Service, Support, Solutions…Satisfaction
FOURTH QUARTER OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2016
Customer Feedback
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
In a continuing effort to provide you with the best software and support avail-
Accounts Payable
able, we would like your input on how we can improve our products and services
Cash Receipting
to make your job easier. Each respondent will be entered into a drawing to
Fixed Assets General Ledger/Budgeting
win an iPad Air 2.
Human Resources Miscellaneous Receivables Purchase Order Payroll Timesheets Utility Billing
FM ANCILLARY APPLICATIONS Inventory Management Work Order Management
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Building Department Field Inspection Business Licensing Citizen Request for Action
ASSESSING & PROPERTY TAX SUITE Assessing/Equalization County Delinquent Tax Drain Assessment Drain Ledger Delinquent Personal Property P.R.E. Audit Special Assessment Property Tax
AccessMyGov Internet Services Building Department Services
We are very interested in hearing your suggestions and feedback, and encourage you to take our survey. You will have the chance to rate the applications you use and the support personnel with whom you interact on a regular basis. Please include any additional comments you would like. Feel free to forward the link to other interested departments or staff members. You may access the survey here or by going to the Help menu in your .NET applications. Select Contact Customer Support>Customer Survey. This survey opportunity will end on Friday, September 16, 2016.
Business Licensing Services Citizen Request for Action Services Employee Self Service Financial Services
ANCILLARY APPLICATIONS Animal License Cemetery Management
14965 Abbey Lane | Bath, MI 48808 | Toll Free: (855) BSA-SOFT | (517) 641-8900 | (517) 641-8960 | www.bsasoftware.com
Assessing/Equalization Assessing .NET
Looking ahead Typically, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used in the Cap Value formula is released by the STC in late October or early November. As soon as it is available, Assessing .NET will be updated and will contain the new CPI. For Pervasive users, the CPI will need to be manually entered in Program Management>Governmental Unit Options>Global Calculation Options.
For example: In this scenario, a parcel is currently forfeited. It has a $10 forfeiture recording fee and a $10 redemption recording fee on it. If you run a notice for this parcel, you would expect the 9/30/16 payoff amount to charge $10 for each of these fees. However, for the 10/31/16 payoff amount, since the redemption has not yet been filed, you want the redemption recording fee to increase to $30…but you want the forfeiture recording fee to stay at $10, since it was already recorded for $10 in March. In this case, the new fields would be filled out with $10 for the forfeiture recording fee, and $30 for the redemption recording fee, as shown below:
Several new features and changes have been added/made to Assessing .NET in 2016. To see a list of these changes, click the blue globe in the lower right hand corner of the screen and select “Show Update Entries for the following number of days.” A list appears with the relevant changes.
These new fields take care of the upcoming notices and any other reports run between now and October. After October 1, two things will need to be done to complete the process of added fees. The first is to change the existing outstanding redemption recording fees from $10 to $30 using the change fees utility.
Tax Suite Delinquent Tax .NET Legislation Change Effective October 1, 2016 There have been some questions regarding the new legislation that changes Register of Deeds recording fees as of October 1, 2016. At that time, the cost of filing certificates with the Register of Deeds will increase from $10 to $30. There are already some utilities in the program that will allow you to change the fees on outstanding forfeitures on October 1. This article will give you an overview of the software changes. The current pressing question is how to handle the printing of notices with dates containing current fees in addition to the new fees after October 1. For counties that send notices in September, that notice will contain an amount due as of 9/30/16 (which is before the new fees go into effect) and an amount due as of 10/31/16 (which is after the fees go into effect). The 8/1 update for Delinquent Tax contains programming to handle this situation. You can access the fees in the Interest Calculation Setup area where you will see two new fields. These fields will be used solely for notice/reporting purposes. Users will fill in those fields with the amounts to be charged on existing forfeitures as of 10/1/16…NOT the amounts being charged at forfeiture next year.
2 BS&A Software 4th Quarter 2016
Follow the prompts for administrator access, forfeiture year, population, and so on to complete the change in fees being charged on unpaid forfeiture records. Note: Use the forfeiture year, not the tax year in this process. For example, in most circumstances the 2014 taxes were forfeited in 2016. So the forfeiture
year for those taxes is 2016. If you have outstanding forfeitures from previous years, the utility will need to be run again for each forfeiture year. As you proceed through the utility, the Redemp. Recording Costs should reflect the current redemption recording amount, as well as the new $30 amount in their respective columns.
