Setting Up Business License Types

Define the types of business licenses supported by an agency, including consultations and contractor registration. You add a business license type and associate workflow process definitions on the Business License Type definition page.

Before you can create an application form, you must first create a business license type on the Business License Type definition page. The type defines attributes that will be available on the business license application.

Adding Business License Type Definitions

  1. Select Business License Setup > Business License Type > Business Licenses.

  2. Click Add.

  3. Let’s take a look at the fields for defining a business license type:

    Page Element

    Description

    Classification

    Displays the type of business license. The classification for this page indicates that this type is associated with a business license application.

    Subclassification

    Displays the subclassification. Select an option:

    • Not applicable - Displays as the default value and indicates a standard business license application.

    • Contractor Registration - Select to create a contractor registration intake form.

    • General Information - Select to create a General Information section for allowing multiple business license types to be combined into a single intake form. For more information, see Setting Up General Information for Business License Types.

    • Consultation - Select to create a consultation application.

    Business License Type

    Enter a name for the type of business license.

    Business License Type ID

    Enter a unique alphanumeric code or short name for the business license type. Do not use special characters, including symbols or punctuation, or spaces.

    Status

    Select from the following to indicate the business license type status:

    • Preliminary: The business license type is being defined but is not available for use.

    • Ready: The business license type is ready to be accessed for testing or production use, depending on the environment.

    • Void: The business license type is no longer available.

    Note: The form design can be in published status or draft status and be set to Ready. In draft status, the form can be accessed from outside the form designer — such as the Apply page — for testing purposes in the development or test environment.

    Form Design Status

    A read-only field indicating whether the form design is published or currently being developed.

    • Draft: The form design is currently being created or modified. Form designs in draft status are not migrated to other environments and can’t be cloned.

    • Published: The form design is complete. Form designs in published status can be migrated to other environments and can be cloned.

    Autonumber Rule

    Select the autonumbering rule to increment numbers for business license applications.

    You can delete an autonumbering rule when it isn’t being used by any transaction types.

    Caution: The system generated license ID is based on the autonumber rule definition. Therefore, when selecting the autonumber rule, you must ensure that its rule definition generates a unique license ID. Failing to do so can result in duplicate license IDs, which will cause issues in the business license.

    For more information, see Setting Up Autonumbering.

    Valid from Date and Valid to Date

    Enter a range of dates when this business license type is valid. The default from date is the current date. The default end date is Open. You can update these dates as needed.

    Public User Enabled

    Select from the following to indicate whether the business intake form can be accessed and by which user types.

    • Enabled for all users: Only registered public users and agency users can access the intake form.

    • Enabled for registered users: Only registered public users and agency users can access the intake form.

    • Not enabled for public users (default): Only agency users can access the intake form.

    Note: Currently, Enabled for all users and Enabled for registered users have equivalent access.

    Contractor Validation

    Enter a contractor validation group with license requirements that must be met for contractor registration with this business license type. Agencies can decide whether to prevent application submittal if the criteria aren't met.

    Only validation groups with the Usage defined as Business License are available to select.

    For more information, see Setting Up Validation Groups.

    Application Group

    Select an application transaction group that you want to associate with the business license type.

    For more information, see Setting Up Transaction Groups.

    Category

    Select a transaction category that you want to associate with the business license type.

    For more information, see Setting Up Transaction Categories.

    Subcategory

    Select a transaction subcategory that you want to associate with the business license type.

    For more information, see Setting Up Transaction Subcategories.

    NAICS Group

    Select a group of North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for the business license type.

    The NAICS group associated with the business license type determines which NAICS codes are available to select when applying for a business license.

    For more information, see Setting Up NAICS Groups.

    Note: If you don’t select a value in this field, applicants using this business license type can select any NAICS code that is added and enabled for any NAICS group.

    Tax Class

    Select a tax class that should apply to the business license.

    A class tax defines the attributes that will apply to the license, its renewal, and on amendments.

    For more information, see Setting Up Business License Tax Classes.

    Note: The predefined field group for Tax Related Details must be included in the intake form design to ensure that the tax related detail section is included in the intake form and the license detail.

    License Period Format and Period Format Preview

    Select the format for displaying the license period, when the license is valid as defined in the application.

    This value will be displayed on the business license in the format you select, as shown in the preview field. For example, an annual license period displays the year if you select yyyy, where yyyy indicates the year. If the license period is quarterly, semi-monthly, or fiscal year, you might select MMM yyyy, where MMM indicates the first three letters of the month.

    Document Group

    Select a document group to manage attachments for the business license type.

    When you specify a document group, document attachments can be classified into categories and subcategories during the application process and when you upload files. Then you can see the category for a document on the attachments page in the application details.

    If you add a document group to this business license type and the document group includes document categories that are configured to identify required documents, the Required Documents section appears on the application intake form and the Attachments page in the business license transaction details. The system checks for uploaded attachments with the required category or category and subcategory pair at different steps in the application and displays an error if the required documents haven't been added. For more information about required documents, see Setting Up Required Documents.

    For more information, see Setting Up Document Groups.

    Fee Schedule

    Select a fee schedule that you want to associate with the business license type. A department is required when you enter a fee schedule ID.

    For more information, see Setting Up Fee Schedules.

    Bill Type

    Select a bill type to associate with the business license type.

    The billing type identifies the type of invoice that can be generated from the record. The bill type is required.

    For more information, see Setting Up Bill Types.

    Department

    Select a department that you want to associate with the business license type. A department is required if you add a Fee Schedule ID to the business license type.

