applied epic bookkeeping

Bookkeeping in Applied Epic: 10 Best Practices for Accurate Financial Reporting

Accurate bookkeeping in Applied Epic is an area where many agencies struggle and lack confidence in the integrity of their accounting data and financial reports. Applied Epic has a well-designed accounting system that captures all your agency’s financial data and organizes it into various financial reports. These reports are critical analytical tools that can help management understand the financial health of your agency, as well as assist in making financial decisions about agency growth and process improvements. In this article, we will explore 10 best practices for bookkeeping in Applied Epic to help you ensure accurate financial data.

Best Practices for Accurate Bookkeeping in Epic

1. Record Every Financial Transaction with Receipts and Disbursements

Accurate financial data involves keeping track of every single financial transaction in your agency. Knowing how much you earn and how much money you spend is important for getting an idea of your actual income and expenses. Entering your receipts and disbursements and verifying them on your bank statement or your online banking portal is a critical step to ensuring that every transaction is recorded in Epic and reported on your financial statements.

2. Record Payroll Entries

Another important step of bookkeeping is recording the payroll. Whether you calculate, record and submit your agency payroll on your own or use an outsourced payroll service, entering your payroll data into Epic ensures that all payroll transactions are recorded on your financial statements accurately.

3. Reconcile Direct Bill Commissions

Reconciling your direct bill policy commissions is another critical step in accurate financial reporting. For direct bill commissions, you can download, import, or manually reconcile your commissions and once reconciled, tie them to your commission deposits to ensure that they will be reported on your income statement correctly.

4. Reconcile Premium Payables

There are multiple steps necessary for the accurate recording of your premium payable/agency bill policies in Epic. The accurate invoicing of the policies to your clients, recording the receipt of their payment, reconciling the premium payable to the company or broker, and disbursing payment of the premium payable to the carrier are the steps necessary to properly record these transactions in Epic.

5. Record Direct Bill Sweeps

Many agencies offer the courtesy of collecting policy payments for their clients and paying the carrier on their behalf. These are called “sweeps”. Making sure the client’s payment is receipted to their account and the payment to the carrier is recorded as a Premium Advance will accurately capture these transactions in Epic and keep the premium bank account balance and accounts receivable on the balance sheet accurate.

6. Reconcile and Pay Producer and Broker Commissions

Whether you use the Pr/Br Reconciliation feature in Epic or reconcile and review your producer/broker payables manually, you need accurate Pr/Br commission data in your system so you can pay them commissions that are owed. Verifying that commission agreements are set up and attached to policies in Epic will ensure that your producers and brokers are paid accurately and timely every month.

7. Perform Monthly Bank Reconciliations

Reconciling your bank accounts monthly is a critical bookkeeping step that ensures that all financial transactions are recorded in Epic and that your bank balance in Epic ties to the bank account. This reconciliation will ensure that all financial data is correctly reported on your financial statements.

8. Run Month End Accounting Reports

In Epic, there are several month end accounting reports that you can run and review before closing your month. These reports will help you determine if there are any incomplete transactions and ensure that you have reconciled all commissions received and that your receivables and payables tie to your General Ledger.

9. Analyze General Ledger Account Balances Using the Status of Accounts Report

The Status of Accounts report is a valuable tool to review the debit and credit transactions in all your General Ledger accounts. Use this report to analyze the detail of your balance sheet and income statement balances when balances look incorrect. Once you determine what caused the errors in your balances, you can further complete transactions and/or enter a journal entry to correct balances.

10. Review of Final Income Statement and Balance Sheet

Once you determine that your financial reports and data are complete and accurate, the final monthly bookkeeping step is to close the month in Epic. Once you close the month, you are now ready to submit your final monthly financial reports to your CPA if required. Management will also now have the tools they need to analyze the agency’s financial data to plan for future financial decisions.

Conclusion

Proper bookkeeping in Applied Epic is essential for agency management to understand in order to be able to make informed financial decisions. Without knowing the details of your agency’s finances, it’s difficult to evaluate opportunities for growth and investment. Monthly and yearly financial statements can give you a lot of information about your agency and help you pinpoint areas for improvement. They are also vital for your CPA to obtain for accurate and timely tax reporting.

