Recently we sent out a Clerk/MV update (version 2.8.5) which included new Invoice Cloud dog invoice functionality that now allows you to both:

1. Resend updated dog invoices to your Invoice Cloud portal for online payment, and
2. Include invoices for rabies notification notices and civil forfeitures instead of for just renewal notices.

So in addition to extending the duration during which your customers can pay their invoices online by including any new charges and any upcoming late fees and any updated dog information (e.g. a new rabies vaccination expiration date, spayed/neutered status) that may have changed since the last upload, this new process allows you to increase the number of transactions that can be processed online as well.  Whereas previously you could only accept online payments for standard renewals up until June 1st, now you can accept online payments for virtually any type of dog licensing transaction throughout the entire calendar year.  Here is a summary of the new functionality:

What Types of Invoices Are Uploaded?

The process will upload an invoice for any dog that has not been renewed for the current license year. This will include:

• Dogs that were licensed in the previous year but have not been renewed for the current license year. (Previously this was the only type of dogs included in the invoice file.)
• Dogs that were not licensed in the previous year which consequently have been accruing late fees and charges.
• Dogs that have never been licensed that you added based on a rabies vaccination notification from a veterinarian.
• Dogs that have received a notice of civil forfeiture and the associated costs.

As part of this process, even though dogs with different license statuses will be included in the same upload, the invoice for each dog will include the messages appropriate for that particular dog based on its license status – i.e. invoices for new dogs will be formatted like your rabies notification notice, invoices for un-renewed dogs will be formatted like your standard renewal notice, and invoices for dogs in civil forfeiture will be formatted like your notice of civil forfeiture. So with all the new functionality we decided to streamline the upload process. From a single dialog box you can now review and update the messages for each of the three types of notices (since any of which could be included in the invoice file) and we have removed the Invoice Cloud export function from the print renewal notice dialog box.

For instructions on how to upload dog notices to Invoice Cloud, click here.

What Fees Are Included on The Invoices?

Each dog invoice that gets uploaded will include any outstanding fees and charges up to the current month. So for dogs that did not renew the previous year or have never been licensed, the invoice amount will include all of the late fees up to the current month. For unlicensed dogs with outstanding additional charges and/or dogs with civil forfeiture charges, those charges will be included as well.

In addition, each invoice is configured to automatically add an additional late fee on the appropriate date in the future (typically June 1st or the first of the next month for existing late renewals) which means most unregistered dogs (excluding expired rabies vaccinations) that are included in your upload file in any given month should be renewable online until at least the end of the following month.

When Will the Invoices Expire?

We configure each Invoice Cloud invoice to expire on the date when some condition of the invoice dictates that it should no longer be payable online. For example, for a dog with an expired rabies vaccination we would want to prevent the owner from renewing online until the owner provides proof of vaccination. Or for a dog that was not licensed in the previous year we can include all fees up to the current month and we can indicate that an additional late fee should be assigned on the first of the next month, but following the last day of the next month we would want to prevent the owner from renewing online until we can update the invoice with additional late fees. Or for standard renewals that are uploaded in February or March we can allow owners to renew online at the regular license fee up until the end of May and we can automatically assign a late fee to the invoice to make it valid for June, but we would want to expire the original invoice on June 30th to prevent the owner from renewing online until we can update the invoice with additional late fees. So when invoices are sent to Invoice Cloud, we evaluate each dog and set the expiration date of each particular dog invoice based on the status of the dog.

When Should I Upload New Invoices?

Consequently, we recommend that you upload the dog renewal notices to Invoice Cloud:

• At least once a month.
• Or anytime you update rabies vaccination information you receive from veterinarians.
• Or anytime you add new dogs to your database.
• Or anytime you send out a batch of notices – e.g. renewal notices, reprints of renewal notices, rabies notices, or civil forfeiture notices.

The process of resending invoices to Invoice Cloud is super easy – all you need to do is confirm that the messages for each category of invoice are still accurate and then press a button.  But by doing so frequently, it allows you to continuously update due amounts and extend the horizon at which online invoices would ordinarily expire.

Let us know if you have any questions about this new feature or if you did not receive an email for downloading the actual update.