    If a department is specified on the Fee Item setup page, the fee item department overrides the department specified here on the business license type.

    For more information, see Setting Up Departments.

    Meeting Template

    Select a meeting template that should be applied to this business license type. This field appears only if you have selected Consultation from the Subclassification field.

    For more information, see Setting Up Meetings.

    Terms of Use ID

    Select a terms of use definition to associate with the business license type. The available values for business licenses are determined by the usage on the terms of use ID.

    For more information, see Setting Up Terms of Use.

    Description

    Enter a user-facing description of the business license type. On the Apply page, this description appears under the application type name.

    The description helps public users understand the purpose of the application type.

    URL

    Enter a URL for a web page that gives public users more information about the business license type.

    If you enter a URL, then a Learn More link appears at the end of the application type description on the Apply page. The user clicks this link to open the specified URL.

    If you leave this field blank, the Learn More link is not visible on the Apply page.

    Note: You associate credentials with a business license by referencing the credential group in the Credentials predefined element on the business license application design. For more information, see Setting Up Credential Groups.

Associating a Business License Certificate

First, your agency sets up the certificate template in the reports catalog, then associates the report ID with the business license type in the Certificate section. You can generate the certificate for this type of business license from the business license overview page when the license is issued.

Page Element

Description

Allow Public User to View

Turn on the switch to allow public users to view the issued business license certificate, which is accessed from the business license summary on the Overview page.

Report ID

Enter the report ID for the business license certificate template associated with this business license type. Use the delivered business license certificate report or configure your own. See Setting Up Reports.

For information about viewing the business license certificate, see Viewing the Business License.

Setting Up License Activity and Expiration Options

Depending on the business license type definition, businesses can renew or amend their licenses or contractor registration online. You also associate expiration rules with the business license type in the License Activity section.

Page Element

Description

Allow Amendment

Turn on the switch to enable the applicant and agency staff to submit an application for an amended business license using this business license type.

For business license types with a contractor registration subclassification, contractors can amend their registration online.

After you enable amendments, you define the workflow for amendments in the Workflow Setup section.

Allow Renewal

Turn on the switch to enable the applicant and agency staff to submit an application for a license renewal using this business license type.

For business license types with a contractor registration subclassification, contractors can renew their registration online.

After you enable renewals, you define the workflow for renewals in the Workflow Setup section.

Expiration Group

Enter the expiration group that defines the expiration rules for this business license type. Expiration rules determine the expiration dates for the application and business license, contractor registration, or consultation. For more information about business license expiration, see Setting Up Business License Expiration Rules.

Setting Up Workflow for Business Licenses

You set up a workflow for the initial application as well as amendments and renewals, if applicable, when you define the business license type. Before you begin, you must define a workflow for each type of application using OCI Process Automation.

For more information about setting up workflow, see Setting Up Process Definitions for Workflow.

You’ll see the workflow setup fields for applications but also for amendments and renewals, depending on how you’ve set up your business license type. The columns will have headers like this:

  • Application: Default column when you’re creating the business license type.

  • Amendment: Additional column when you turn on the Allow Amendment switch.

  • Renewal: Additional column when you turn on the Allow Renewal switch.

Page Element

Description

Space Name

Enter the space where the workflow process application is stored. You can group related applications in a space as well as enable users to collaborate when developing applications.

Note: This field is available only if your agency has selected the Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) option for the Workflow and DMN Source feature in the Functional Setup Manager.

Application ID

Enter the name of the workflow process application in OIC. For more information, see Creating and Managing Applications.

Version

Enter the version of the workflow process application.

Note: If you update the version, the new version will apply only to applications submitted after the new version has gone into effect. The existing submitted applications will continue to use the version that was effective at the time the application was submitted.

Process Definition

Enter the name of the workflow process definition that applies to this particular business license.

Note: Different business license types can utilize the same workflow definition.

Setting Up Inspections for a Business License Type

Select an inspection group for the business license type, and define how inspection times are displayed for the business license application associated with the business license type.

Note: Pending business license inspections can be automatically created when the business location falls within the agency’s jurisdiction. You must enable pending inspections for the business license type and turn on the switch that indicates the business location is within the agency's jurisdiction. For more information, see Working with Business Location Information.

Page Element

Description

Origination Inspection Group

Amendment Inspection Group

Renewal Inspection Group

Select an inspection group to associate with each type of business license activity associated with the business license type: origination, amendment, and renewal. The inspection group identifies all inspections necessary for origination, amendment, and renewal applications for the business license type.

For more information, see Setting Up Inspection Groups.

Automatically Create Origination Inspections

Automatically Create Amendment Inspections

Automatically Create Renewal Inspections

After selecting an inspection group, click the link to access a page where you can select the inspection types for which pending inspections are automatically created when an application associated with this business license type is submitted.

This link appears only when the Enable Automatic Creation of Pending Inspections switch is turned on for the agency. For more information, see Setting Up Agency-Level Options for Business Licenses.

Cloning Business License Types

Click the Clone button to create a clone of the current business license type, which you can then use to create a different business license or to create a different version of the current business license.

For more information on cloning transaction types, see Cloning Transaction Type Definitions.

Designing Intake Forms

After you’ve entered the appropriate initial information for the business license type, you can then begin to design the intake form that end users will use to submit an online application for a business license. You create an intake form using the designer. You access the designer by clicking the Design Form button.

Note: You associate credentials with a business license by referencing the credential group in the Credentials predefined element on the business license application design. For more information, see Setting Up Credential Groups.

For more information on designing intake forms, see Using the Intake Form Designer and Using Predefined Field Groups.