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Recent Articles
- Service | Service As a Strategic Advantage for 2012!
- News Bits - Fast, Focused Format for 2012!
- 3 End of Year Tips That Make A Difference: Accounting - Free checklist
NewsBits: Fast, Focused Format for 2012
1.1.12
In past years we’ve tried to bring you newsletters that were packed with useful information that could help you accelerate your success by either saving you time and money, or by helping you grow your business. We always tried to include tips for using InStar, even in our notices announcing upcoming classes and specials.
As we’ve all gotten busier and busier, it’s much harder to sit down and read a full newsletter, no matter how good the information may be. So, we’re making it easier for you by:
- News Bits – You’ll receive tips, concepts and how-to’s in bite-size chunks that you can read in
minutes and act on immediately in our weekly email newsletters and at
www.facebook.com/PeopleInsure.
- Thread – What used to be one long article will be sent in weekly installments, with an actionable concept each week.
- Detail – Sometimes we’ll provide more detailed information or helpful tools. We’ll link from the
newsletter to these full articles so that you can read them at your discretion.
- Resources – We are often asked, “Where do I find more information or help on a topic?” We’ll
provide a list of both free and fee based ways to learn more and/or get help on topics.
Let us know how you like the new format and send suggestions to info@peopleinsure.com.
3 End of Year Tips That Make A Difference: Accounting - Full Article with FREE CHECKLIST (click here)
Scenario:
As the year draws to an end we’re busy with the Holidays, closing out this year’s business and planning for next year. So much to do with so little time!
What do you do first? Here are 3 helpful hints for year end and new beginnings in 2012!
Here are the top 3 things I recommend at the end of each year for accounting:
1. Do you know, really know, that you are in balance? (Free Checklist)
Check that you are in balance now to save costly reconciliation later. Sample checklist
included.
2. Do you have the baseline reports that you will need to track your progress towards your
2012 goals? (Free Sample Reports)
Print your 2011 baseline reports electronically to PDF or Excel. Keep your numbers at your
fingertips. Print to excel to enable analysis. Sample Report List included.
3. Are you setup to get the reports that you want and need in 2012? (Article)
With the proper setup, you should be able to get your E&O stats, key benchmarks or track what's happening in your agency in under an hour. Tips included
.View December Newsletter with coupons.
If you would like more information about this topic, we recommend:
- Public Online Classes: Accounting Soup-2-Nuts - Live class starts Jan 18
- Tools: Setup for Success - Checklist and sample setup coding (Call 877.772.4677 x2)
- Private Training Customized for your agency or brokerage: Custom Training
- Upcoming Conferences: National InStar Users Group National Conference
- Other InStar Training (Over 200 Topics Available): Other InStar Training>>
Layout Templates: How Do I Remove the Attention Line on Letters?
Scenario:
When you create a letter, you see an Attention line above the name and address on the inside address. Often, such as in personal lines, this means that the name of the client is displayed twice:
View the full PDF file with Step-by-Step instructions (click here) for running these reports.
If you would like more information about this topic, we recommend:
- Public Online Classes: Basics-2-BlastOff - Live class starts May 11th
- Private Training Customized for your agency or brokerage: Custom Training
- Upcoming Conferences: National InStar Users Group National Conference
- Other InStar Training (Over 200 Topics Available): Other InStar Training>>
What Happened Since My Last Backup?
If you had to restore from last night’s backup, how much data would you loose? How would you know what happened since last night’s backup? There are a couple of reports that can help.
First, there is nothing more important than having good and timely backups of your data. Make sure to have a good full backup of all of your InStar files, data and electronic documents. Second, there are several great ways to minimize data loss and reduce the exposure. Backups are a topic for another newsletter article. This month, we want to share a quick and easy method to get a list of every transaction that happened between your backups.
Scenario:
You use a tape backup or internet based service that backs up your files at 1am each morning. On Tuesday at 1am a good backup is run. On Wednesday morning the tapes are taken off site. All day Wednesday, everyone in the office is working in InStar. You leave the office on Wednesday evening at 5:30 pm. At 9pm Wednesday night, there is a water leak that ruins your computer. (ugh!) Thus, there is no good backup of Wednesday’s transactions that runs on Wednesday night. When you discover the problem and fix your computer on Thursday morning, you restore to the last good backup, which was 1am Tuesday. But, you have “lost” the data from Wednesday’s full work day. How do you know what happened on Wednesday to recreate the data? These two reports will help.
