Clerk 2.6.1 Update Notes
 

Fixes for All Users:
Pay All Outstanding Invoices
We have added information to the description section on the Post-It Notes report for notes attached to the Cart ID. This was added to help locate the cart to which the Post-It was attached.

Fixes for MAAP Users:
Agent Fee Printing on Registration After Clearing Agent at Fee Settlement
Previously, when processing a transfer and clearing the agent fee at fee settlement, the municipal agent fee was incorrectly printing on the town only registration. This has been fixed.

Fleet Report
Previously, when processing renewal notices, the Fleet Report displayed a $40.00 state fee for an IAPRO plate. This has been fixed to show as zero.

Administrative Complaint
The Administrative Complaint form has been updated with the new Director's name, Richard Bailey, Jr.

MAAP Rejecting Registration(s) When Retrieving Hold Cart
A problem existed when a cart with multiple registrations was put on hold, subsequently retrieved, resubmitted to MAAP and MAAP rejected one or more of the registrations without a message stating which registrations were rejected. This made it virtually impossible to determine which registrations could not be registered and thus needed to be deleted from the cart. As a result, you were often forced to delete the whole cart and start over.

We have updated the process so that when you retrieve a hold cart and MAAP rejects one or more registrations, a message will state which item in the cart could not be resubmitted and if you proceed the item will be deleted from your cart. At this point, you have two options:

    Option 1: You can exit the process by selecting Yes in the message dialog box. The cart will be placed back on hold and you can try fixing the issue through registration view/maintenance. Once the problem is fixed, you can go back into hold cart and retrieve the cart.

    Option 2: You can select No on the Exit dialog box. The system will proceed by deleting the item(s) from your cart and advancing to fee settlement.

Leased Vehicle Residency Validation
Previously, when registering a leased vehicle, the system would allow you to complete the registration even if the lessee(s) or primary driver did not have a connection to your municipality. Now, if the legal address of the lessee(s) or primary driver is not your municipality, we will display a message telling you the legal address is questionable and ask if you want to continue with the current information. If you click Yes, you will continue on with the registration without a change in residency. If you click No, you will need to update the Lessee or Primary Driver to reflect a legal address in your municipality.

Updates & New Features for All Users:
PIN Added to Dog Reminder Letters
We have added a personal identification number (PIN) to the Dog Reminder Letters. The PIN becomes important for our clients using the Clerk Kiosk with the option of renewing dogs online. In order for a resident to renew their dog through the Kiosk, they will be required to enter the PIN number from the reminder letter. If you would like more information on the Clerk Kiosk, call Avitar.

Dog Tag Inventory Search
In order to simplify the search for a specific dog tag, we have updated the Dog Tag Inventory feature to allow you to search for a tag by tag year, tag number, tag status, or any combination of the three. To search for a dog tag, go to Utilities | Dog Tag Inventory and select the Tag Year dropdown box to see all tags for a specific year. To narrow the search further, use the Tag Status dropdown box to see only tags in that year that have a specific status, such as Open. The Tag Number text box allows you to search for one specific tag.

Dog Icon on Fee Settlement Screen
We heard from many clerks stating that often they have a customer registering a vehicle, but the customer neglects to tell them they have a dog that needs to be licensed as well. In order to assist with the licensing of dogs, we have added a dog icon to the Fee Settlement Screen. If the owner you selected has one or more unlicensed dogs, a dog icon will display on the Fee Settlement screen next to the Location text box. This is a reminder to ask the customer if they want to renew their dogs.

Unlicensed Dog Report Options
We have added two additional options to the unlicensed dog report selection: Dogs That Have Not Been Renewed and Dogs That Have Never Been Licensed. The options were added to offer flexibility in narrowing your search to a specific group of unlicensed dogs. The unlicensed dog report for Dogs That Have Not Been Renewed will only list dogs that have been licensed at some point in the system, but have not been renewed for the year selected. This report will also show the most recent license/tag number for each dog. The unlicensed dog report for Dogs That Have Never Been Licensed will only list dogs that have been added to the system, but never licensed. This report will show the date the dog was added to the system.

Tender Types
We have added Discover, MasterCard, Visa, and American Express as tender types for those clients who accept credit cards and have the credit card option enabled in Avitar Clerk. Previously, all credit card transactions were processed with a tender type of "Credit Card." The new, more specific tender types were added to help when balancing the reports from the credit card processor in which transactions from different credit card types may be deposited to the municipal account on differrent days. To enable the credit card function, call Avitar.

