Many insurance agencies invest little or no time in maintaining accounting records. Commission statements aren’t filed, loss ratios are shredded and payroll reports are nowhere to be found. Believe it or not, the hardest part about selling your agency is proving your annual revenue. Continue reading "What to do with Commission Statements in your Insurance Agency"

Insurance Agency Owners become so overwhelmed with the day to day grind of operating an insurance agency that accounting and financial reporting become secondary until tax time. There are endless benefits to organizing your accounting and by setting a few goals for 2010, you can change the way you manage your agency and add an abundance of value to your business. Continue reading "Getting started with Accounting in your Insurance Agency"

Most insurance agencies we visit don’t properly reconcile their trust account which leads to a couple of different problems. First and foremost is the E&O exposure when an application never makes it to the insurance carrier or general agency. Even though most Insurance carriers sweep trust accounts nowadays but that opens the door to another problem. Continue reading "Insurance Agency Trust Accounts Should Be Reconciled"

As the 1st quarter of 2009 comes to a close and tax season is in full swing, it’s a great time to clean up your agency’s financial records. Forming a plan and getting started is the biggest challenge but once you dig in, you can add tons of value to your business and manage your agency more effectively. Insurance Agencies don’t have cash registers or invoices, we have commission statements and this is the first thing you should start organizing. Continue reading "As the 1st Quarter Comes to a Close get Your Insurance Agency Organized"

When listing an insurance agency for sale, you’ll be approached by buyers asking for a variety of information. One of the items they’ll ask for is an income and expense statement and/or commission statements for the past 3-5 years. When you show this information to a buyer is up to you, but at some point, they’ll require these documents in order to close. Continue reading "Verifying Income is a Challenge when Buying or Selling an Insurance Agency"

Many insurance agencies invest little or no time in maintaining accounting records. Let’s face it, with the demands on owners in running day to day operations, who has time? In many cases commission statements and loss ratios can’t be found. Believe it or not, the biggest challenge when selling an insurance agency is proving your annual revenue. Continue reading "Organize Insurance Agency Accounting Records"

Most businesses that don’t sell, don’t sell because the Business Owners income can’t be verified. If you want to improve the accounting and Financial Reporting for your business or insurance agency, now is the time to prepare. With a few easy steps, you can easily improve your business and we’ve listed them below. Continue reading "Now is the Time to Develop Accounting Procedures for Next Year"

We’ve seen over 100 agencies for sale over the past year and only about 15-20% of them follow basic accounting principles. Many agencies don’t reconcile their bank accounts, let alone generate a Profit and Loss Statement or Balance Sheet for due diligence. Many agencies that don’t sell, don’t sell because their income and expenses cannot be proven. Having accurate accounting records adds more value to your agency that you can imagine. It’s not difficult to start cleaning your accounting procedures today. Here are a few suggestions on how you can improve your agency’s accounting and financial statements: Continue reading "Make Accounting Department a Priority in your Agency"

Many insurance agencies invest little or no time in maintaining accounting records. Let’s face it, with the demands on owners in running day to day operations, who has time? In many cases commission statements and loss ratios can’t be found. Believe it or not, the biggest challenge when selling an insurance agency is proving your annual revenue. We constantly help agency owners contact insurance carriers for commission statements and loss ratios. Here are a few steps to help you organize this information so if and when you decide to sell your agency, it’s ready to show. Continue reading "Organizing Accounting Records"