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Process Renewals

The process renewals module automatically schedules next seasons services based on the current season.  This process can be ran at anytime without impacting the current season.  So, for example if you wanted to run your prepay letters in early fall for the next season (2004) you would run the process renewal module to create next years schedule, you could then do a price increase on the next season in this case (2004) if desired and then print the prepay letters for the next season (2004).  All the while still doing production and receiving payments for the 2003 season.  In short you do not have to be completely done with your current season to renew your services.  

This utility can also be ran multiple times if necessary.  For example, several companies provide year round service and doing so like to renew their customers based on the time of year that the services were sold.  We call this type of process Round the Horn renewals.  And basically how it works is, a renewal date is entered for each customer as they sign up for service. Then the process renewals utility is ran every month by Renewal Date for a range of This Month.  Once a customer has been renewed they will not be renewed again regardless of how often this utility performed.

Once you click on the Process Renewals option the following screen will appear.

The screen will display the Current Date and a Verification #.  To access the Process Renewals screen you will have to call our office to receive an access key.  Once you have been given an Access Key enter it into the Access Key field and then press the Proceed button.  Once you have an access key you can get into and out of the Process Renewal screen as often as you wish however you will have to get a new access key the following year.

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Before doing anything, backup your data.

Step 1)   Print the Check List and complete before processing renewals. Use this link for additional help with the Check List.

Step 2)   The Company/Branch field determines which Customers will be affected by the Renewal Process.  If you want to run the process for all Customers, select the <All> option in this field.

Step 3)   The Season field determines which Services are going to be renewed.  For example, to renew all 2003 Services for the 2004 Season, the Season field should read 2003, which is the Current Season.  Even if you are running the Renewals early in the Year 2004, the Current Season should be 2003.

Step 4)   Select the Services from the Service grid that you wish to perform the Renewal Process on. A selected Service is highlighted in black and has a checkmark placed on the far left in the Renew field. The Service Grid displays the Code, Program/Job Description, Renew As, Change Status, Season Start and Only Complete fields.  For a detailed explanation of the Service G rid, follow the link or click on the Image above.

Step 5)   The Renewal Date Range can be used as a filter for renewing services.  Services that fall within the range selected would be renewed while other services that fall outside the range would be ignored.  If you want to renew ALL services (default), regardless of their renewal date, select All from the descriptive date list box.

Step 6)   The add a call to the call log option will allow to assign a call for each service that is renewed.  Companies that may benefit the most from this are those that cancel all renewed services and then activate them again as each customer is contacted.  To add a call to the call log place a check in this field and then fill out the call log options that will appear.  Click on the image above or follow this link for more information Add To Call Log.

Step 7)   Select the types of Services that should be renewed.  Option 1 - Process only Services Marked Auto Renew (Based on Customer File - If a service is marked auto renew it will renew if it is not it will not). Option 2 - Process only Services That Default To Auto Renew (Based on Parameter Setup - if a service is marked auto renew in the parameters but not on the customer the service will renew). Option 3 - Process All Services (Disregard Auto Renew).

Step 8)   Flags can be used to tell LA3 which Customers to run the Renewal Process for.  This feature is particularly useful for users that use Flag Codes for their around-the-horn Customers.

Step 9)   Decide if you need to Renew Installment Charges or Only Complete.

Decide if you want to Move Estimates to New Season.  Basically you need to decide if   you want to move estimate status services from the current season to the new season or leave them in the current season.

Decide if you wish to Reset Confirmation Letter Settings To Default.  If you cancel your services and then renew them as you receive authorization you may wish to use this option.

Decide if you wish to Clear Sold Date and Sales Person.  You will only select this option if you resell the program or service every year.

Decide if you want to Remove Notes Enclosed in {Curly} Brackets.  

If checked these options are set to Yes, click on the field to remove the check for an option to be set to No.  

Step 10)   Decide which Customer that the Renewal process should be performed on, Residential, Commercial or Both.

Step 11)   Decide what should be done with the Diagrams.

Step 12)   If you are renewing work order services you can choose to renew the work order pricing with the previous (current) work orders price or using the product price from parameters.  The actual quantities for the previous (current) work order will appear in the estimated quantity field of the renewed work order.

