Agency bookkeeping & premium trust accounting
Your books should reconcile to the carrier statement, not to a guess.
Monthly bookkeeping and premium trust accounting for multi-producer insurance agencies — built around agency bill, direct bill, commission splits and producer draws, not a generic small-business chart of accounts.
| Carrier statements received | $42,180.66 |
| Commission posted in AMS | $39,914.20 |
| Unmatched variance | ($2,266.46) |
| Producer splits payable | $16,842.11 |
| Trust account, unswept | $0.00 |
Sample figures — the format of the monthly close report
Agency books rarely fail at tax time. They fail in the four places a general bookkeeper was never taught to look.
Insurance revenue arrives twice, from two directions, on somebody else's schedule. A bookkeeper who treats an agency like a retail shop will balance the bank and still leave these open.
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Direct bill vs. agency bill
Agency bill money lands in the agency's own account and isn't revenue. Direct bill commission arrives net, weeks later, with no invoice behind it. Booked the same way, income and liabilities are both wrong.
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Carrier statements never tied out
Statements get filed, not reconciled. Short-pays, chargebacks and policies that cancelled after commission was paid sit unnoticed until a producer disputes a check.
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Producer splits and draws
Tiered splits, house accounts, renewal versus new business rates, advances against future commission — computed in a spreadsheet nobody else can read, and reported on a 1099 at year end.
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The premium trust account
Premium collected but not yet remitted is fiduciary money. Sweeps into operating, an overdraft covered from trust, or a balance that dips below what's owed to carriers are the findings that draw real attention.
The point of the engagement
Most agency books are clean everywhere except the one account an examiner opens first.
The Books Health Check
A fixed-scope review of where an agency's books actually stand — done before anyone talks about a monthly engagement. You get the findings whether or not you hire us.
Accounting file, bank and trust statements, the last three carrier commission statements, and your agency management system if you'll open it.
Bank and trust reconciled to the ledger. Carrier statements matched to posted commission. Every variance traced or listed as untraceable, with the reason.
Trust balance compared against premium collected and not yet remitted. Any transfer between trust and operating identified and explained.
One document: what's wrong, what it costs or risks, what it takes to fix, and what it takes to keep it from recurring. Yours to keep.
Two ways to run the month, and a quarterly session when you want the numbers discussed.
Monthly engagements are priced on producer count, carrier count and transaction volume — not headcount alone. Pricing is quoted after the Health Check, when the real volume is known.
Standard
- Full-cycle bookkeeping with an agency chart of accounts
- Bank and credit card reconciliation
- Agency bill and direct bill posted correctly and separately
- Accounts payable to carriers, accounts receivable to insureds
- Monthly close package: P&L, balance sheet, cash position
Advanced
- Everything in Standard
- Carrier commission statements reconciled line by line
- Producer split calculation and commission payable schedule
- Premium trust account reconciled monthly, with a sweep log
- Revenue reported by carrier, by line and by producer
- 1099-NEC preparation for producers at year end
Quarterly Business Review
- A working session on the numbers, not a report you file
- Budget versus actual, with the variances explained
- Written decisions and owners, carried to next quarter
Referral partnership
- Clean, closed books delivered on your calendar
- We stay in bookkeeping; tax, attest and advisory stay yours
- The Books Health Check available to your clients as an entry point
Who this is built for
The work is specialized on purpose. It's worth saying plainly where it fits and where it doesn't.
A good fit
- Multi-producer agencies — roughly three or more writing agents
- P&C, life or annuity, including mixed books
- Agencies that collect premium and hold a trust account
- Commission splits that have outgrown a spreadsheet
- Principals who want the trust account defensible before anyone asks
- CPA and tax firms looking for a bookkeeper who knows the industry
Not a fit
- Solo agents on direct bill only, with no trust account
- Agencies looking for tax preparation or attest work
- Anyone who wants the books to say something they don't
- Investment, securities or insurance advice — that is a separate profession and not offered here
Vikki Cao
I've spent my career on the revenue side of the insurance and retirement business, which means I've read a lot of carrier commission statements and watched a lot of agencies try to run a specialized book of business on general-purpose bookkeeping.
The gap is consistent. The bank reconciles. The P&L looks plausible. And nobody can tell you, in the same sitting, what a carrier still owes you, what a producer is owed, and whether the trust account covers what's held for insureds.
CNA Bookkeeping exists to close that gap and nothing else. It is a bookkeeping and back-office practice — not an advisory firm, and not a competitor for your clients.
Bookkeeping, trust reconciliation and management reporting. No tax preparation, no attest work, no securities or insurance advice, and no contact with your clients unless you ask for it in writing.
Start with the Health Check
Send the agency's name, roughly how many writing producers, and which accounting system you're on. I'll reply with the access list and a start date.