The second step will be to change the fee setup so that next year at forfeiture, the program charges the new $30 amounts.
Names or the Top 10 Animal Breeds. This report can be run from the License Reports category. You have a choice as to the number of top records you want to display according to Name or Breed, as well as other options to narrow the report for your needs.
• Certain Animal Reports now have a report option to allow for multiple license types to be selected. • The Animal List Report now has two report options to filter out animal records with a Death Date or Do Not Renew flag set. • We have added the ability to hide a record from display on AMG. This is especially helpful for animal owners such as police officers so their home address is not publicized. This feature is in the additional owner information window accessible from the Owner Edit Screen.
Complete instructions for this process have been emailed to the County Treasurer. For an additional copy of the instructions or if you have other questions about this process, please contact Support for assistance. Other New Features/Changes • Corrections to the newest version of State Form 4264 have been made to display other interested parties as well as to replicate State format. The report can be used as a template if you wish to make format/design changes. • The MTT Refund Interest rate has been updated to 4.40% for July 1 through December 31, 2016. • We have added an export named “Create IRS Lien Export File.” Its purpose is to export IRS lien information to other vendors. • Functionality has been added to the Occupant Notice of Show Cause Report to allow for exclusion of parcels without a valid property address.
Delinquent Personal Property .NET New Features/Changes • The MTT Refund Interest rate has been updated to 4.40% for July 1 through December 31, 2016.
Drain Assessment .NET New Features/Changes • We have added an option to the Split Parcels tool to update the property class on child parcels from the Assessing program.
Animal License .NET New Features/Changes • A new report has been added to display the Top 10 Animal
4th Quarter 2016 BS&A Software 3
Tax .NET Feature Highlight The Tax program now contains fields for taxpayer email and phone numbers. These fields will update from the Assessing program if the option is selected in Assessing Link Options. If you want to bring both the email and the phone number over, leave the Do Not Update Email setting disabled, but toggle the Read/Update Phone Number setting.
Other New Features/Changes • The DDA Millage Exclusion window in Exclusions/Factors for DDA/TIFA/Brownfield Districts now displays a total for millage exclusions. • The MTT Refund Interest rate has been updated to 4.40% for July 1 through December 31, 2016.
Inspection items marked as Passed are now saved and reportable Previously, the PASSED inspection option on a Checklist item had little functionality, and was meant mostly as a space holder to track inspections while they were being done. This field is now fully reportable. This functionality must be enabled through a Tech Support utility. Please contact Support for assistance.
Business Licensing .NET
Invoice Adjustment window has been improved Adjusting an invoice has been streamlined to remove unnecessary options and to add the ability to enter New Units.
• We addressed an issue where a Qualified Forest parcel (QFP PA 42) with building value was incorrectly causing rounding discrepancies in the Standard Warrant report.
Community Development Looking Ahead We will be holding several Community Development User Group Meetings next quarter. Registration is available now on our website http://bsasoftware.com/News-Events/Upcoming-Events. January 11 and January 24, 2017 February 13 and February 28, 2017
Building Department .NET
A new “Print Queue” allows letters to be re-generated The Print Queue can be used to re-print letters or store letters to be generated at a later time. A letter can be flagged for the queue individually or as part of a workflow for generated letters. Letters that are flagged can be viewed and re-printed from this new view.
4 BS&A Software 4th Quarter 2016
Citizen Request for Action .NET Allow/Require Attachments on Requests from AMG For each Request type, there is now the ability to allow or require attachments submitted through AMG.
Financial Management General Ledger .NET
Year End Reminders For customers with a Fiscal Year End of March 31, please remember that the year-end closing process should be completed by September 30. Also, those customers with a Fiscal Year End of June 30 should complete the year-end closing process by December 31.