Step 13)   Double check all settings, then click on the Process Renewals button with the mouse. Once you press the Process Renewals button the system will do its own time stamped backup.  This backup is stored in Main la3 folder not the program files la3 folder.

Step 14) Print the Summary Report and double check the changes that the Process made.

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Renewal Process Check List

The Renew Service Grid

The Renew Service Grid displays the Services that are going to be renewed.  In this Grid you also have the option of changing the original Service to a new (Different) Service during the Renew Process. The Status of Services can also be changed during this process, as well as the season Start Dates.  Use the Only Complete field to limit the rescheduling to only completed Services (Incomplete Services would not be rescheduled).

Renew Field:

A Service that has been selected for the Renewal Process will be highlighted in black and the Renewal field will contain a checkmark. In order for the Renewal Process to ignore individual services, the checkmark must be removed from the Renewal field for that Service. An example Service that you may not want to renew is Service Calls.

To remove this Service from the Renewal Process, scroll down the list, find the Service Call service and remove the check from its' Renew field. To remove the check, click on the field with the mouse.

Code:

This column displays the Service Code of  the Service that is going to be renewed.

Program/Job:

This column displays the Service Description of the Service that is going to be renewed.

Renew As:

A Program or a Service can be renewed as an entirely different Service for the new Season, by selecting the new program or service from the Renew As field. For example, some companies put the entire lawn in the first year and then schedule a normal lawn fertilizing program for the next year. This feature would do that for you automatically by selecting the 6L program in the Renew As field. Rules - The new program will be scheduled for the same rounds as the previously scheduled program.

Change Status:  

During the Renewal Process this field can be used to change all active services to an inactive status. Later, the Customer can be reactivated after giving the OK for Service. You would want to use this feature if you reactivate your customers after the Customer has given you verbal or written OK.

Season Start:

The Season Start date is the schedule date that will be used for the renewed Service. If this field is left blank for programs, LA3 will not add a schedule date. The Season Start does not have to be entered for every service, if it is not necessary leave it blank (In most cases it is not necessary for lawn care programs). For example, if you want all of your Spring Aerations to reschedule for 04\01\(next year), enter that date in the Season Start field for the Spring Aerations, otherwise your Spring Aerations will be rescheduled based on their Done Date.

Only Complete:

The Only Complete field can be used as a filter for the renewal process. If this field is selected for an individual service then that service will only renew if it has been completed. This option can be selected for any combination of Services.

Selecting Services:

When the All button is pressed, all Services will be selected in the grid. If the None button is pressed, all of the Services will be displayed, but they will not be selected. To select all of the services of a specific type, select from the Type list Box. An example type would be Lawn Care or Tree Care. When Lawn Care is selected, all of the services that are a part of the Lawn Care type will be selected in the grid. To add another type, select it from the list box, in the grid all of the services for both types will be selected. To remove a selected type from the grid, select it again from the list box.

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Current Season To Renew

Select the Season for which you have finished Production.  

If running in December, 2003, 2003 will be the Current Season.  If running in March, 2004, 2003 will still be the Current Season.

The Company/Branch Field

Select the Company / Branch that you want to renew Services for.

Reset Options

Placing a check mark in any of these fields initializes the procedure.  If the procedure is not desired, leave the field blank. To add or remove a checkmark, click on the desired field with the mouse.

Renew Installment Charges Only Complete

All of your Installment Contracts will be renewed if the Renew Installment Charges field is checked. To check the field, click on it with your mouse.To renew only Completed Installment Contracts, you must check the Only Complete field.

Move Estimates to New Season

This option will move all estimates (status 0-4) from the current season to the new season. This will impact your estimate reports for the past season because all of your estimate data has been moved forward. For example if you move estimate data from 2003 to 2004 that data will no longer appear on 2003 reports.

Reset Confirmation Letter Settings to Default:

All Confirmation Letter fields will be set to default during the Renewal process, if the Confirmation Letter field is not checked in the parameter setup of the program.For example, a Service is set up in the parameters but a Confirmation Letter is rarely used,so the Send Confirmation Letter field is not checked. But when the service was added to a Customer, the Confirmation Letter field was checked and the Letter was sent. This Customer would be reset to the default which is clear the Confirmation field during the Renewal process. This also works in the reverse if the Service is set up to print the Confirmation Letter but the field is cleared at the time the Service was added to the Customer, the Confirmation field would be filled back in during the Renewal process.

