General Ledger (Accounts)

General Ledger (G/L) accounts are configured to track debit and credit transactions associated to various account types. These accounts can be integrated with external accounting systems.

Managing General Ledger Accounts

  1. Open the appropriate Billing Entity. For instructions on finding and opening a billing entity, see the section on Managing Billing Entities.
  2. In the Billing Entity Menu, select General Ledger, then click Accounts. The General Ledger Account List page opens.

    Tip: By default, only Active accounts are displayed.  Clear the filter in the Status column to view all accounts.

  3. Select an action.
    • Click a link in the Account Type column to view an existing account.
    • Click Add to add a new account.
    • Check the boxes for one or more accounts and click Deactivate to disable the selected fields. An account can also be deactivated from the General Ledger Account List window. Inactive accounts will still be functional in existing configurations, but cannot be selected for new configurations.
    • Tip: Individual accounts can also be deactivated or reactivated directly through the General Ledger Account List.

  4. On viewing or creating an account, the General Ledger Account List window opens.

  5. The panels and fields are described below. Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.
  6. For each Account Type configured, a corresponding billing Report is created to track related debit and credit transactions. This occurs upon performing one of the following operations: binding a policy or generating an invoice (depending on the option configured in the Settings), processing a payment from insurers, distributors and bill to party payables, or posting a batch receipt.

    Account Type

    Select the account type from the list, or select Miscellaneous to create a custom account.

    • Accounts Payable - Distributor

    Creates an Accounts Payable account for a specific distributor.

    On selecting this option, the Distributor field is added to choose the distributor.

    • Accounts Payable - Insurer

    Creates an Accounts Payable account for a specific insurer.

    On selecting this option, the Insurer field is added to choose the insurer.

    • Accounts Receivable - Insurer

    Creates an Accounts Receivable account for a specific insurer.

    On selecting this option, the Insurer field is added to choose the insurer.

    • Advanced Premium
    Creates an Advanced Premium account.
    • Agency Bill Accounts Receivables

    Creates an Agency Bill Account Receivables account. The Agency Bill Accounts Receivable account tracks receivables for all premium related activities owed by Agency Bill Distributors.

    • Bank Account

    Creates a link to a configured bank account.

    On selecting this option, the Bank Account field is added to choose the associated account.  The Currency field displays the currency type associated with that account.  See the section on Managing Bank Accounts for details on preparing bank account configurations.

    • Billing Adjustment

    Creates an Accounts Receivable account for Billing Adjustment values.

    On selecting this option, the Adjustment Type field is displayed to choose the adjustment type.

    • Clearing
    Creates an entry for Cancellations to track returned premiums and taxes and to track unapplied amounts when posting a batch receipt.
    • Clearing - Claims Payable
    Creates a Clearing - Claims Payable account to track invoiced charges of type Deductible when the total invoice outstanding amount is a negative value.
    • Commission Expense

    Creates a Commission Expense account for a specific product and premium type.

    Two additional fields are added on selecting this option.  A Product and Premium Type can be selected.

    • Deductible Accounts Receivable

    Creates a Deductible Account Receivables account.

    • Deductible Recovery

    Creates a Deductible Recovery account.

    An additional field is added when this option is selected. Expense or Indemnity can be selected as a Payment Type.

    • Deferred Commission Expense

    Creates a Deferred Commission Expense account for the sum of charge commission detail amounts associated to the invoice.

    • Deferred Commission Revenue
    Creates a Deferred Commission Revenue account.
    • Deferred Insurance Direct Cost

    Creates a Deferred Insurance Direct Cost account for the sum of the Insurance Cost across all policies and insurers on the invoice.

    The Insurance Direct Cost is calculated as per calculating the Insurance Cost per Insurer.

    • Deferred Premium Income

    Creates a Deferred Premium Income account associated to the invoice for the sum of charge gross amounts.

    • Insurance Direct Cost

    Creates an Insurance Direct account for a specific product and premium type.

    Two additional fields are added on selecting this option.  A Product and Premium Type can be selected.

    • Invoiced Commission Expense
    Creates an Invoiced Commission Expense account when the invoiced Bill to Party is set to Distributor. The Invoiced Commission Expense account tracks all invoiced commission charges per distributor.
     

    Note: The Distributor lookup field is display in the General Ledger Account modal when creating this account type, in order to add the distributor associated to the invoice.

    • Invoiced Tax
    Creates an Invoiced Tax account for invoiced charges of type Premium. This account tracks all entries for tax charges associated to the generated invoice, per Tax Type.
    • Miscellaneous

    Creates an account that can be named and configured as required.

    On selecting this option, the Name field is added.

    • Paid Claims Receivable

    Creates an account for receivable insurer payments in compensation for claims paid to the assured.

    • Premium Accounts Receivable

    Creates a Premium Accounts Receivable account. The Premium Accounts Receivable report tracks all receivables owed by clients for all premium related activities with the exception of receivables owed to Distributor Bill to Parties. For additional information, see the Agency Bill Accounts Receivable section.

