System Settings

1. From the Home screen, do one of the following:
   • Click Configure on the navigation panel.
   • Click Areas > Configure on the menubar.
   • Click the down arrow next to Home on the options bar and select Configure.

   From any other area of the program, do one of the following:

   • Click the down arrow to the right of the Home options bar button and select Configure.
   • Click Home > Configure on the menubar. The Configure screen displays
2. Click Accounting on the navigation panel or Areas > Accounting on the menubar.
3. Click System Settings on the navigation panel.

From here, you can revise the following settings:

• Automatic A/R Write-Offs

  Determine whether you will allow A/R write-offs when users select the Full Payment option on a Receipt or Receipt for Payment. To set maximum write-off amounts per brokerage, see Maximum Write-offs Configuration. To set write-off amounts per employee, see Limits.

  Determine whether you will allow A/R write-offs when users take payments during a quote or add a Payment from Client. To set maximum write-off amounts per brokerage, see Maximum Write-offs Configuration. To set write-off amounts per employee, see Limits.

  1. Do one of the following:
  • Highlight Automatic A/R Write-Offs in the list and click the Edit button .
  • Double click Automatic A/R Write-Offs.
  2. Select the Allow automatic A/R write-offs checkbox to make a Write-Off checkbox available when payments are added in the Payment Hub.
     
     To prevent users from performing write-offs, deselect the checkbox.
     
     Select the Allow automatic A/R write-offs checkbox to allow users to write off balances when accepting a Full Payment on a Receipt or Receipt for Payment. To prevent users from performing write-offs, deselect the checkbox.
  3. Click Finish to save your changes. Click Cancel to exit the workflow without saving changes.
• Binder Bill Transactions

  Determine whether you will allow the entry of binder bill transactions, which recognize the receivable and your organization’s income immediately while deferring the premium payable until the binder bill transaction is closed. Closing a binder bill transaction moves the premium payable balance from the Binder Bill Payable required subaccount for the premium payable entity to the appropriate Premium Payable subaccount.

  1. Do one of the following:
     • Highlight Binder Bill Transactions in the list and click the Edit button .
     • Double click Binder Bill Transactions.
  2. Select the Allow binder bill transactions checkbox. A Binder checkbox will be available when transactions are added.
     To turn the feature off, deselect the checkbox. You cannot modify this setting if any open binder bill transactions exist in the system.
  3. Click Finish to save your changes. Click Cancel to exit the workflow without saving changes.

  If you are enabling this feature for the first time, you will need to define the Binder Bill Payable required account and generate required subaccounts before entering any binder bill transactions.

• Internal Payment Methods

  Use this feature to specify whether to use internal payment methods for Electronic Funds Transfer.

  1. Do one of the following:
  • Click the Edit button  to the left of the list.
  • Double click Internal Payment Methods.
  2. Select the Use Internal Payment Methods for EFT checkbox.
  1. Click the Add button to the left of the list. The Payment Method window displays.
  1. Select a payment Method.
  2. Enter a Name on account.
  3. Enter a Description for this payment method.
  4. Specify whether this is a Checking or Savings account.
  5. Select a Country of Operation.
  • If you select United States of America, enter the Account number and Routing number. Once you have entered these numbers, they are locked down for security purposes and display as X’s. To view or edit them, click the padlock to unlock the fields.
  • If you select Canada, enter the Account number, Institution number, and Transit number. Once you have entered these numbers, they are locked down for security purposes and display as X’s. To view or edit them, click the padlock to unlock the fields.
  • If you select United Kingdom, enter the Account number and Routing number. Once you have entered these numbers, they are locked down for security purposes and display as X’s. To view or edit them, click the padlock to unlock the fields.
  6. Enter the Name of institution.
  7. Enter the Institution phone number.
  8. Select an Authorization status (Authorization Denied, Authorized, Not Authorized, or Pending Authorization). Only payment methods with a status of Authorized will be available for use when you enter payment transactions.
  9. If applicable, select the Authorization date.
  10. Add any relevant information to the Comments section.
  11. Click Add to complete this entry and add another payment method.
      
      Click Finish to add this payment method and close the Payment Method screen.
      
      Click Cancel to close the screen without saving your changes.
  3. Click Finish to save your changes.
  4. Click Cancel to exit the workflow without saving any changes.
• Invoice Quality Check

  Use this feature to specify whether invoices must be reviewed through Invoice Quality Check prior to distribution.

  1. Do one of the following:
     • Click the Edit button to the left of the list.
     • Double click Invoice Quality Check.
  2. Select a radio button:
       
     • Distribute invoices without review
     • Review invoices prior to distribution
  3. Click Finish to save your changes.
     