Clear Sold Date & Sales Person

This option, when selected, will clear all Sold Date and Sales Persons for the rescheduled Service. This information is not removed from the previous Seasons' Service. Recommended only if services are resold year after year.

Remove Notes Enclosed in Curly Brackets:

Any Notes that are in Curly Brackets can be removed from the database by selecting this option.

Remove Association Codes

This option will remove any and all manually created service associations during the renewal process. If you have setup associations and you want to use them again for the next season do not select this option.

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Renew Services Marked ?

Services Marked Auto Renew:

This option will renew all Services that have been manually marked Auto Renew on the Job or Program windows. This option also applies to Customers that have converted to LA3 from LA2. The services that were marked Repeat Next Year transferred to LA3 as an Auto Renewable service.

Services that Default to Auto Renew:

This option will renew all Services that have been set up as Auto Renewable in the Data Section - Product Parameters -Services/Specials/Programs - Service Setup portion of LA3. If you have not been consistently marking services as Auto Renew on the Job and Program screen, but the Service is marked Auto Renew in the parameters, then the service will reschedule based on the parameter set up.

All Services (Disregard Auto Renew):

This option will renew all Services even if they are not marked Auto Renew.

NOTE: Any of these options will only apply to the Services that you check to be renewed.

Renewal Date Range

The Renewal Date Range can be used as a filter for renewing services. Services that fall within the range selected would be renewed while other services that fall outside the range would be ignored. If you want to renew ALL services, regardless of their renewal date, select All (system default) from the descriptive date list box.

For example, several companies provide year round service and doing so like to renew their customers based on the time of year that the services were sold. We call this type of process Round the Horn renewals. And basically how it works is, a renewal date is entered for each customer as they sign up for service. Then the process renewals utility is ran every month by Renewal Date for a range of This Month. Once a customer has been renewed they will not be renewed again regardless of how often this utility performed.

Add To Call Log

Once the Add to Call Log field is selected the call log options will appear in place of the service grid. This utility will allow you to queue a call in the call log for each customer that was renewed. You can select a Call Status, assign the calls to an individual, set a Due Date, and a Contact Status, that will be assigned to each of the calls. Queuing a call is probably most useful to those companies that will cancel all of next years services and then activate the service as confirmation is received from the customer by calling them or with prepay letters etc.

To return to the service grid after making your call log selections click on the Call Log Options button. It will appear recessed.

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Renew Work Order Pricing Based On

If you are renewing work order services, you can choose to renew the work order pricing with the previous (current) work orders price or using the product price from parameters. The actual quantities for the previous (current) work order will appear in the estimated quantity field of the renewed work order.

Select Customer Type

The Renewal process can run for Residential and Commercial customers separately or combined by selecting Both. To make a selection, click on the desired option with the mouse.

Flag Codes

Flags Codes can be used to tell LA3 which Customers to run the Renewal process for. This feature is particularly useful for users that use Flag Codes for their around-the-horn Customers.

In this example, the Renewal process will only occur on Customers who have the Mowing flag. Any combination of flags can be used to run the process.

For all Customers, do not select any Flag Codes.

To remove any selections, click on the None button. To select all flags, click on the All button. To select individual flags click on them in the grid to select, click on them a second time to remove the selection.

Diagrams

Click on the desired selection with the mouse.

Do Nothing:

This option will leave the Diagram in the Season that it was created.

Clear All:

This option will delete all Diagrams from the database.

Move To Renewal:

This option will remove the Diagram from the previous Season and add it to the new Season during the Renewal process.

Copy To Renewal:

This option will leave the Diagram in the previous Season and also add another copy to the new Season during the Renewal process.

Process Renewals

BACKUP YOUR DATA AT LEAST ONCE!

After you have selected your options, double checked the options and made at least one backup, preferable two backups, click on the Process Renewal button. The system will then before starting the renewals do another backup. This backup will be named with the date and time stamp and stored in the main la3 folder on the server.

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