Accounts Payable-Zip Code Maintenance The Zip Code Maintenance setting now allows for easier entry of foreign country addresses. The zip code field on the Vendor Setup screen will now allow for various country zip or postal code formats. When a Country Code is set up on a specific vendor address, the zip code field becomes a free form entry that will allow you to type in whatever zip code is needed, regardless of the format.
Accounts Payable .NET
1099 Filing With the end of the calendar year fast approaching, it is time to start thinking about 1099 Forms. Each vendor that should get a 1099 will be marked as such (Program Setup>Database Setup>Vendors).
Purchase Order .NET
Go to Reports>Vendor Reports and select “Vendor 1099 Form.” Click Run Report and enter the 1099 Reporting Year and 1099 Reporting Threshold. Click Run to receive the steps to complete the 1099 process. Interactive links help you complete each task.
The ability to check the budget status as of a specific date has been added to Purchase Order. This will allow for display and verification of budget amounts prior to saving a Requisition or Purchase Order. This feature is located under the Tools menu on the PO Entry Screen. It will display all pertinent budget information for the expense line items added to the purchase order.
If you need additional assistance processing your 1099 forms, please feel free to click on the link below to view the video. If you have further questions on this process, please don’t hesitate to call or email Support. http://www.bsasoftware.com/Learning-Center/FinancialManagement/Video-Tutorials/ID/729/categoryId/15/ Year-End-1099-Process
4th Quarter 2016 BS&A Software 5
Cash Receipting .NET
Cash Receipting now has the ability to honor the Department/ Fund Access security established in the General Ledger program. When a specific user is set up in GL to only have access to a certain range of Funds, Departments, or Accounts, using this option in CR will honor those settings. When a user in CR accesses the Chart of Accounts look up window in order to set new GL distributions on Receipt Items or during a Department Receipt entry, only the allowed combination of Funds/ Departments/Accounts will be available for selection. This option is located in Program Setup>Program Settings>General Settings>Miscellaneous Settings.
**For more information on additional advanced options for this process, please contact Support. Upcoming User Group Meetings We are pleased to announce that we will be holding the following .NET User Group Meetings this fall and winter. These meetings are a great way for our customers to get together and see new features, go over upcoming litigation changes, meet the support and development staff, catch a glimpse of some upcoming projects, and participate in an open forum to address any questions/concerns. To ensure that we cover topics on which you would like information, we are asking for your suggestions. We will work hard to implement all suggestions into the meeting agenda.
Utility Billing .NET
Exporting Delinquent UB amounts to BS&A Tax Utility Billing offers an “Export Delinquent Utility Bills to Tax” task located in the Tasks menu. This task can be used to adjust delinquent water and/or sewer bills en masse.
If you would like to offer your ideas, email your suggestions to:
[email protected] Payroll/Timesheets/Human Resources November 17, 2016 and December 1, 2016 The meetings will be held at our new Training Center in Bath, from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. There will be no charge to attend, and a light breakfast and lunch will be provided. Because of limited space, we do ask that you limit the number of registered attendees from your municipality to 4. Thank you for your understanding. You can register for this event by going to the BS&A Website at http://www.bsasoftware.com/news-events/upcoming-events, finding the event date, and clicking on the register link with the event detail.
Conference Schedule
The utility will create an export file from Utility Billing that can then be imported into your Tax .NET database. A Bill Adjustment will be created for each of the accounts that meet the criteria for delinquency. The delinquent date and the minimum balance that can be transferred is determined by the municipality. The Proof Run portion of this process can be run as many times as desired. No adjustments or journal entries are created during a proof run. The journal entries to be created are determined in Program Setup>Database Setup>Billing Items>General Ledger>Delinquent.
