deposit history and clear manual vouchers online

First you will need to create a Merchant account on EBT Edge:

  • Go to Merchant Log In and go to “register online now.”
  • On the Merchant Registration page, enter your FNS #, phone number you used to register with the state, create a username and password, and answer three security questions.

*Note: If you run multiple farmers’ markets, you will need to create a separate account for each market.

To view your 1099K Form:

  • Go to Deposits & Invoices
  • In the upper right-hand corner, click on View 1099K Form
  • Choose the year that you would like to view

To clear vouchers/see outstanding vouchers:

  • Click on Voucher Clear Processing (Open)
  • If you have any available vouchers to be cleared, they will appear on the screen
  • Click on the empty square boxes to check/select the vouchers that you want to clear
  • Then, click on the box that says Process Checked Vouchers
  • The system will let you know it has successfully cleared them

To see Deposits/Invoices(Transactions)/Claims:

  • Click on Merchant Deposits/Invoices/Claims
  • Select the date or date range
  • Click on Show deposits
  • The system will show any recent deposits (Keep in mind deposits may occur up to two business days after the transactions. Be sure to include these days in your search range.)
  • Click on the settlement date to the left (This will bring up all of the transactions for the desired date)
  • On this same screen you have the option to Save the information in either Excel or PDF format

*Note: Deposits from out-of-state cards may be listed on a separate line.

To order offline vouchers:

  • Go to the Services tab
  • Select Offline Vouchers and the quantity
  • Click Add and click Create Order Form

Merchant Services Support:
800-894-0050
Merchant.Services.Support@fisglobal.com