Broker Setup
Brokers place business with your agency on behalf of their insureds. They collect the premiums directly from their insureds, and pass the net or gross premium onto your agency. Use this form to set up a new broker or edit an existing broker.
To set up a new broker:
- Open the Broker Center.
- To set up a new broker, click New Broker.
To modify an existing broker:
- In the Broker Center, search for and select a broker.
- On the Views menu, click Overview.
- In the toolbar, click Edit Broker.
Complete the following sections, paying attention to the red required fields:
Enter the following information in the General section.
Type |
Is your broker an Individual or a Firm? Select the appropriate option. |
When setting up a broker, Net Commissions defaults as checked. If checked, this is considered a net broker. If you prefer to issue all invoices to the broker on a "gross" basis and handle commissions through a Pay Commission Statement, clear this box. This broker is then considered a gross broker. You should set up the broker based on the most common type of invoice you wish to issue, gross or net. It is possible to adjust the commission method at the invoice level for occasional exceptions to the chosen setup method. |
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Inactive |
Check this box to inactivate the broker. This hides the broker name in drop-down lists. |
Tax ID# |
Enter the broker's Tax ID#. You must have this information to file a 1099 tax report, if such a filing is required. |
Contact |
Enter the Name and Phone Number of your contact within the broker's office. |
1099 |
Check with your agency accountant if you are unsure whether this broker qualifies for 1099 reporting.
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Enter the following information in the Name & Address section.
Name & Address |
Enter the broker name as you want it to appear on transactions, reports and correspondence.
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Image Display |
Browse for and apply a graphical image that appears in the Broker View for this broker. See Image Display for setup help. |
Phones Numbers and Email |
Type the broker's phone, fax, cell numbers, and email address where indicated. |
The Commission Setup section lets you set up commission defaults by Effective Date. Commissions pull from the latest effective date for the broker that is less than or equal to the effective date of the policy being billed.
From there, you can setup commissions using the following parameters:
- Parent Company
- Writing Company
- Line of Business
- Plan
- Transaction
AMS360 then finds the closest commission match for the policy based on the parameter ranking set up in Agency Setup > Accounting Options > Commission Rankings.
You can create as many commission setup combinations as necessary for the selected broker. If you subsequently revise commission schedules it is recommended that you add additional combinations with new effective dates, rather than editing existing commissions.
The first billing for a policy period uses commissions from setup. Subsequent policy billings use the commissions from the most recent billing transaction.
Don't forget to enter a general commission default record that applies to All parent companies, writing companies, lines of business, plans, and/or transactions. Consequently, when a specific match is not found, the general commission default applies.
To setup your commission schedule, do the following:
- Click New on the Commission Setup section bar. This opens the data entry fields.
- For your commission default, choose to apply to both Premium and Fees. (Although, you can set up default commissions for Premium and Fees separately.)
- Enter the desired effective date for your commission default record.
- Select any combination of Parent Company, Writing Company, Line of Business, Plan, and/or Transaction.
- Select the Commission Method (% of Agency Commission, % of Premium/Fees or Flat Rate), and the corresponding percentage rate or commission amount.
- Click Add.
Click New (or Edit) and enter the following information. When finished, click Add (or Update). The updated information appears in the associated grid. To add multiple entries, repeat this procedure.
Applies To |
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Effective Date |
Select the date the commissions take effect. If you enter an effective date that matches an existing record, you receive a warning that the system cannot copy a duplicate entry. |
Transaction |
If the broker is paid different commission based on Type (New Business, Renew Policy or Rewrite) of transaction, choose the transaction type. |
Line of Business |
If the broker is paid different commission based on Line of Business (LOB), choose the line of business. |
Parent Company |
If the commission applies to a particular Parent Company, select the company. The parent company is not used in commission ranking. It is used to appropriately fill the writing company and plan fields. See the Writing Company and Plan fields below for more information. |
Writing Company |
If the commission applies to a particular Writing Company, select the company.
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Plan |
If the commission applies to a Plan select the plan.
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Commission Method |
Use to identify the method for calculating the broker commission. Based on the Method you select, the corresponding Percent or Amount field becomes active.
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If you are setting up a new broker, there is an additional step you must complete for Brokers to receive commission on billed invoices. After completing Broker Setup take the following steps.
You must have security rights to Administration Center and to the Billing Charges and Credits data entry form. |
- Open the Administration Center.
- On the Accounting menu, click Billing Charges and Credits.
- From the list of Billing Charges and Credits, click the Category heading drop-down menu and choose Premium. This limits the list to only premium type billing charges.
- Open each Billing Charge and Credit in the list and select the Broker check box (or verify it is selected) in the Default Commissions in Billing section.
- Click the Save & Close icon to save your changes and return to the Billing and Charges list.
If you do not select the Broker check box, the Broker receives no commission and is unavailable on the invoice.