Glossary · Insurance agency commissions
Account current
An account current is the statement a carrier sends an agency for agency bill business, listing the period’s transactions with gross premium, commission and the net amount the agency owes the carrier.
What it means
Where a direct bill statement says what the carrier is paying you, an account current says what you are expected to pay the carrier. Each line is a transaction the carrier processed for your agency: new business, renewals, endorsements, returns. Many also carry open items forward from earlier months, and due dates and payment terms vary by carrier.
The statement reflects what the carrier has on record, which is not always what you have billed. Differences between the two are the whole reason to check it before paying.
How it shows on a commission statement
Expect gross premium, your commission and the net due for each line, then a total. Returns appear as negative lines. Carried-forward balances may sit in a separate section or be folded into the total, and the layout differs from carrier to carrier.
Example
- Gross premium, endorsement
- $400.00
- Commission at 15%
- $60.00
- Net due to carrier
- $340.00
- Invoiced to the insured
- $0.00
Common mistakes to check
- Paying the total without matching each line to an invoice you issued.
- Checking only that gross minus commission equals net, and not that the premium itself is right.
- Ignoring carried-forward items because they have always been there.
- Treating a difference as a carrier error before checking whether the change was ever billed.
Lapidar is commission reconciliation software for independent insurance agencies, in development. Related: agency bill vs direct bill reconciliation.