    • Premium Income
    Creates a Premium Income account for a specific product and premium type.
      Two additional fields are added on selecting this option.  A Product and Premium Type can be selected.
    • Suspense

    Creates an account for suspense values.

    • Tax Payable

    Creates an account for a specific tax.

    Additional fields are added on selecting this option.

     
    • Tax Type:  Select a tax type defined in the system.
     
    • Select if the account will be assigned to an Existing party, or select Create New to add a new party to the system.
     
    • Remit to Party:  This field is available if Existing is selected.  Choose an existing party for this account.
     
    • Remit to Party Name:  This field is available if Create New is selected.  Enter a unique name for the new party.  The party will be created on saving the account, and will be available as an Existing party for any additional accounts.
     
    • Initial Status:  Select the initial status for new entries, either Pending or Ready For Payment.
    • Write Off - Premium

    Creates an account for amounts that have been written off for all invoice types.

    • Written Premium

    Creates a Written Premium account per Premium Type specified. Users can configure each Written Premium account per Premium Type associated to the policy.

    Distributor

    This field is only shown when configuring an Invoiced Commissions Expense account.

    Upon selecting this account type, select a Distributor from the lookup field associated to the invoice.

    Premium Type

    This field is displayed when configuring Commission Expense, Insurance Direct Cost, Premium Income, and Written Premium accounts.

    The Premium Type dropdown field lists all Premium Types available in the system. Upon selecting a premium type, the G/L entries recorded are separated per Premium Type in the Written Premium account.

    Description

    Enter a description for the account.

    G/L Code

    Only shown when configuring a standard General Ledger account.  Enter a code for the account.  This code will be used to identify this account when integrating with external accounting systems.  This code does not need to be unique, allowing multiple internal accounts to be mapped to a single external account.

     

    Policy field codes can be used as the G/L Code value. When entered, the system will return the G/L Code as the field value on the policy.

     

    Note that if an invalid placeholder is entered, the code will remain as a string and will not return the appropriate value. Special characters (including underscores, periods, and non-alphabetical characters), are not supported. If a special character is included in the policy custom field, the system displays a warning message.

    Users can enter multiple field codes, individually enclosed in square brackets within the placeholder. Each code must include the appropriate opening and closing brackets ( [[ ]] ), or the system will display a warning message.

    Currency

    Select the currency for the account.  For Bank Accounts, this field will be defaulted to the currency defined for the selected account.

    Note: General Ledger Accounts must be unique.  If another active account exists with the same Account Type and Currency, and any fields specific to the account type, the new account cannot be saved.  The existing account must be modified or deactivated in order to save the new account.

  7. Click Add & New to save the details and clear the form to enter another account, click Add & Close to save and return to the accounts list, or click Close to return to the accounts list without saving the account.

    The Status panel is displayed once the account has been saved.

    Active

    Marks the account as active and available for use.  If unchecked, the account remains linked to any existing configurations, but cannot be used for new setups.  An inactive account cannot be reactivated if there is already an active account with the same settings.

    Created By

    Identifies the date and time the account was created, and the user who created it.

    Last Modified By

    Identifies the last date and time the account was changed, and the user who made the changes.

General Ledger Report Entry Generation Events

Under defined system events, an entry recording each financial transaction is made in the corresponding billing Report.

This occurs when performing one of the following operations:

  • Binding a policy (based on Settings configured).
  • Generating an invoice (based on Settings configured).
  • Processing a payment from insurers, distributors and bill to party payables.
  • Posting a batch receipt.

Account Type

Report Entry Generation Events

Accounts Payable - Distributor

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of commission charges (per Distributor) if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of commission charges (per Distributor) if this amount is a negative value.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of commission charges, per Distributor, for the associate policy Reinstatement transaction, when the Billing Option is set to Direct.

    If the Billing Option is set to Agency, this entry is not generated.

Accounts Payable - Insurer

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of insurance costs (per Insurer) across all invoiced policies if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of insurance costs (per Insurer) across all invoiced policies if this amount is a negative value.

Accounts Receivable - Insurer

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of the invoice amounts (per Insurer) if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of invoice amounts (per Insurer) if this amount is a negative value.

Advanced Premium

  • Debit: A debit entry is created when a refund receipt is applied to an On Account Balance.

Agency Bill Accounts Receivables

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the Invoice Amount if the total posted invoice amount is a negative value and the Bill to Party is of type Distributor.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Premium when the Bill to Party is of type Distributor for amounts that have been written off.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Premium when an Offset transaction is created, if the Bill to Party associated to the invoice is of type Distributor.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the total amount of the invoiced charges of type Adjustment when posting a cash receipt, if the Adjustment Category is Distributor.
 
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Adjustment when the Adjustment Category is Distributor.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the Cancellation receivables when the Billing Option is set to Agency and the Reinstatement transaction is Bound.