Accounting and bookkeeping in Epic can be very overwhelming for an agency when they don’t trust the accuracy of their financial data. If your agency needs help with accounting and bookkeeping in Epic, the KiteTech Agency Consulting team is here to help! We have extensive experience in Applied Epic accounting and we are ready to provide customized solutions that meet your agency’s unique needs. We can assist your agency with accounting optimization, forensic accounting and cleanup, and even outsourced bookkeeping services. Contact us today for more information!

Picture of Buffy Johnson

Buffy Johnson

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Outsourced Applied Epic Bookkeeping

Applied Epic

EXPERT OUTSOURCED BOOKKEEPING

Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of accounting in your agency? Kite Technology can help! Our Agency Consulting team has bookkeepers on staff with expertise in Applied Epic, ready to provide customized solutions that meet your agency’s needs.

We understand that every insurance agency is unique and has specific accounting needs. Our expert team takes a custom approach to outsourcing and will develop a plan that meets your agency’s specific accounting requirements. We will also implement our KiteTech Best Practices to ensure that you get the best possible service.

With our outsourced bookkeeping services, you’ll have a dedicated KiteTech bookkeeping team member who will be focused on all of your agency’s accounting needs.

Do you have concerns about the accuracy of your agency’s current accounting data? We can also provide forensic accounting and cleanup services to help agencies achieve accuracy in their financial reporting.

BOOKKEEPING SERVICES

including but not limited to

ENTRY OF RECEIPTS, DISBURSEMENTS, AND JOURNAL ENTRIES

We will handle the accurate and timely entry of all bank transactions, which is vital to your agency’s accounting data and report integrity.

VENDOR PAYABLES

We will manage your vendor payables, ensuring that all bills are paid accurately and on time, ensuring that expenses are appropriately allocated.

ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT REPORTS

Our team will deliver regular accounting management reports, providing an accurate picture of your agency’s financial health.

DIRECT BILL COMMISSION RECONCILIATION

We will ensure that your direct bill commissions are accurately recorded and reconciled to your financial records, including manual recording, importing, and direct bill commission download processing.

PRODUCER/BROKER PAYABLES

We will provide a method for producer and broker payables whether that be by producer commission reports, production reports, or by utilizing the Pr/Br reconciliation in Applied Epic.

REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETINGS

We will schedule regular meetings with your bookkeeper to review progress, discuss any accounting issues, and ensure that all your accounting needs are being met.

PREMIUM PAYABLE RECONCILIATION

We will reconcile your agency bill invoices and statements, ensuring that all transactions are paid on time and recorded in Applied Epic. This ensures that your premium payable reports are balanced to your financial records.

MONTH-END BANK RECONCILIATION

We will reconcile your bank accounts at the end of each month, ensuring that all transactions are recorded accurately and that all discrepancies are identified and resolved.

Learn how we can eliminate your agency’s accounting headaches!

MAXIMIZE YOUR AGENCY’S POTENTIAL

Maximize your agency’s growth potential by outsourcing your bookkeeping tasks to our team of experts. KiteTech’s Agency Consulting team understands that your time and resources are valuable, which is why we provide efficient and cost-effective solutions that allow you to focus on your agency.

By choosing our services, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your accounting and bookkeeping needs are being handled by a team of professionals with extensive Applied Epic expertise. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the unique needs of your agency, and we work closely with you to ensure that all your requirements are met.

BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING:

Expertise

Professional bookkeepers have the necessary skills and experience to handle complex accounting tasks, ensuring accuracy and compliance with accounting standards.

Cost Savings

Outsourcing can be a cost-effective solution, as it eliminates the need to hire a full-time bookkeeper and reduces overhead costs associated with in-house bookkeeping.

Peace of Mind

With an outsourced bookkeeper, you can have peace of mind knowing that your financial records are accurate and up-to-date, allowing you to make informed decisions for your agency's future.

Efficiency

Outsourcing bookkeeping tasks can help streamline processes, reduce errors, and save time, allowing you to focus on core business activities.

Customization

An outsourced bookkeeper can tailor their services to meet your agency's specific needs and requirements, providing customized solutions that align with your business goals.

Growth Potential

With our outsourced bookkeeping services, you can focus on growing your business without worrying about the time-consuming tasks of bookkeeping.

adam atwell

Adam Atwell

Cloud solutions architect

Adam is passionate about consulting with organizations across the country to help them develop and execute a cloud adoption strategy that meets their business needs and future objectives. Adam oversees and manages our company strategy for Microsoft 365 adoption and is responsible for future growth and development inside Microsoft 365 and other cloud technologies.