Audit Transactions Report
We have added a new report called Audit Transactions. This report was created to assist you in monitoring transactions in the system. For example, the report will list when a vehicle's list price was changed or when a returned check was processed. The report can be restricted to only show items for a specific date or a date range. Also, you can select several different levels of detail under the Display Transactions For section. To view the report go to Reports | Audit Transactions. The report can be printed for a specific day or by date range by selecting the appropriate radio button. You can use the Sort By section to group like transactions together, such as all the returned checks. Under the Display Transactions For there are three dropdown boxes to assist you in narrowing down the information that is displayed. For example, you may only want to see transactions for a specific clerk, so you would use the Clerk dropdown box to select the clerk. Finally, there is a Description text box, which allows you to type in a word(s) which will display all transactions with that word in the description. For example, you want to see all returned payments, whether bad check or credit card, in the Description text box type returned. The report will display all instances where the word "returned" is found.

Deposit Report
The Deposit Report has been updated to include more information. It's our goal to eventually eliminate the Supervisors Journal, as many items are being duplicated on the Deposit Report. With this goal in mind, we added two new sections that will print on every deposit and two new options when reprinting deposits. The two additional items on the deposit report are labeled Unapplied Credits/Unpaid Short Slip and Audit.

The Unapplied Credits/Unpaid Short Slip section will display credits and short slips that are outstanding in the system. For example, a customer has overpaid for a transaction by $50.00. This creates a credit and this credit will display under the Unapplied Credits section. If the customer comes back in and you use $40.00 of the credit toward a new transaction, the Deposit Report will now show $10.00 under the Unapplied Credits/Unpaid short Slip section. It is the same for a short slip, until the short slip is paid in full, the remaining amount owed will display on the Deposit Report. The Audit section was added to the Deposit Report to assist supervisors in tracking activity. For example, it will show when a cart was voided or a check was refunded.

The two additional options when reprinting deposits are Location Summary and Clerk Summary. The Location Summary will display a count of how many transactions and voids were processed for the selected deposit. For example, if you process transactions as lockbox and others as counter, you will see how many were processed for each location. The Clerk Summary will display a summary of transactions for each teller, such as how many motor vehicles they processed, the amount they collected for the town and state, and the total amount for each category.

Updates & New Features for Clerk Browser Users:
Registration Maintenance Option
We have added Reg Maintenance to the transaction type dropdown box when processing a MV Browser transaction. This will allow you to account for and/or collect fees for corrections to a registration. For example, you would use Reg Maintenance to enter your municipal agent fee for a transaction you processed for a weight change in DMV and collected your municipal agent fee. To process a Reg Maintenance transaction, click on the motor vehicle icon and select MV Browser Transaction. Select Reg Maintenance from the transaction dropdown box. The MV Fee Details will auto populate with your municipal agent fee. If you did not charge the agent fee for this transaction, you can enter zero into the Amount Paid text box.

Plate Replacement, Decal Replacement, and Certified Copy-Agent Fee Optional
When processing a plate replacement, decal replacement, or certified copy, the agent fee is now optional. The Amount Paid field will automatically populate with the agent fee, however, if you did not charge the agent fee for this transaction, simply enter zero into the Amount Paid text box.

Updates & New Features for MAAP Users:
Working Offline When MAAP is Down
Previously, when MAAP went down, you logged into Avitar Clerk as an Offline Municipal Agent. Then when you processed a registration, you had to remember to click the Town Only radio button. In order to streamline the process, we have changed the default so that when you log in as an Offline Municipal Agent, the system will default to Town Only. The radio button for the Town/State option is still available for purposes of making corrections, however, the system will now default to Town Only.

Previous Title Number
When processing a new title, you must enter the previous title number on the title screen, which should be listed on the blue title application form from the dealer. However, dealers frequently leave this field blank. Previously, we tried to assist you by allowing you to leave the title number blank and selecting the MCO checkbox. MAAP would return an error message stating you could not proceed because a title already existed and they gave you the current title number on file for this vehicle. You then had to write the number down and type it into the previous title field. In order to expedite the process, the MAAP message still displays giving you the title number, however, an Avitar Clerk message will follow asking if you want the system to resend the title with this title number. If you answer Yes, the system will fill in the title number and resubmit the application to MAAP. If you answer No, the process will stop and allow you to enter the title number manually.

Mid-Year Plate Changes
Director Bailey has authorized mid-year plate changes, which means that a customer who registered their vehicle with a passenger plate in January, can now switch to a vanity plate in March, or any time during the year, however, the customer will have to pay all fees associated with this process. To process a mid-year plate change, from the motor vehicle main menu, select Plate Replacement. Search and select the current plate for this vehicle. The Plate Replacement dialog box displays. Use the Method dropdown box to select New Plate(s) from Inventory. Fill in the new Decal Number, Plate Number, and Plate Type text boxes. Under the Reason section select the Lost/Mid-Year radio button and click next.