Bank Account

 

Billing Adjustment

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of adjustment amounts (per Adjustment Type) if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of adjustment amounts (per Adjustment Type) if this amount is a negative value.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Adjustment when the Adjustment Category is Distributor.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the total amount of the invoiced charges of type Adjustment when posting a cash receipt, if the Adjustment Category is Distributor.

Batch Receipt

  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of the total allocated amount as of the Batch receipt date.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of the total allocated amount as of the Batch receipt date.
Clearing
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the overpayment amount if the amount is to be refunded.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of all charges for Amounts Due associated to a cancellation when this amount is less than the sum of the total outstanding amounts associated to the policy term.
 
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced policy term when an Offset transaction is created.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the Cancellation clearing amount less the On Account amounts associated to the policy term for the Reinstatement transaction.
Clearing - Claims Payable
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Deductible when the total invoice outstanding amount is a negative value.

Commission Expense

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of commission charges associated to a cancellation if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of commission charges associated to a cancellation if this amount is a negative value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of commission charges, per Premium Type, associated to the policy Reinstatement transaction.

Deductible Account Receivables

  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the deductible amount when Deductible invoices are generated. The entry date is set to the same date as the Invoice Issue Date.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Deductible upon Write Off.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Deductible upon creating an Offset transaction.
Deductible Recovery
  • Credit: For Deductible Recovery accounts of type Expense, a credit entry is created for invoiced charges resulting from an Expense claim payment.
  • Credit: For Deductible Recovery accounts of type Indemnity, a credit entry is created for invoiced charges resulting from an Indemnity claim payment.
  • Debit: For Deductible Recovery accounts of both Expense and Indemnity types, a debit entry is created when invoices of type Deductible are generated and where the Entry date is set to the Invoice Issue date.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Deductible - Indemnity when the total invoice outstanding amount is a negative value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Deductible - Expense when the total invoice outstanding amount is a negative value.

Deferred Commission Expense

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of charge commission amounts (associated to the invoice) if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of charge commission amounts (associated to the invoice) if this amount is a negative value.

Deferred Insurance Direct Cost

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of insurance costs (per Insurer) if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of insurance costs (per Insurer) if this amount is a negative value.
Deferred Premium Income
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of charge gross amounts (associated to the invoice) is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of charge gross amounts (associated to the invoice) if this amount is a negative value.

Insurance Direct Cost

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of charge insurance costs across all policies and insurers if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of charge insurance costs across all policies and insurers if this amount is a negative value.
Invoiced Commission Expense
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of commission charges associated to the invoice when the invoiced Bill to Party is of type Distributor.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created as a Commission Payable - Distributor, for the total commission charge amounts, per distributor, associated to the invoice.
Invoiced Premium Receivable
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of the total outstanding amount of the invoice if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created fr the sum of the total outstanding amount of the invoice if this amount is a negative value.
Invoiced Tax
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of tax charges associated to the invoice if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of tax charges associated to the invoice if this amount is a negative value.

Miscellaneous

 

Paid Claims Receivable

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of the invoice amounts for claims if this amount is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of the invoice amounts for claims if this amount is a negative value.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of invoiced charges of type Claim Payment upon creating an Offset transaction.

Premium Accounts Receivable

  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the Invoice Amount if the total posted invoice amount is a negative value and the Bill to Party is of type Assured or Distributor.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the Invoice Amount if the total posted invoice amount is a positive value and the Bill to Party is of type Client or Distributor.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Premium upon Write Off when the Bill to Party is of type Insured.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Premium when an Offset transaction is created, if the Bill to Party associated to the invoice is of type Insured.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Adjustment when posting a cash receipt, if the Adjustment Category is any other than distributor.
 
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the Cancellation receivables when the Billing Option is set to Direct and the Reinstatement transaction is Bound.

Premium Income

 

Suspense

  • Credit: A credit entry is created as Suspense - Unapplied if a payment is collected against a policy transaction in Quoted status.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created in the amount of the total receipt if a payment is collected against a policy transaction in Quoted status.
  • Advance Suspense
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the overpayment amount if the amount is Reserved for Future Installments.

Tax Payable

  • Credit: A credit entry is created if the sum of tax amounts, per Tax Type, is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created if the sum of tax amounts, per Tax Type, is a negative value.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of tax amounts, per Tax Type, for the associated policy Reinstatement tax type.

Write Off - Premium

  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced Premium charges upon Write Off.
  • Write Off - Deductible
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of type Deductible upon Write Off.
  • Write Off - Other
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the amount of the invoiced charges of any type upon Write Off.
Written Premium
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of gross amounts, per Premium Type, associated to a cancellation is a positive value.
  • Debit: A debit entry is created for the sum of gross amounts, per Premium Type, associated to a cancellation is a negative value.
  • Credit: A credit entry is created for the sum of the invoiced charges gross amount, per Premium Type, for the associated policy Reinstatement premium type.