Managing Companies and Users

When a licensee environment is created, a Head Office is setup.  Additional offices can be created as subsidiaries of the Head Office, serving as insurers or distributors, or external associate companies can be added.

Managing Distributor Companies

Distributors are companies that provide the insurance product to the public, generally arranging business on a commission basis.

1. In the main menu, select Reference, Companies & Users, then Distributors.  A list of all available distributor companies is displayed.

   

   If there are a large number of available distributor companies, see the Using Grids section for help on finding the appropriate companies.

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

2. Select an action.
   • Click Create to create a new distributor company.
   • Click a link in the Name column to view an existing company.
   • Check the boxes for one or more distributors and click Deactivate to disable the selected distributors. Inactive distributors will remain supported for existing transactions, but cannot be selected for new transactions. Individual distributor companies can also be deactivated through the company record.

3. When adding or viewing a distributor company, the Distributor Information page opens.  Complete the necessary information.  Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.

   

   Enter the company details.

   Managing Company	Select a managing company. The field includes available companies of type Licensee.
   	If selecting another distributor company, this forms a hierarchy structure with the selected distributor as the parent company.
   	If selecting a licensee, insurer, or additional company type, this does not create a hierarchy structure. Instead, the managing company becomes the owner of the current company.
   	In both cases, users in the managing company gain access to data owned by the current company and any subsidiaries, within the limits of their Administrative Level.
   	Companies can also be linked using the Data Access Link Management feature, detailed below.
   Name	Enter the company name.
   Code	Enter a unique identifier code for the company.  This can be used to identify the company for integration purposes, and is available for generated documents, e-mails, and calculated fields.

   

   Enter the contact information for the company.

   Phone	Enter the phone number.
   Fax	Enter the Fax number.
   Website	Enter the URL of the company's website.
   Primary Contact	This field is only visible once the distributor has been saved.  Any of the current users under the distributor company can be selected as the Primary Contact.  When an e-mail is sent to this distributor, it goes to the primary contact.  If no primary contact is selected, the e-mails go to the first user created under the company.

   

   Enter the full address of the new company.

   

   The Banking Information panel can be used to collect company banking information. If enabled, this data is displayed in the Invoices Report in the billing module, making it available for use in external systems.

   Enable Electronic Funds Transfer	Check this box to make the banking information available in the Invoices Report in the billing module.
   Bank Account Type	This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Select whether the banking account is designated as a checking or savings account.
   Bank Account Number	This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Enter the banking account number.
   ABA Routing Number	This field is displayed when the Enable Electronic Funds Transfer checkbox is selected. Enter the nine-digit ABA routing transit number.

   

   Default Commission	Enter the default commission to be earned by this company.  This is the default value when creating a Master Cover Association, but can be changed for each association.
   Distributor Code	Enter an additional identifier code for the company.  This can be used to identify the company for integration purposes, and is available for generated documents, e-mails, and calculated fields.

   

   The Master Cover Associations panel becomes available once the distributor company has been saved, and displays all master covers associated to the current distributor company.

   Click Add to associate the distributor company to a new master cover, or click a link in the Master Cover column to view an existing association.  See the section on Managing Distributor Master Cover Associations.

   

   The Data Access Link Management panel becomes available once the distributor company has been saved. This feature can be used to create links to other companies, providing access to data owned by those companies and their subsidiaries.

   This list may contain additional links created by the system. These links are created when the current company is the Managing Company of another company, or when a client company is attached to a transaction associated to the current company.

   1. Select an action.
   • Click Add to add a new link.
   • Click a link in the Name column to view an existing link. Note that existing links cannot be modified, but Administrative links can be deleted.
   2. The Data Access Links window opens. The panels and fields are described below.  Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.

   

   Company Name	Search for and select the company to link to. The field includes available companies of type Insurer, Distributor, Assured (client), and Additional. By default, this creates an Administrative link, displayed in the Relationship Type column of the link list.
   	If selecting another distributor company, this forms a hierarchy structure with the current company as a parent of the selected company.
   	If selecting an insurer, client, or additional company type, this does not create a hierarchy structure.
   	In both cases, users in the current company gain access to data owned by the selected company and any subsidiaries, within the limits of their Administrative Level.
   Add to Hierarchy	This option moves the selected company and any subsidiary companies into the hierarchy of the current company. This replaces the Managing Company of the selected company, and removes access from the previous managing company. This changes the Relationship Type to Subsidiary.
   	Note that Subsidiary links cannot be deleted once they have been saved.

   3. Select an action.
   • When viewing an existing link, use the previous row and next row buttons, ▲ / ▼, to step through the links.
   • When creating a new link, click Add & New to save the link and clear the form to add additional links.
   • When creating a new link, click Add & Close to save the link and close the window.
   • When viewing an existing Administrative link, click Delete to remove the link.
   • Click Close to close the window without saving the link.

   

   The Users panel becomes available once the distributor company has been saved, and displays all available users registered for this company.  Click Create to create a new user account for this company.  This opens the User Information page to complete the user configuration.  See Managing User Accounts for details.

   Note: The Please click here to add new row option is not functional.  The Create button must be used to add new user accounts, or the user can be created through the user management section and associated to the current company.

   

   The Status panel becomes available once the company has been saved.

   Active	Marks the company as active and available for use.  If unchecked, the company remains functional and linked to any existing resources, but cannot be selected for new configurations.
   Created By	Identifies the date and time the company was created, and the user who created it.
   Last Modified By	Identifies the last date and time the company was changed, and the user who made the changes.

