Direct Bill Entry

The totals in this group apply to the totals in the AgcyAmt column in the Direct Bill Detail grid. For each premium transaction row, the income group is derived from the policy line of business. For more information, see Line of Business Setup.

For each non-premium (taxes/fees) row the income group is derived from the policy charge type. For more information see Billing Charges and Credits.

The income groups are:

• Financial Services
• Life and Health
• Other
• Property and Casualty

This option appears only after you have created the statement.

If the company totals do not match the agency totals and you are fairly sure you entered them correctly, select this option and save the form.

This option is only available for a posted statement that includes corrections to any of the invoices on the Direct Bill Entry statement.

If you open a statement where one or more invoices on the statement are corrected, "No Adjustments" changes to "Adjustments - Prem/Fees/Taxes: [Amount] Agcy Amt: [Amount]" and is an active link.

The amounts are the total of all changes/corrections to the statement. If you want to see the correction detail, click the link to open the Adjustments to Direct Bill Entry form.

The Statement Status indicates whether or not you are finished entering statement detail.

How AMS360 Looks Up Commission Rates:

Whether you use the Policy System or the Prior Statement option, AMS360 does a lookup for any prior billing that matches the Customer, Policy #, Effective Date, and Tran Premium.

If a match is not found, the system does a lookup from setup.

The Auto Refresh Commissions check box has no impact on the initial building of commissions for a transaction. This option only comes into play after commissions are initially set and a change/modification is made in one or more of the following fields:

• Effective Date
• Tran Premium
• Transaction
• Line of Business or Charge Type
• Plan
• Writing Company

When a change is made to one of the fields above, the system automatically updates commissions by first looking for a match from prior billings. If no match is found, it then looks for a match in setup.

The Auto Refresh Commissions check box does exactly the same thing as the Refresh Commissions button, but does it automatically. If a modification is made you do not have to remember to click the Refresh Commissions button.

Search for the desired customer. This list is filtered by the division selected in the Statement Identification section.

You must Search (not type in) for a customer. Otherwise, you cannot select a policy.

The available customers are based on your division security.

Enter the full or parital customer name and click Search to find the customer.

Enter or select the policy from the list. When entering a policy, it may become necessary to add a space to your policy number because as you type, the system is looking for a match.

Example:

You have an existing policy #OH123456A. On the current direct bill statement from the company, there is a line item where the policy is #OH123456 (no suffix "A").However, as you type in the new policy number, on the Direct Bill Entry statement, the system wants to match to policy #OH123456A.

To prevent AMS360 from selecting policy #OH123456A, type in policy #OH123456 and a space.

Find Policies From: Policy System

• The policy numbers in the list sort in descending order based on policy term.
• On posting the statement, the Policy # formats to all CAPS.
• The Eff/Exp Dates fill based on the policy effective/expiration date.
• AMS360 excludes multi-entity and subscription policies, as you can only Agency Bill these policies.
• AMS360 excludes policies where the Bill Method = Agency Bill.
• You can find benefit policies, but these policies have a limited transaction list:
  • New Business (NBS)
  • Non-Renewal Notified Agency (NRA)
  • Policy Change (PCH)
  • Reinstatement (REI)
  • Reissue (RIX)
  • Renew Policy (RWL)
  • Cancellation Confirmation (XLC)

Find Policies From: Prior Statements

• To select a policy from a prior Direct Bill Entry Statement,  select Prior Statements from the Find Policies From option.
• When the statement is posted, the policy numbers are formatted to all CAPS.

Enter Accounting Only Policies

• You can enter an Accounting Only policy.
• When entering Accounting Only policies, the policy number must contain at least one alpha or one numeric character. No special characters are allowed (%&^$)
• When the statement is posted, the policy numbers are formatted to all CAPS.

The policy transaction effective date. It is available when:

• The Find Policies From is equal to Policy System and you select the Policy # from the policy list.
• The Find Policies From is equal to Prior Statements and you select the Policy # from the policy list.