     Click Cancel to exit the workflow without saving any changes.
• Journal Entry Approval Process

  To meet regulatory requirements or satisfy your organization’s internal processes, you can require all journal entries to go through an approval process, so that a user other than the one who created them must review them for accuracy before they are applied to the general ledger balances.

  Enabling this option sets all existing journal entries to the System Approved status, but all new entries will be subject to the approval process. If you enable this option, you must log out of the system and log back in before it will take effect.

  Click the History link label to open the Accounting System Setting History pop-up window, where you can view the users who enabled or disabled this option and when.

  Once this option is enabled, you can only disable it if all journal entries are in Approved or System Approved status (not Working, Rejected, or Submitted).

  1. Do one of the following:
  • Select the Journal Entry Approval Process item from the list and click the Edit button .
  • Double click Journal Entry Approval Process.
  2. Click Finish to save your changes or Cancel to discard them.
• Month-End System Journal Detail File

  Determine whether the system will create a comma-delimited file or a text file when month-end journal entries are generated. This file provides details on all transactions and transaction process rows included in the system-generated journal entries.

  1. Do one of the following:
  • Highlight Month-End System Journal Detail File in the list and click the Edit button .
  • Double click Month-End System Journal Detail File.
  2. To create a file when generating journal entries, select Generate month-end journal entry detail file.
  3. Enter the desired File Name. To include a description variable (for example, Agency Code, Current Date, or JE Batch Number), click the lookup button to the right of the File name field. Select the variable you want to insert and click Finish.
     
     Note: Use of the JE Batch Number variable is recommended. This variable serves as a unique identifier and can be checked against the batch numbers associated to journal entries in the General Ledger area.
  4. Determine whether the file’s default destination will be on a Local or Network drive.
     
     Note: If the file is saved to a local drive, Windows will prompt the user to save the file to the default location when they generate journal entries (meaning that the user has the option of overriding the destination). If the file is saved to a network drive, the user does not receive this prompt and the file automatically saves to the specified network location.
     • If you select Local, click the Browse button to navigate to the appropriate destination. Click OK.
     • If you select Network, select the appropriate Path. The list populates with paths defined in Data Service Network Path Configuration.
  5. Select the File extension. CSV files (the default selection) are limited to roughly one million rows. If your month-end journal entry detail files are likely to exceed that length, select TXT instead.
  6. Click Finish to apply your changes.

  To discard changes, click Cancel. You are prompted, “Do you wish to discard changes?” Click Yes.

• Producer/Broker Payable Reconciliations

  Determine whether you will track and pay producer and/or broker commission items from the Pr/Br Payables Reconciliations area.

  1. Do one of the following:
     • Highlight Producer/Broker Payable Reconciliation in the list and click the Edit button.
     • Double click Producer/Broker Payable Reconciliation.
  2. Select the desired option in the Reconcile Producers/Brokers frame:
     • Reconcile producer/broker payables
     • Reconcile only producer payables
     • Reconcile only broker payables
     • Do not reconcile producer/broker payables
  3. If you selected either Reconcile producer/broker payables or Reconcile only producer payables, the Reconcile Producers for Structure frame is enabled. Determine whether you would like to reconcile producers for All structures or Selected structures.
  4. If you choose to reconcile producers for Selected structures:
     1. Click the Add button to the left of the list. The Add Structure Combinations window displays.
     2. Select an Agency from the dropdown menu.
     3. Select a Branch, if applicable.
     4. Click Locate.
     5. Check the appropriate structure combination(s).
     6. Click Add to add this structure to the list and search for another, or Finish to add this structure and return to the System Settings screen.
     7. You may click the Delete button to the left of the Reconcile Producers for Structure list to remove a structure from the list, or click the Print button to print a list of structures for which you are reconciling producers.
  5. Click Finish to save your changes. Click Cancel to exit the workflow without saving changes.
     
     Note: If you are reconciling producers, you will need to add the Producer Commission Payables Write-Off required account. If you are reconciling brokers, you will need to add the Broker Commission Payables Write-Off and Interagency Commission Payables Write-Off accounts. You will need to create and define these accounts as well as generate required subaccounts.
     
     If you turn off Producer/Broker Reconciliations, these accounts will remain in your system until you manually inactivate them.
     
     Before turning off Producer/Broker Reconciliations, make sure to check for any unpaid broker commission payable statements. You will be unable to pay those statements in the Receipts area once Producer/Broker Reconciliations are turned off.
• Receipts - Pay Payable Items

  Determine the settings you want to apply to the premium payable and broker commission payable reconciliation statements created when items are selected for payment during the Add a Receipt workflow. These statements are not generated until the receipt is finalized.

