The following questions were included in a formal Permitting and Land Management System Request for Information from a city of about 62,500 residents. Read our responses below for more information about some of the cashiering and financial features included in Citizenserve's e-government software solution.
1.9 Finance
1.9.1. Describe the solution’s capabilities to create, manage, secure, and report (ad-hoc and scheduled) on financial transactions.
Citizenserve Response: Citizenserve enables the implementation of complex fee calculations, and the maintenance of fee schedules is included in the subscription. Fee schedules can be end dated. To enable payments, we integrate with a customer’s payment provider(s); we do not store credit card information. All data in the database is encrypted, and web services using HTTPS or TLS encryption with authentication are used for communicating with external systems like payment processors.
Payment information, accounts receivable information, and other financial information can be sent to the City’s financial system via a web services integration, or through the creation and upload of a daily batch file.
Citizenserve has a standard suite of financial reports. We will develop any custom report to meet the City’s requirements as part of Citizenserve’s unlimited support.
1.9.3. Describe how payments are processed and posted.
Citizenserve Response: We integrate with the City’s payment processor(s) and do not store credit card information. Successful payments are recorded in Citizenserve, and associated balance due fields are updated. Unsuccessful transactions are also logged for follow-up.
1.9.4. Describe the refund process.
Citizenserve Response: User roles can be set up to take and modify payments. For refunds, payments are reversed in Citizenserve; this data is then passed to the City’s financial system via an integration or report, and the City’s financial system would process the refund.
1.9.5. Describe any financial controls the system provides.
Citizenserve Response: There are various configuration options to implement business rules in Citizenserve. Conditions are often used to enforce business rules; for example, payment must be made before a permit is issued.
https://www.citizenserve.com/business-licensing-software/citizenserve-online-cashiering-services/
1.9.6. Describe the period/year end closing processes and financial reporting capabilities. Provide a diagram where applicable to illustrate the end-to-end process.
Citizenserve Response: Period and year end closing processes will be handled in the City’s financial system. Citizenserve will integrate with the City’s financial system via web services to pass AR, payment, and refund information. We we can create any kind of custom reconciliation report for the GL and/or Refunds.
1.9.9. Describe the solution’s integration possibilities with Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Citizenserve Response: We can integrate with Microsoft Dynamics 365 using custom web services or any available APIs. Citizenserve’s technical architects will be responsible for developing the code to send data from Citizenserve or accept data into Citizenserve; if an API is not available, the City’s resources will be responsible for developing the code to send data from Microsoft Dynamics 365 or accept data into Microsoft Dynamics 365.
1.10 Impact Fees
1.10.1. Describe the capabilities to manage and track impact fees, credits, and payments.
Citizenserve Response: We have great flexibility in configuring impact fees to meet the business rules of our customers; there is no “one size fits all” approach. Examples of impact fee calculations include basing the impact fee on meter size, tying the calculation to entries made from checkboxes and/or drop-down lists, other automatic calculations, or manual entries by staff. Staff can add credits to a customer’s impact fee, or credits can be calculated based on overpayments (if overpayments are allowed); credits can be carried on the permit and applied to the next payment.
1.10.2. Describe the capabilities for spatial integrated functionality for tracking impact fee information in specific geographic area.
Citizenserve Response: An unlimited number of custom fields can be created for properties and permits. The fee table for each permit type can easily incorporate the custom fields into fee definitions with no programming. Impact fees can be based on anything on the permit application or any property information. Typically, property information will contain the necessary information about the location or GIS integration will provide the relevant information necessary for impact fee calculation.