6 BS&A Software 4th Quarter 2016
MiCAMP Illinois Government Finance Officers Assoc. Michigan-GMIS Ohio Government Finance Officers Assoc. Illinois Municipal League Code Officials Conference of Michigan Minnesota Government Finance Officers Assoc. Georgia Government Finance Officers Assoc. Pennsylvania Municipal League National Parks & Recreation Conference International Code Council Georgia GMIS Kansas Government Finance Officers Assoc. South Carolina Government Finance Officers Assoc. American Association of Code Enforcement South Carolina Municipal Finance Officers Clerks & Treas. Illinois Government Finance Officers Association
Sept 7-9 Sept 11-14 Sept 12-14 Sept 21-23 Sept 22-24 Sept 27-30 Sept 28-30 Oct 2-5 Oct 4-6 Oct 6-8 Oct 16-18 Oct 17-20 Oct 16-18 Oct 16-19 Oct 16-18 Oct 25-28 Nov 6-9
Technical Support
We encourage you to utilize our Help Menu feature in all .NET applications to either send a call-back request or an email request to the support team. All requests will continue to be answered or returned within the normal turn-around time that our customers are accustomed to. Alternatively, regular email requests are also encouraged. Both options are especially useful for those customers who do not work in their offices each day during regular business hours. Please keep in mind not all situations can be handled through email. Occasionally we may need to speak with you. Assessing Tax Delq Tax Delq Personal Property Special Assessment Building Dept. Utility Billing Financial Management Internet Services I.T. Department
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Sending Data to Support
The easiest, most efficient way to send BS&A data is to use our FTP process. This works for both Pervasive and .NET: 1. Back up your database. 2. Go to Help>FTP>FTP File to BS&A Software. 3. For .NET, File to Upload defaults to the backup file you just created; click Ok. For Pervasive, you will need to browse to the backup file; do so and click Send. 4. For .NET, go to Help>Contact Customer Support>Email Support. For Pervasive, go to Help>Email [deptname] Support. 5. For .NET, verify the information in the Subject line (your license file and version date information). For Pervasive, enter a Subject. 6. In the body of the message, notify us of the FTP upload, and be sure to add your name and a contact number. Should you need to send data via regular mail, please remember to note on your envelope or enclosure the department or person that has requested the data. It is also important to label the media. Our goal is to serve you as quickly as possible and unlabeled items could cause a delay in that process.
Annual Service Fees
Your Support Agreement, which covers program updates and technical support, guarantees that fees will not change for the first two years that your municipality uses our software. After that time we reserve the right to increase fees by the cumulative Consumer Price Index. Therefore, if you were a new customer in 2014, your 2016 Support Fee will increase no more than 3%. This does not apply to upgrades to the .NET applications where fees are increased by the annual CPI.
Assessing Classes
6-Hour Continuing Education Credit All Assessing & Tax Classes listed are hands-on and held at BS&A’s training facility. The State Tax Commission has approved these elective classes for 6-hour continuing education credit.
Level I - Program Introduction & Setup Recommended for the Assessor or designated new user of Assessing/Equalization. This class covers all master list setup in Program Setup and its importance in data entry and reporting. Roll balancing and frequently-used reports are also covered. Level II - Assessment Roll & Data Entry This class demonstrates how to perform the assessment roll including name/address changes, sales, uncapping, P.R.E.s, building permits, and processing splits/combinations. Entering all types of appraisal information is also covered. Level III - Land Tables, ECFs & Sales Studies Designed for the user that will be responsible for creating/ maintaining land rates, analyzing/setting ECFs, and performing sales studies. This class also reviews related reports for each of these features. Level IV - Assessing Cycle & Special Acts Parcels This class reviews the entire assessment cycle, beginning with creating a new assessment year database, rolling over the database, and processing all types of adjustments through end of assessment roll review (necessary prior to sending Change Notices). As a part of this class, Special Acts parcels are reviewed with ideas and reports that are useful for managing special rolls. Using Apex with Assessing/Equalization This class covers the use of Apex (latest version available) with Assessing/Equalization .NET. Setup within Assessing/Equalization is covered, along with frequently-used commands. Practical examples of drawing buildings and land are also given. Personal Property This class is designed for Assessors, Appraisers, and other office staff who perform duties pertaining to the processing, data entry, and reporting of Personal Property. Topics discussed in detail are printing of the personal property statements, processing statements, assessing buildings on leased land, estimating assessments for non-filers, and Board of Review changes.