Select the Tran Premium (transaction premium) from the list.

• If you found your policy through the policy system and selected the appropriate effective date, the Tran Premium list is available to select from.
• If you found your policy through prior statements and selected the appropriate effective date, the Tran Premium list is available to select from.

This field is a trigger point. When you are selecting policies as described above, and move the focus out of this field, the system now has all the information it needs to complete the Direct Bill Detail section of this transaction and opens the Commissions section.

The Tran Premium field is not available when you are entering an Accounting Only policy.

View-only field. The value is determined by either Company Setup or Agency Setup.

Company Setup

If company-specific Direct Bill billing options are selected in Company Setup > Billing Options for the parent company, then these options determine the How Billed value for this transaction, based on the following factors:

• If company-specific selections exist in Company Setup > Billing Options for this line of business (or if company-specific selections exist for All lines of business) then these options in Company Setup determine the How Billed value for this transaction.
• If Use Download Premiums is selected for all or for this line of business, then How Billed displays "Not Billable" for any manually-entered transactions. Conversely, if Use Manual Premiums is selected, then How Billed displays "Not Billable" for any downloaded transactions.

Agency Setup

If the company's billing options are in accordance with Agency Setup > Billing Options (i.e., no specific exceptions are selected in Company Setup), then Agency Setup options determine the How Billed value for this transaction.

If Use Download Premiums is selected, then How Billed displays "Not Billable" for manually-entered transactions. Conversely, if Use Manual Premiums is selected, then How Billed displays "Not Billabl"e for downloaded transactions.

The value in the How Billed field does not affect the posting of this Direct Bill Entry statement. Rather, the How Billed field merely indicates whether or not your system setups are in line with the current Direct Bill Entry workflow.

In other words, How Billed defines how your agency expects to bill this business, based on the current billing options set up for the parent company. If the How Billed value indicates a bill method other than Direct Bill Entry, Vertafore recommends you review your current agency and/or company setups and ensure that they are in accordance with how your agency bills business for this company.

This field defaults based on the broker assigned to the customer, if any.

• If a policy is selected from the policy system that has the same broker as the customer, the field fills with that broker, remains unchanged, and becomes unavailable for further changes.
• If the policy broker is different than the customer's broker or the policy has no broker, the field changes appropriately (another broker or no broker) and becomes unavailable for further changes.
• If a policy is selected from a prior statement, and that prior statement had a broker assigned to the customer/policy transaction, the appropriate broker fills the field and is unavailable for change.
• If you enter an Accounting-Only policy the Broker field remains available for change, even if a broker defaults from the customer.

The transaction pulls or must be entered on the statement under the following circumstances:

• If you elect to Find Policies From the policy system, the transaction pulls from the policy as soon as the effective date is selected.
• If you elect to Find Policies From the prior statements the transaction pulls from the prior activity as soon as the effective date is selected.
• If you elect to Find Policies From the prior statements and there is no prior statement activity for this customer/policy, type in the appropriate Accounting Only policy number and then enter the appropriate transaction for this new Accounting Only policy.

The transaction effective/expiration dates pull or must be entered on the statement under the following circumstances:

• If you choose to Find Policies From the Policy System, the Eff/Exp Date (effective/expiration dates) pull from the policy. The effective date can be changed but the expiration date cannot.
• If you choose to Find Policies From the Prior Statements and there is prior statement activity for this customer/policy, then the prior transaction's Eff/Exp Dates (effective/expiration dates) pull to this transaction. The effective date can be changed but the expiration date cannot.
• If you choose to Find Policies From the Prior Statements and there is no prior statement activity for this customer/policy, enter the appropriate Accounting OnlyPolicy #, select the appropriate Transaction, and Eff/Exp Dates (effective/expiration dates) for this new Accounting-Only policy.

