Configure license renewal

Civic Platform offers solutions to renew licenses at the agency. If your agency implements Citizen Access, public users can renew licenses online. In either case, a license renewal can be initiated, all fees associated with that renewal can be paid, and the transaction completed for a license owner. This entire process can occur within the agency, online, or a combination of both. For example, a public user can start his business license renewal process by completing an application online. Then, he may come into the agency to provide supporting documents, pay the fees, and complete the transaction. Conversely, a customer can come into the agency to start the renewal process. Then, return home or to his business office to upload supporting documentation, attach it with their application, pay the fees online, and complete the transaction. Many times licenses require continuing education or a passing score on an exam to keep a license current. The Education, Continuing Education, and Examination features can also be implemented with the license renewal process to ensure all requirements are met before license issuance.

After configuring your agency to support license renewal, users can access an existing license and begin the renewal process. You can finish the configuration in the Renewal screen. Users access this screen by selecting the Renewal tab relating to the parent license record. When the license status supports a need for renewal, such as expired, about to expire, or delinquent, a Renewal button is available in the Renewal screen. Users select that button to open an application intake form, beginning the renewal process as a child record to the parent license record. For more information on this process, refer to the “Licensing” chapter in the Accela Civic Platform User Guide.

License renewal requires numerous configurations for implementation. If your agency implements Education, Continuing Education, Examination, and extended functionality through Citizen Access, these components require additional configurations.

For basic implementation in Civic Platform, administrators must enable FID 8398 CAP Renewal and define the EMSE scripts to enable this feature. For information on writing scripts and using the Event Manager and Script Engine tool, see the “Event Manager and Script Engine” chapter and the “Writing Scripts” chapter in the Accela Civic Platform Scripting Guide.

Note: If any of the events relates to more than one script, contact your Accela Services Implementation Specialist or the Accela Customer Response Center for technical assistance.

To setup renewal functionality, administrators must define the renewal record type, expiration code, and the workflow associated with the renewal process. Administrators must do the setup for each parent record type requiring renewals. For example, an electrical license must have the initial electrical license type defined. This is the parent record type. The electrical license renewal must also have a record type defined. It operates as a child record to the parent record throughout the renewal process. For complete information on how to set up record types, see "Record Types" chapter in the Accela Civic Platform Administrator Guide. Some licenses require a specified amount of hours of additional classroom training or a passing score on an exam before the issuance of a license renewal. For information on how to set up the renewal process with Continuing Education and Examination, refer to Certifications and education.

If your agency implements Citizen Access, administrators must set specific Fee item settings for ACA input required, Auto assess, and Auto invoiced. Administrators must set up online payment processing to receive payments over the internet. Administrators must customize the associated web pages. Lastly, depending on the agency implementation, you may need to approve a license relating to a public user through the Public user portlet in Civic Platform. For information on fees for Citizen Access, refer to Fees and online payments. For information on license approval in the Public user portlet, refer to Approve or reject a license.

To configure license renewal

  1. Log in to Civic Platform and select the Admin tools tab.

  2. Select a user group and enable the related FID 8398 CAP Renewal.

    For details on enabling an FID, refer to the Accela Civic Platform Configuration Reference.

  3. Define events. If any of these events relates to more than one script, contact your Accela Services Implementation Specialist or the Accela Customer Response Center for technical assistance.

    • ApplicationSubmitAfter

    • PaymentReceiveAfter

    • WorkflowTaskUpdateAfter

    • Convert2RealCapAfter4Renew

  4. Create an expiration code for the renewal process. This expiration code is assigned to the renewal record type. For additional instructions about expiration codes and about renewal processes, refer to the “Business License” chapter in the Accela Civic Platform Administrator Guide.

  5. Define the record types for the parent license records and the child renewal records. For instructions on how to set up record type information, refer to the "Record Types" chapter in the Accela Civic Platform Administrator Guide. See also Configure record type settings.

    Verify the record type has the following list of supporting record type configurations defined and assigned:

    • Enable for ACA

    • Renewal check box selected

    • Renewal Record Type defined and assigned

    • Fee Schedule with Fee Items configured for ACA display. See Enable fees for online functionality.

    • Expiration Code

    • Workflow for Renewal

    • SmartChoice Group

    • ASI Group Code

    • Document Code, if applicable.

  6. If your agency implements continuing education and examination, refer to Certifications and education for setup.

  7. Customize the Renewal Receipt page. See Customize license web pages.

  8. Customize the related emails. See Define license renewal emails.