4. Click Save to save the distributor company but remain on the page, Save & Close to save the company and return to the Distributors list, or click Close to return to the Distributors list without saving the company.
5. Once the company has been saved, the Designate as Bill To Party button becomes available. This button automatically creates and saves a billing profile for the company, and opens the Bill To Party Management page to proceed with the configuration.

Note: When Designate as Bill to Party is clicked the Bill to Party is created under the Default Billing Entity by default. This can not be modified or otherwise undone. For this reason, this feature should be avoided when operating within multiple billing entities. For additional information, see the Billing Entities section.

Managing Distributor Master Cover Associations

The Master Cover Associations panel in the Distributor Information page lists all master covers associated to the current distributor company, as well as the details of each association.

1. Click Add to associate a new master cover to the distributor company, or click a link in the Master Cover column to view an existing association.  The Master Cover Association window opens.

When viewing a saved association, the Previous and Next buttons can be used to navigate through the association configurations, and the Delete button can be used to delete the current association.

2. Complete the necessary information.  Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.



Master Cover	Select a Master Cover to be associated to the distributor company.
Distributor Reference Code	Enter an additional identifier code for the company.  This can be used to identify the company for integration purposes, and is available for generated documents, e-mails, and calculated fields.

3. Select an action.
• Click Save to save the Master Cover Association and display additional panels.
• Click Save & New to save only the Master Cover and Distributor Reference Code fields and clear the form to enter another association.
• Click Save & Close to save only the Master Cover and Distributor Reference Code fields and close the Master Cover Association window.
• Click Delete to delete an existing Master Cover Association.
• Click Close to close the Master Cover Association window without saving the Master Cover Association.



When the billing module is enabled, each invoice is addressed to the client at the defined billing address.  This is known as Direct Billing.  The Billing Information panel is used to conditionally override this default setting, addressing invoices to the distributor billing address (Agency Billing) instead.

Agency Bill	When checked, invoices for all clients under this distributor are addressed to the distributor's listed billing address.
Trigger	A trigger can be selected to control this setting.  If the trigger evaluates as true, or if no trigger is selected, the invoice is addressed to the distributor as configured.  If the trigger evaluates as false, the invoice reverts to client billing (Direct Billing).  The trigger option is only active when Agency Bill is checked.



The Commission panel can be used to define commission values for this master cover association. See the Distributor Commission Fallback Order section for details on when these values are used.

Default Commission	Enter the default commission, in percentage, for this distributor company under the associated master cover.  This default can be overridden for individual premium types.
Field Override Trigger	This field is available once the association has been saved.  Select a trigger to determine if the system should use the Default Commission or the Default Commission Field Override.  If the trigger evaluates as false, the Default Commission is used.  If the trigger evaluates as true, the Default Commission Field Override is used.
	If no trigger is selected, the Default Commission Field Override (if selected) is always used.
Default Commission Field Override	This field is available once the association has been saved.  Select a numerical field from the workflow associated to the selected master cover.  This field provides the commission percentage in the event of an override.  The field can be a calculated field, or can take direct input from the user.
	If the selected field is left blank in the submission form, either by the calculation or by the user, it is considered to be a zero value.
	If no override field is selected in this panel, the Default Commission is used.



The Premium Type - Commission (%) Overrides panel becomes available once the association has been saved, and displays all commission overrides defined per Premium Type.  These override configurations take priority over the Field Override settings in the Commission panel.

The Commission percentages can be edited directly in this grid.  Double-click a cell in the Commission column, and enter the new percentage value.  Click outside of the grid to save the changes.

Managing Distributor Commission Overrides

The Premium Type - Commission (%) Overrides panel in the Master Cover Association window lists all commission overrides defined per premium type. See the Distributor Commission Fallback Order section for details on when these settings are used.

1. Click Add to create a new commission override, or click a link in the Premium Type Name column to view an existing override.

The Commission percentages can be edited directly in this grid.  Double-click a cell in the Commission column, and enter the new percentage value.  Click outside of the grid to save the changes.

To delete one or more override configurations, check the box(es) next to the Premium Type Name column and click Delete.

2. When adding or viewing a distributor company, the Premium Type - Commission (%) Overrides window opens.  Complete the necessary information.  Fields marked with a red asterisk * are required.



Premium Type	Select an available premium type.  Once a specific premium type override has been added, the Premium Type field cannot be modified.  The entire override entry must be deleted to remove the override.
Default Commission	Enter the percentage commission to be used for the selected premium type.

3. Click Save & New to save the commission override and open a new blank record to create a new override, click Save & Close to save the override and close the window, or click Close to close the window without saving.

When viewing a saved commission override, the Previous Row and Next Row buttons can be used to navigate through the override configurations, and the Delete button can be used to delete the current override.

4. From the Distributor Information page, click Save to save any changes and remain on the page, click Save & Close to save and return to the company list, or click Close to return to the company list without saving any changes.

Distributor Commission Fallback Order

The distributor commissions can be set in several locations throughout the system. When the system calculates commissions for each distributor, it copies the following values into the Distributor Commission By Premium Type grid, then checks the values in the following order. Except where noted, a missing value causes the system to check for the next value in sequence.

1. The Commission Override Amount field in the Distributor Commission By Premium Type grid.
2. The Commission Override (%) field in the Distributor Commission By Premium Type grid.
3. The Premium Type - Commission (%) Overrides panel in the Master Cover Associations for the distributor.
4. The selected Default Commission Field Override field in the Master Cover Associations for the distributor. If the trigger evaluates as true, but there is no value in the field, the commission will be 0. If the trigger evaluates as false, or no field is specified, the calculation moves to the next step.
5. The selected Commission Percentage Field in the Master Cover - General Information page.
6. The Default Commission field in the Master Cover Associations for the distributor. As the final fallback value, this field is required when associating a master cover to a distributor.