Recently a large trend in accounting software has been the move towards integration. It appears that this trend is not lost on accounting software for insurance agencies. Traditionally QuickBooks was the software of choice for insurance agencies, but there seems to be a move towards a more integrated solution.
Accounting is an important part of managing an insurance agency, but it is not the only part. In the past most insurance accounting software consisted of using QuickBooks and trying to get QuickBooks to integrate with other parts of the agency, like human resources, payroll, and sales. This integration was a piecemeal solution, but it appears that the insurance industry is looking for a more comprehensive accounting solution. Enter enterprise resource planning (ERP).
In a nutshell, ERP means that every piece of data that your organization tracks (employee data, sales information, premium discounts, accounting data, etc.) all goes into one central database. This central database is extremely important and secured by controls. With all of the data in one place it is easy to manage it and ensure it is accurate. It is also easy to share data across departments within the insurance agency.
Say the human resource department needs information on revenues and expenses, they can get that data by interfacing with the centralized database. They no longer need to head over to accounting and ask for the information, they can get it themselves. In addition, this allows insurance sales reps to access pertinent data they may need like special promotions without having to come and talk with management first.
If everyone in the insurance organization has access to the data, won’t it be a bit insecure? No, it won’t and here’s why: when installing an ERP insurance accounting software program you can decide who gets access to what information. A manager can be in charge of assigning rights, usually known as a database manager.
One company out there right now that offers this type of software is Gen4systems. They specialize in providing a comprehensive accounting system for insurance agencies. This means you don’t need four different types of software to manage everything, you just have one to manage it all.
One of the downsides of an ERP system is that there is a bit of a learning curve. Chances are some of your accounting staff are already used to using the current insurance accounting software and will not want to make the switch. There is a bit of a learning curve, but most techies seem to believe that the benefits of centralized data and entity-wide data sharing outweigh the costs.
Whether your insurance agency is currently using QuickBooks or some other solution for accounting purposes, you may want to consider moving to an entity-wide system. Having your data in one spot aides in keeping it accurate and up-to-date. In addition the control over who has access to what makes managing information within your insurance agency quite a bit easier. Finally, your insurance agency could save time because data sharing between agents and back office staff will be much more efficient.