  1. Do one of the following:
     • Highlight Receipts – Pay Payable Items in the list and click the Edit button .
     • Double click Receipts – Pay Payable Items.
  2. Make a selection in the Items Reconciled Status frame (these settings apply to premium payable statements only):
     • Paid and reconciled: All items on the statement are automatically paid and reconciled. The Method criterion for the statement is set to Both.
     • Paid but not reconciled: All items on the statement are automatically paid, but their reconciled status is not affected. The Method criterion for the statement is set to Reconcile against statement.
     • Based on contract type: If the statement’s contract type is Company Statement, all items are paid and reconciled (Method is set to Both). If the statement’s contract type is Account Current, all items are paid but not reconciled (Method is set to Reconcile against statement).
  3. Make a selection in the Statement Status frame:
     • Approved: The statement status defaults as Approved.
     • Finalized: The statement status defaults as Finalized.
  4. Click Finish to save your changes. Click Cancel to exit the workflow without saving changes.
• Share Revenue

  Determine whether you want your system to have the ability to share revenue for a policy across multiple structures when multiple offices collaborate in servicing an account.

  If you enable Share Revenue, or your organization has ever enabled it (even if you later disabled it), you cannot use the Producer/Broker Reassignment utility.

  1. Do one of the following:
     • Highlight Share Revenue in the list and click the Edit button .
     • Double click Share Revenue.
  2. The Detail frame is enabled. Before making any changes to the Share Revenue setting, note the following:
     • You cannot share revenue if any brokerage in your system is installed to recognize agency bill revenue on a Cash - Partially Paid or Cash - Fully Paid basis and to post by premium payable entity payment. See Accounting Methods Configuration.
     • You cannot modify the Share Revenue setting if your system is installed to reconcile producer payables and suspended producer payable statements exist. You must finalize these statements before modifying the Share Revenue setting.
     • You cannot modify the Share Revenue setting if suspended Direct Bill Commission Download or Automated Download Invoicing items exist.
     • If your system was previously set to share revenue for producers and you are turning the setting off, policies and transactions that include revenue sharing are not automatically updated, but Month-End no longer posts interbrokerage entries. You will need to remove revenue sharing information from each applicable line of business and review any remaining balances in the Interagency Commission Payables and Interagency Commission Receivables required accounts.
       Additionally, you should update reports to remove share revenue information from the layouts.
  3. Select the Accounting month effective for this change. This is the month that Month-End begins (or stops) posting the interbrokerage entries.
  4. Make the desired revenue sharing selections:
     • Share revenue for producers: Allow the system to post revenue to producers in different brokerages/offices automatically when multiple organizational entities collaborate in servicing an account. The structure that owns the client (the "sharing entity") shares a portion of the revenue with another contributing structure (the "receiving entity"). The sharing entity and receiving entity do not need to be at the same structural level: a branch, for example, could share revenue with a department or profit center. In order to use this feature, you will need to set up producers to share revenue in employee detail.
       
       Click on any of the following items for more information about revenue sharing features in that area:
     • • Policies
       • Transactions
       • Reconciliations
       • Month-End
     • Default producer production credit % as sharing revenue %: Determine whether you would like the production credit % entered for a producer to default as that producer's revenue share. If you use production credit % to track income but would like to use an alternate method to assign revenue splits, you should deselect this option.
     • Post producer payable based on primary receiving brokerage: This option posts the producer payable to the producer's home office, rather than posting separate producer payables for each brokerage based on the policy/transaction structure.
       
       For example, suppose Office A and Office B share revenue for a policy, with Office A as the sharing entity and Office B as the receiving entity. A producer whose home office is Office C is working with Office B in servicing this particular policy.
       
       If the Post producer payable based on primary receiving brokerage option is selected, the producer's commission payable posts to Office C (the producer's home office) rather than Office B (the receiving entity for this particular policy). This requires the generation of an additional interbrokerage entry to transfer the producer commission from Office B to Office C.
  5. When you have made all desired changes, click Finish. To discard changes, click Cancel.

• System Month-End/Year-End Journal Entries

  This setting allows you to set the system so it does not generate system Month-End and Year-End journal entries automatically. Your organization can enter them manually and track the information in the system. It also allows you to view system settings history.

  1. Do one of the following:
  • Click the Edit button to the left of the list.
  • Double click System Month-End/Year-End Journal Entries.
  2. Select the Accounting month effective date (the accounting month in which you want to begin the manual or automatic journal entries).
  3. Click the appropriate radio button:
  1. Generate system journal entries
  2. Manual system journal entries
  4. Click Finish to save your changes.
     
     Click Cancel to exit the workflow without saving any changes.