Reminder Message for New Month Decals
You will see a new message to remind you to issue new month decals when processing a Lease Transfer or Owner Swap. The majority of Lease Transfers and Owner Swaps allow the customer to keep their plates, but require a change in the month of expiration. When processing a Lease Transfer or Owner Swap, it is easy to forget that you need to issue new month decals, so we added a message that will remind you to issue new month decals. It will also specify the month you need to give the customer.

Plate Replacement, Decal Replacement, and Certified Copy-Agent Fee Optional
There are instances when you need to process a plate replacement, decal replacement, or certified copy request without charging the municipal agent fee. For example, you register a vehicle with a vanity plate that DMV rejects. DMV sends the customer back to your office to apply for a new plate and states you cannot charge them another agent fee. When processing in the system, you will now be prompted on whether to charge the municipal agent fee for a plate replacement, decal replacement, and certified copy.

Proof of Residency on Leased Vehicles
When processing leased vehicles, a warning message was added for circumstances where the vehicle owners have no connection to your municipality. We will not stop you from processing the registration, however, you should verify and/or update the owner information before proceeding.

Pay Returned Payment Fees/Add'l Revenue
The Pay Returned Payment Fees/Add'l Revenue process serves several purposes: to process the payment of a returned payment fee, to enter the voided motor vehicle revenue back into the system, and to enter additional revenue.

The returned payment fee and the voided motor vehicle revenue process are used when the customer pays for their returned payment. At the time the payment was returned, if the registration was voided in the system, all fees associated with the registration would have been reversed. Therefore, they will need to be reentered to make your accounting balance. However, you cannot enter another registration because DMV did not reverse the registration on their side. In order to put the revenue back into the system, without processing another registration, go to Utilities | System Administration. Under the Motor Vehicle section, select Pay Returned Payment Fees/Add'l Revenue. Search and select the owner. Use the Service dropdown box to select MV Revenue. The service fee total will display as all zeros. Once you click Next, you will be prompted to enter the amount of each fee for this transaction. (If you do not know the fees, cancel the process and go to Cart | Cart Maintenance and reprint a detailed receipt.) Once you have finished entering the amounts into the text boxes, you will advance to fee settlement.

To process the returned payment fee, you will follow the same instructions above, except from the Service dropdown box, select Returned Payment. The service fee total will display the amount you have set the system to charge for a returned payment.

The final option was added to assist you in entering additional revenue into the system. For example, you processed a registration the previous day and deposited the funds. Then you realize the list price was incorrect. You contact the customer who sends in the difference owed. In order to account for the additional fees, without processing a new registration, you would use the same process above by selecting MV Revenue from the Service dropdown box and entering each fee as prompted.

Renewal Notices
The Renewal Notices currently print with the wording "Mail-In Fee" on them. Although this is correct for some municipalities, we understand that others charge the fee whether the customer mails the registration in or they go to the office for processing. In order to accommodate all our clients, we have left the current default "Mail-In Fee", but have added three new options. The first option is to Suppress this message in its entirety, so it does not appear at all. The second and third option is to change the wording to either "Mailing Fee" or "MPF" (mailing processing fee). To change your settings, go to Utilities | DMV Monthly Renewals | Print Notices. On the Monthly Renewal Notices dialog box select Customize Notices. On the Custom Renewal Notice screen, you will see the new options under the Mail-In Message option box. Select the desired option and click Save to accept the changes.

Also, we have updated the renewal notice in regards to the account number label. All notices display an account number, which is a unique number used for the lockbox process. This number has not changed, only the label on the notice has been changed to Account #/PIN. This update was to assist our clients using the Clerk Kiosk where the customer must enter a unique PIN in order to access their information.

Decal Inventory Returned Status
Once a year, clerks are required to return the prior year's unused decal inventory to DMV. In order to assist you in this process, we have added a new feature which allows you to mark a range of decals in the system as "returned". To access this feature go to Utilities | Decal Inventory | Returns. Enter the decal range you are returning into the Beginning Decal and Ending Decal text boxes. Note, you should enter in each packet separately, as the numbers must be sequential. Next, enter the year of the decals into the Decal Year text box. Use the Decal Status dropdown box to select Returned. The Change Reason text box allows you enter additional information. Finally, enter the date you returned the decals into the Returned Date text box. Once all the information is correct click Save. The database is updated to reflect the changes.

To view a report showing the returned decals go to Reports | Inventory Items. Under the section labeled Display Inventory For, select Decal # from the Inventory Type dropdown box and Returned from the Status dropdown box. Then click View.

Updates & New Features for Lockbox MAAP Users:
Previously, when processing registrations through lockbox, if an address was changed at DMV after the renewal file was created, the lockbox process was overwriting the new address with the old address. Now, the system will default to accepting the address at DMV.