Commercial/Industrial This class covers the details of inputting Commercial/Industrial structures into Assessing .NET. Examples of Calculator, Segregated, Unit-in-Place and Income Capitalization are used. Assessing .NET Upgrade Designed for the experienced user of the Pervasive Assessing application, this class introduces the user to Assessing .NET. Topics covered include the conversion process and new features, as well as the acclimation of changes from the old version to the new. Assessing .NET Report Designer This class introduces users of Assessing .NET to the features and functions of the new Report Designer. Sample custom reports will be created in class, along with instruction on creating and using filters and queries. Land Value Modeling I This one-day class begins at square one: how to create land tables and how to attach parcels to those land tables, both one-at-a-time or en masse using tabular and GIS methods. This class also illustrates how to populate essential fields in order to analyze the market value of land using a number of different units of measurement: per acre; per actual front feet; per effective front feet; per square foot. Buildable units and site value are also taught. Finally, you will learn how to utilize landto-building ratio and land residual techniques using BS&A’s Assessing program. Using GIS This class covers the GIS tools available in our .NET applications. Among other things, you will learn how to: create land value maps; identify parcels within x feet of subject parcels; display a wide range of fields on a map; use maps to set data fields en masse; include blocked and marked data on a map; put sales data on maps; use GIS map routes for field inspections done in conjunction with sales and permits, or on parcels in general.
4th Quarter 2016 BS&A Software 7
Tax Classes Level I - Introduction & Creating a Tax Roll Recommended for the Treasurer or person creating their first tax roll using Tax .NET. This class includes a thorough program overview, as well as general setup and tax setup items relevant to creating a tax roll. Importing from Assessing .NET, developing a tax roll checklist, and establishing millage rates for all billing types is also covered, as well as working with mortgage information and reviewing options for adding special assessments to the tax bill. A review ofthe reports available for balancing purposes and tax bill printing through out the roll setup is presented. Level II - Working with the Tax Roll Designed for any Tax .NET user working with an existing tax roll throughout the course of the collection cycle. Roll maintenance such as name/address updates, mortgage codes, deferments, and handling taxpayer inquiries is covered. This class also includes payment processing, adjustments, and roll balancing with reports related to each item. Special Assessment Program setup and creating a multi-year, principal/interest type of Special Assessment District with various benefit calculation methods is covered. Creating a separate billing for special assessments and/or billing the annual installment on a current tax bill is also reviewed. Delinquent Personal Property Designed to acquaint new users with Delinquent Personal Property .NET. Topics discussed in detail are initial setup, importing parcels from shared tax database, data entry, generating reports, entering general ledger account numbers, and receipting. Also discussed is use of the built-in Report Designer Tax .NET Report Designer This class introduces users of Tax .NET to the features and functions of the new Report Designer. Sample custom reports will be created, along with instruction on creating and using filters and queries. Tax (Pervasive) This one-day class is an overview of the Pervasive version of Tax. Designed for new users, it covers setup items relevant to creating a tax roll, importing from Assessing, and establishing millage rates. Roll maintenance such as name/address updates, mortgage codes, deferments, and handling taxpayer inquiries are covered. This class also includes payment processing, adjustments, and roll balancing, with reports related to each item. Tax .NET Tips & Tricks Class Fee: $75/person. This class covers
7 BS&A Software 4th Quarter 2016
a variety of tools, procedures, and tricks to help you get the most out of your Tax .NET application. Items covered include using the Differences button, importing adjustments directly from Assessing .NET, marking and blocking records, direct imports from prior year databases, New Tax Year Database Wizard, Report Profiles, and using templates for your millage rate tables, just to name a few. Previous experience with Tax .NET is recommended. This class is not a replacement for Tax Level I or Tax Level II.
Community Development Classes Support Staff Intro .NET This lecture-style class covers the basic features of Building Department .NET. Participants will be introduced to the layout of the program, along with the fundamentals of program management and data entry. Administration Staff .NET This lecture-style class is designed for admin-level users and assumes prior training has been done in Support Staff Intro .NET. This class covers the more advanced features of Building Department .NET and how to best utilize the program to manage your properties.
Field Inspection .NET Demo Class Fee: No Charge. Class Time: 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. Gone are the days of hand-writing notes during the inspection, only to have to then enter them into the computer later. Quickly upload inspection results and repair letters, automatically send e-mails and download changes from the desktop, home, or anywhere. Learn how BS&A’s Field Inspection .NET software uses checklists, handwriting recognition, quick text features, and common word lists to enable inspectors to quickly and efficiently complete inspections and share data with Building Department .NET.