Transactional History lists every transaction that was processed throughout the time period, including downloads, transprocesses, correspondence, notes, etc. This is not a full detail of everything in your system, but at list it is a great overview to point you to the files that were touched. Proper use of Transprocessing makes this report even more valuable, such as good descriptions of the transactions and transactions for things not automatically captured by the system. (See The Power of Transprocessing.)
General Ledger Detail lists every accounting transaction in the General Ledger, including the source entry type, description, debits and credits. Since the description is only 40 characters, it doesn’t replace the full descriptions from your ledgers, but you could accurately recreate the financial transactions from these reports.
Run Reports Daily:
Every day at the end of the business day run the both of these reports either to Excel or PDF and email them to an off-site email account of the principal. This way, if anything happened to your system either before the backup was run for internet-based backups, or before you return to the office to get the media for on-site backups, you would have a full list of the accounts that had transactions since your last backup.
View the full PDF file with Step-by-Step instructions (click here) for running these reports.
If you would like more information about this topic, we recommend:
- Public Online Classes: Accounting Soup-2-Nuts
- Private Training Customized for your agency or brokerage: Custom Training
- Upcoming Conferences: National InStar Users Group National Conference
- Other InStar Training (Over 200 Topics Available): Other InStar Training>>
DYK? Attaching Contacts to Company Info
By attaching your company contacts in Company Info you can quickly email underwriters and other company reps right from your customer files.
How to Attach a Company Contact
1. Open your Company Info file: Main.
Main Menu > Company Info > Find the Company
2. Click the Contacts tab
3. Click the New Contact button
4. Click the Contacts tab
5. Type Contact Name > Click Find to open the company contact that you want to attach.
6. Save the contact.
Your company contact is now attached to the selected Company Info file. When you write letters or emails, this contact information will now display under Addressee > Company.
How to eMail the Company Contact
1. From the client file, highlight the policy related to this correspondence and.
Right Click > Letters
2. Add
3. Click Addressee
4. Select Company
5. Select the contact that you are writing/emailing
The letter or email is attached to the client's letters list and is logged in THistory for tracking of company correspondence on the account and rapid lookup.
If you would like more information about this topic, we recommend:
- Public Online Classes:
- Private Training Customized for your agency or brokerage: Custom Training
- Upcoming Conferences: National InStar Users Group (NIUG)
National Conference
- Other InStar Training (Over 200 Topics Available): Other InStar Training>>
Real Time Makes Real $$$ (ACORD)
We thought ACORD best! So, we recommend that you read the ACORD article on Real Time Makes Real $$$.
If you would like more information about this topic, we recommend:
- ACT: www.getrealtime.org
- Public Classes: The Real-Time Revolution (InStar | AMS360)
- Private Training Customized for your agency or brokerage: Custom Training
- Upcoming Conferences: National InStar Users Group (NIUG)
2012 National Conference
- Other InStar Training (Over 200 Topics Available): Other InStar Training>>
Accounting Soup-2-Nuts
Live Class:
Jan 30 & Feb 8, Noon-4pm
- + Have accurate numbers at your fingertips
- + Complete common daily tasks quickly and efficiently
- + Know where, when & how items post
- + Really know if you are in balance
- + Learn common errors & how to fix them
- + Get the reports that you need
- + Learn InStar accounting workflows
- >> learn more
InStar Audit Quiz
How Well Do You Know InStar?
Our InStar Quiz provides a good look at how well you and your staff know InStar. 877.772.4677 x2
- + Basic Navigation features (20+)
- + Basic Customer Service features (150+)
- + Personal Lines (20+)
- + Commercial Lines (30+)
- + Customer Service Accounting (20+)
- + Download (6+)
- >> learn more
Upcoming Classes
- Live - Online - Public Classes
- - Accounting Soup-2-Nuts- Begins Jan 30, 2012
- - Basics-2-BlastOff - Begins Feb. 2012
- - Training Tuesdays - A different session every Tuesday!
- - 7 Mistakes InStar Agents Make that Kill Productivity
and How to Avoid Them - March 2012 - Online - On Demand (recorded)
- - Basics-2-BlastOff
- - Accounting Soup-2-Nuts
- - The Power of TransProcessing (Recorded)
- - Know Your Numbers (Recorded)
Call for schedules and registration: 877.772.4677 x2
Custom Consultative Training
Would you like one of our consultants to customize a program just for you? We'll select from over 200 topics to help you get more from your InStar system! Call for a free consultation to discuss your training needs and outline a program just for you! 877.772.4677 x2
Trainers Office Hours
Would you like a mini-session with a professional trainer? Each week we offer 1/2 hour - 2 hour mini-sessions to discuss the topic of your choice. Call to schedule 877.772.4677 x2
