In a recent post, we took a look at the differences between cash and accrual accounting methods, both of which have their own benefits. No matter which methods your agency is using, you should be using it within an integrated accounting system. Integrated accounting can be defined as accounting linked with your agency management system creating a streamlined system that ties all aspects of your prospect-to-client process together in one place.
Your provider should offer integrated accounting as an add-on to your basic agency management system, and we suggest you consider adding it to your processes. Not only are the benefits of integrated accounting endless, the system ends up paying for itself with the time and money you’ll save.
Integrated Accounting Benefits
- Processes data daily: Once you’ve set all your invoices, payments, etc. they’ll process automatically on the dates you’ve set.
- Provides direct bill commission download: This capability dramatically reduces duplicate data entry by ensuring data accuracy, saving your agency hundreds of work hours.
- Creates expense reports: With integrated accounting, you can easily select the data you need and create a plain or visually interesting expense report in minutes.
- Offers easy branch accounting: For agencies that handle multiple insurance types, integrated accounting makes it easy to view financial information for each branch separately.
- Shows complete client records: You can see all financial activity from each client in one place, making it easy to see total financial history including prices of assets, policy costs and payment information.
- Increases access to financial info: Since your accounting is linked with your agency management system, you can access it just as easily as any other part of your management system
Before you jump right to adding integrated accounting, talk with you provider about getting demos and training. SIS offers these trainings for Partner XE’s integrated accounting, and tailors your accounting system to your agency’s individual needs. To find out more about Partner XE and its other capabilities, contact us today at 800.747.9273 or mailto:[email protected].
