CenterPoint^® Fund Accounting - Permits

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Document #:	3411	Product:	CenterPoint® Fund Accounting

The CenterPoint Permits module allows for easy entry and printing of a variety of permits, including the ability to track building permits by property.

Step A: Customize/Review Permit Forms

Step B: Setup Permits

Step C: Create Properties (Optional - may be used for Building Permits)

Step D: Create Custom Fields/Comments (Optional)

Step E: Permit Transaction Entry

Step F: Reporting

 

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Step A: Customize/Review Permit Forms

A permit transaction can print multiple documents, such as the permit, and invoice and/or a receipt. All three are created and maintained in the permit form designer.

1. Select Setup > Forms Designer > Permit Form Designer.
2. Select File > Open.

3. Choose the default permit form and click Open.
4. Follow the Forms Designer document for additional information on customizing forms.

Step B: Setup Permits

Permit setup allows easy creation of permit transactions which control the fund, accounting, items, sequence, and expiration. For example, Building Permit, Roofing Permit, Garage Sale Permit, Picnic Permit, Park Use Permit, etc.

1. Select Setup > Permits Maintenance.
2. Click New.

3. In the Abbreviation box, enter up to ten characters of optional information that you can easily identify the permit by.
4. In the Name box, enter up to 50 characters of required information that describes the permit.
5. In the Sequence box, enter or select the type of sequence you want to use for this permit. This lookup displays the default sequence for the Permits screen for this bank account/ fund.
6. Select the Use Sequence as Receipt/Invoice check box to set the permit number as the invoice number.
7. Select the Fund this permit is for.
8. Select an Account in the Cash or Accounts Receivable account category. If a cash account is selected, the permits transaction will be a cash receipt. If A/R is selected, the permits transaction will create an invoice to be paid later. This is just a default and can be changed at the time of transaction entry.
9. Expires After/On options are: N/A, Days, Weeks, Months, and Years. For example, if the permit expires after 180 Days, in the After box, select Days and then enter the number of days or if the permit expires on the 10th of the month, in the After box, select Months and in the On box, select 10th.
10. Click the Memos/Comments button to add a Memo 1 or Memo 2, Comments, or Custom Fields to the permit. For more information, see Step D: Create Custom Fields/Comments (Optional).
11. In the Item box, select the item(s) used to maintain a list of the products/services you sell with this permit. For detailed information on creating items, see the Basic Sales Items topic.

12. Select the Printing tab.

13. This tab allows you to specify for each form a different printer and number copies. Select the form(s) that you want to print when saving this specific permit entry from Processes > Revenues > Permits.
14. Select the Emailing tab.

15. Select the form(s) that you want to email when saving this specific permit entry from Processes > Revenues > Permits.
16. Enter the Subject and Message you want to include when emailing the specific permit. One email will be sent with the subject and message and each form selected will be an attachment. Forms will only be emailed if the customer selected on the permits transaction is setup for emailing. For additional information, see the Email Setup topic.
17. Click Save.

Step C: Create Properties (Optional)

Properties can be assigned to permit transactions as desired to report the history of permits entered for a specific property. Setup and use of Properties is optional.

1. Select Setup > Properties > Properties.

2. Click New.
3. In the Abbreviation box, enter up to ten characters of optional information that you can easily identify the property by.
4. In the Name box, enter up to 50 characters of required information that describes the property.
5. In the Address Line 1 and Address Line 2 boxes, enter the street address and any other information, for example, suite number or post office box number.
6. The third address line has a format option preceding it. There are four options for the format of the third line of the address:

• City, State, and Zip Code (US Addresses).
• City, Province, Postal Code (Canadian Addresses).
• Address Line 3 (Free format line)
• Foreign City, Foreign State/Province, Foreign Postal Code, Country Code (Foreign Addresses).

Choose the correct format. If this is the format that you use most often, you can select it and then right-click on the field to make it the default format. The United States address format and the Canadian address format will perform a zip code or postal code lookup and fill in the city and state or province. Country Codes can be selected from a list when using Foreign Addresses.

If your preferences are set to use the automatic Zip Code/Postal Code Lookup for addresses (File > Preferences > General > Address Settings), in the Zip/Postal Code box enter the zip code or postal code. If a list displays, select the appropriate city/state or city/province from the list. If your preferences are not set to use the lookup, enter the City/State/Zip, City/Province/Postal Code, Address 3, or Foreign Address information.

7. Enter up to 30 characters of optional Subdivision, Lot, Block, or Tract information.
8. In the Valuation box, enter the value of the property (from 0.00 - 9,999,999,999.99).
9. Enter optional Units and Size information (from 0.00 - 99,999,999.99).
10. In the Type box, click and select an optional property type. The type of property is user-definable. You may choose to define property type on a high-level basis such as real estate, personal, intellectual or as a more detailed level such as residential real estate, commercial real estate, RV(s), automobiles, trucks, or commercial vehicles. To create a new property Type, right-click, select New, enter a Name and Abbreviation and then click Save.
11. In the Use box, click and select an optional property use, or type a property use. The property use is user-definable. You may choose to define property as single-family residential, multi-family residential, townhome, apartment, etc. To create a new property Use, right-click, select New, enter a Name and Abbreviation and then click Save.
12. In the Occupancy box, click and selector type an optional property occupancy. This selection defines how the property is being lived in or used, The occupancy is user-definable. You may choose to define the property on a high-level basis such as occupied or vacant, or more detailed such as rental, principal residence, secondary residence, investment property, etc. To create a new property Occupancy, right-click, select New, enter a Name and Abbreviation and then click Save.
13. To add notes to this property, click Additional Notes, enter the notes, and then click OK.