The Continuous check box is checked/unchecked and available/unavailable based on the following circumstances:

• If you select Find Policies From the Policy System, and you select a continuous policy, the Continuous check box is automatically selected and unavailable for change. The Effective Date is prefilled and can be changed. The Expiration Date is blank and unavailable for change.
• If you select Find Policies From the Prior Statements and there is prior statement activity for this customer/policy that is continuous, the Continuous check box is automatically selected and cannot be changed. The Effective Date is prefilled and can be changed. the Expiration Date is blank and unavailable for change.
• If you select Find Policies From the  Prior Statement and there is no prior statement activity for this customer/policy, create the Accounting-Only continuous policy by checking the Continuous check box and selecting the appropriate Effective Date. The Expiration Date is blank and unavailable for change.

The Amount field may or may not fill with an amount to bill based on the following circumstances:

• If you select Find Policies From the Policy System and the transaction premium is entered on the policy, the premium pulls to the Amount field, but can be changed, if needed.
• If you select to Find Policies From the Prior Statement and there is prior statement activity for this customer/policy, the premium pulls to the Amount field, but can be changed, if needed.
• If you select to Find Policies From the Prior Statements and there is no prior statement activity for this customer/policy, enter the appropriate premium in the Amount field for this Accounting Only policy.

View Only

The only time you need to select a Line of Business is if you are entering an Accounting Only policy. Select the appropriate line of business.

When you select a Line of Business, the Charge Type field becomes unavailable.

The only time you actually need to select a Charge Type is if you are entering an Accounting Only policy. Select the appropriate charge type for your transaction.

When you select a Charge Type, the Line of Business field becomes unavailable.

This field is a trigger point. When you are entering non-premium, a writing company is not necessary because non-premium is attached at the Parent Company level.

Subsequently, the system now has all of the information it needs to complete the Direct Bill Detail section of this transaction and opens the Commission section.

The only time you actually need to select a Plan is if you are entering an Accounting Only policy. Select the appropriate plan for your transaction, if any. This field is not required.

The only time you actually need to select a Writing Company is if you are entering premium on an Accounting Only policy.

This field is a trigger point. When you are entering premium,, as opposed to non-premium, after you select the appropriate Writing Company, the system has all it needs to complete the Direct Bill Detail section of this transaction and opens the Commission section.

Non-Premium transactions do not need a Writing Company because non-premium is attached at the parent company level.

The Refresh Commissions button has no impact on the initial building of commissions for a direct bill entry transaction. This option only comes into play after commissions are initially set and a change/modification is made in one or more of the following fields:

• Effective Date
• Tran Premium
• Transaction
• Line of Business or Charge Type
• Plan
• Writing Company

When a change is made to one or more of the fields above, select a date in the Get Commission Effective as of field and click Refresh Commission. The system updates commissions by first looking for a match from prior billings. If no match is found, it then looks for a match in setup.

When in New mode, click the Add button to add the current transaction while keeping the Direct Bill Detail data entry fields open for the next entry.

This makes entering your direct bill transactions much easier and faster.

What type of commission is assigned to the commission row:

• Agency
• Executive
• Representative
• Sales Center Rep

This is the name of the person/agency receiving the commission.

This is the total gross premium or non-premium for the transaction.

This is the commission percentage rate.

Typing in a new rate automatically updates the commission dollar amount.

Based on the commission percent and method, this is the commission amount.

Changing the commission dollar amount automatically updates the commission percent field.

To change the commission method in the desired row, select the appropriate method from the drop-down list. The available options are:

Agency Commission

• % of premium/fees
• Flat rate

Exec/Rep Commissions

• % of agency
• % of premium/fees
• Flat rate

To change the commission status in the desired row, select the appropriate status from the drop-down list. The available options are:

• Agency
• Regular
• Memo
• Net (broker business)
• Gross (broker business)

This box becomes marked if the commission Percent or Comm Amt (commission amount) that defaulted from setup or a previously posted entry is changed.