Financial Management Classes Fund Accounting I This class is designed for anyone wishing to grasp the basics of fund accounting. Topics covered are: description of fund accounting, components of a uniform chart of accounts, typical accounting transactions including inter-fund activity, pooled cash vs. nonpooled cash, internal controls, preparing an account reconciliation, budgeting, basic financial statements and what to expect during your annual audit.
Building Department .NET Tips & Tricks Class Fee: $75/person. This lecture-style class covers a variety of tools, procedures, and tricks to help you get the most out of your Building Department .NET application. Items covered include setting fields, report profiles, mass letters, workflows, and new features. Previous experience with Building Department .NET is recommended. This class is not a replacement for Support Staff Intro .NET or Administration Staff .NET.
Fund Accounting II This class is designed for those wishing to learn more of the advanced topics and reporting aspects of fund accounting. Topics covered are: GASB 34 reporting, F-65 reporting, project and grant accounting as well as fixed assets, including: capitalization; depreciation; repairs and maintenance; disposals and improvements.
Community Development - AccessMyGov Demo Class Fee: No Charge. Class Time: 9 a.m. - Noon. Learn how contractors and homeowners alike can apply for permits and request inspections online, saving your staff valuable time. This feature currently integrates with Building Department .NET only.
Host I.T. Right
Community Development .NET Report Designer This interactive class takes the user through the theory, design, and functionality of your powerful new reporting tool. Each user gets interactive, hands-on experience with a knowledgeable instructor, walking them step-by-step through the process of creating basic reports and data filters. This class is designed for the new .NET user who wants to get the most out of their new software. You will have the opportunity to work with data and text fields, learn about data relationships, and create a report of your own.
DNN Web Design Learn the basics of DNN Software and maintain your own professional-looking website. This is a FREE class offered by I.T. Right. Instructors: Daniel P. Eggleston, MCSE+I & Melissa Eggleston of IT RIGHT Classes are held at the BS&A Software Training Center from 9 to noon. Please call I.T. Right to register: (517) 318-0350
Register for classes Click on the class name in the calendar below or visit our website at http://www.bsasoftware.com/NewsEvents/Upcoming-Events
Monday
October October
3
Tax .NET I
Tuesday 4
Tax .NET II
5
6
Building Department .NET Support Staff Intro
13
Assessing .NET Level III
19
25
Building Department .NET Tips & Tricks
1
17
18
24
Thursday
Special Assessment .NET
12
11
Land Value Modeling
Wednesday
I.T. Right DNN Web Design
10
(using Assessing .NET)
Assessing .NET Level I
Assessing .NET Level IV
20
26
Fund Accounting I
2
Friday 7
Assessing .NET Level II
14 Tax .NET Tips & Tricks
21
27
Fund Accounting II
28
3
Special Assessment .NET
4
November November
31
7
Building Department .NET Administrative Staff
14
8
I.T. Right DNN Web Design
9
Using APEX with Assessing .NET
15
16
21
22
23
28
29
30
Southern Regional User Group Meeting Nov. 14th & 15th Savanna , GA
Building Department .NET Report Designer
Using GIS with Assessing .NET
December December
Retake a class for free! If you would like to brush up on recently learned skills, you may retake the same class within 6 months free of charge if space is available. Call for details.
4th Quarter, 2016
5
6
12
Tax .NET I
Building Department .NET Support Staff Intro
13
Tax .NET II
7 14
Assessing .NET Report Designer I.T. Right DNN Web Design
Tax .NET II
11
17Payroll/Timesheets/
Human Resources .NET User Group Meeting
18
24
25
10
Closed for Thanksgiving
1
Payroll/Timesheets/ Human Resources .NET User Group Meeting
2
8
9
15
16
19
20
21
22
23
26
27
28
29
30
Closed for Christmas Holiday
Closed
Closed for Christmas Holiday Closed
Class Times
Each class is one full day from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. with an hour lunch break, unless otherwise noted.
Fees/Invoicing
Classes are $205/person and include lunch, unless otherwise noted. Please do not send payment until you are invoiced.
4th Quarter 2016 BS&A Software 9