Note: To add a time stamp to a note added or edited on the Additional Notes screen, click Stamp. If you are adding/editing a stamp in a database without security, the stamp will display "Edited on (current date and time)". If you are adding/editing a stamp in a database with security, the stamp will display "Edited by (username) on (current date and time)".

14. Click the Options button to select the Set Tab Stops menu that can be used to alter the tab-stops of the screen.
15. Select the Owners tab. The information on this tab is optional, unless you want to keep track of property history.

16. In the Acquisition Date box, enter or select the date the property was acquired.
17. In the Price box, enter the price the owner paid for the property.
18. Click the Add button to add or select a name as an Owner of the property or click Edit to make a change to the owner of the property. Owner names are from your names list in Setup > Names. You can add a new name by right clicking. For more information see the Understanding and Using Names document.

 

19. Click OK.

20. Click Save.

Step D: Create Custom Fields/Comments (Optional)

The Custom Transaction Fields preference allows you to specify up to eight pieces of additional information to track for each transaction. For example, this information can be entered and printed from Processes > Revenues > Permits.

1. Select File > Preferences > General > Custom Transaction Fields.

• Label - Enter optional field names (up to 256 characters each) for use in tracking additional information about a transaction.
• Data Type - Select from Text, Date, Numeric or Percentage.
• Decimals - This field is available only when the data type is Numeric or Percentage. The possible values are 0 through 8.

2. Click Save.

Step E: Permit Transaction Entry

1. Select Processes > Revenues > Permits.

2. In the Permit box, select the type of permit you are entering the transaction for.
3. In the Account box, select a required Cash or Accounts Receivable account. If a cash account is selected, the permits transaction will be a cash receipt. If A/R is selected, the permits transaction will create an invoice to be paid later. The account is based on the type of permit entered and can be changed.
4. For cash permit transactions, optionally select the bank deposit the cash receipt will included in.
5. Select the Customer this permit is being sold to. To properly calculate sales prices, the customer entered must have a Price Level assigned on the Setup > Customers > General tab.
6. If you are tracking building permits to properties, select the optional Property this permit is for.
7. In the Current Batch box, leave the No Batch selection to update balances in real-time (immediately) or enter a batch name to update balances at a later time. For more information, see the Batch vs. Real-Time Transactions topic.
8. In the Receipt/Invoice box, enter a receipt/invoice number or select the sequence you want to use for this receipt/invoice.
9. In the Permit # box, enter a permit number or select the sequence you want to use for this permit.
10. The custom fields will display the information from Setup > Permits Maintenance and can be changed.
11. Select or enter the Issue Date of the permit. The Date Expires box will automatically calculate based on your settings in Setup > Permits Maintenance.
12. The grid will automatically display the details from the Setup > Permits Maintenance screen which includes items from the Setup > Items screen.
13. Select the Hide rows with ZERO Quantity and Amount check box to suppress zero quantity and amount rows when printing this permit.
14. Specify the Quantity sold.
15. Click the Detail button in the data entry grid, to enter additional details about the transaction, for example for some of the fields you chose not to display on the data entry grid such as associated account, notation, description, and department.
16. The Comments will display the information from Setup > Permits Maintenance and can be changed.
17. The Customer Balance displays and cannot be changed.
18. The Total Due is calculated and cannot be changed.
19. If the account selected for this transaction was a Cash Account, select the Payment Type and enter the Check/Ref number for the payment type.
20. The Memo Line 1/Memo Line 2 will display the information from Setup > Permits Maintenance and can be changed.
21. Verify the permit and payment information for accuracy and click Save to complete the transaction. Each selected Form Type for the permit from settings in Setup > Permits > Printing/Emailing tab will be printed/emailed if the Print/Email button had a green check mark displayed.

Step F: Reporting

Permit reports can be printed from :

• Reports > Reports > Transaction Reports > Permits:

  • Permits - This report includes the Transaction Date, Transaction Number, Customer, and Permit Total grouped and totaled by Permit Type. The report is a summarized list of permit transactions. Drill-down is available to the permit transaction

• Permits (Detail) - This report includes the following permit details: Transaction Date, Permit Number, Transaction Number, Account Number and Description, Item, Quantity, Amount, and Permit Total grouped and totaled by Permit Type. The report is a detailed listing of permit transactions. Drill-down is available to the permit transaction.
• Permits by Property - This report includes the Permit, Permit Number, Transaction Date, Transaction Number and Permit Total. The report lists permits for each property. Drill-down is available to the permit transaction.

• Reports > Reports > Setup Lists > Properties:
  • Property History - This report includes the property Address, Purchase Date, Purchase Price, Valuation, and Disposition Date. The report summarizes property history listing purchases and dispositions of property. Purchase and disposition dates are in descending order. Drill-down is available to open the maintenance screen for more detail about the current status of the property.
  • Property Owners - This report includes Owner First and Last Name, Current Owner, Phone, Email, Cell Phone, Purchase Date, and Disposition Date. This report Lists the history of property owners by property.
• Reports > Reports > Setup Lists > Permits
  • Permit Item Pricing - This report includes Item Abbreviation, Item, Price Method, Qty More Than, Qty Less Than, and Price. This report lists item prices for permits.

Document: 3411