How to

 
In this section we will review the questions that agents call with most frequently. At this point you should have a fair working knowledge of Amsoft. The answers will be kept short & to the point.
 
Enter a new client - choose Clients from the main menu. You will be taken to the Browse client files screen. At the bottom of this screen is a button with insert on the button. Click on the insert button to enter a new client. If it is a second policy for the insured, place the bar on the client you want to work with & click on the copy button at the bottom of the screen. This will duplicate all information for this insured into a new policy.
 
Move a prospect to the client file - First from the browse client screen click on the insert button to add a new record. At the top of the screen you will see a button (get prospect). Click on this button. You will get a listing of prospects. Place the cursor on the prospect you want. Click on the select button. You will be returned to the client update screen and the insured information will be filled in.
 
Bill a policy to the lienholder - from the browse client file click on insert. You will be taken to the update client file screen. In the bill to section you will see a button on the top line. Click on this button. You will see a listing of lienholders. Place the cursor bar on the one you want & click the select button at the bottom of the list. The bill to portion of the screen will have been filled in.
 
Fill In Optional screens for each policy- these are screens mostly coverage screens which can be added to each policy. To add a screen either insert a new record or change an existing record. This will take you to the client update screen. At the bottom of the screen and along the right hand side of the screen are buttons - some have icons on them and some have words. These represent different screens. Click on the button of the option you desire. You will then be taken to that screen.
 
Enter a memo or suspense item - choose clients from the main menu. If you wish to enter or view a memo for a particular insured, find the insured on the screen and place the cursor bar on top of the client. Click on Change and information on the desired client will be displayed. At the bottom of the update screen will be a button with a picture a pencil on it. Click on this button togo to the Memos & Suspense browse box. Click on Insert. This will bring you to the memo update screen. This screen will be mostly pre filled in with the insured information. Enter your memo. When done, click on 'Ok' to save. You will now be at the Browse Memos & Suspense screen. At the bottom of the screen will be displayed 'Print Memo To' and five buttons:
 
Insured MGA Company Bill To Producer
whichever button you click on will determine how the memo is addressed. To exit this screen click on close.
 
 
Find memos which are past due - From the main menu click on 'clients'. Choose the 'Past Due Memos' tab. All past due memos will be displayed. To print past due memos, click on the appropriate button, or go to the reports 'other' section.
 
 
Enter a negative number- this situation arises most often when entering a return premium. To enter the negative number press the (-) key and then enter the premium you wish to be negative.
 
 
Enter an additional premium transaction- go to your client files. Choose the correct insured by placing the cursor on his account and click on Change. The insureds' account will be displayed. Click on Premiums at the bottom of the update screen. To make another entry click on 'Insert'. Enter the needed information. Click on Ok to return to the main premium history screen. There should now be another premium added to your list of transactions. You would follow these steps to enter an endorsement premium, a payment from the insured, a payment to the company, commission received, etc...
 
To exit this screen, click on Close. You will be returned to the client update screen. Any premium changes you made in the premium history screen will now be reflected on this screen. To save these changes you will need to click on Ok.
 
Enter a Policy/Agent/Service Fee - The first thing you need to do is set up a company as 'FEE'. To do this, go to the client's file, and click on the 'Company' button. Click on 'Insert', and then click on the 'Company Code' button with a flashlight on it. Now click on 'Insert' again. Use FEE for the Company Code, and whatever wording you desire for the Company Name (i.e. Policy Fees). Click on 'Ok'. Now enter 'FEE' as the Coverage Code, and '1.0' for the commission. You can enter 'Policy Fee' under 'Notes', and click on 'Ok'.
 
Now click on the 'Premiums' button. Click on 'Insert' to enter the fee. In the 'Premium' field, enter the amount of the fee. 'Payment from Insured', 'Amt Financed/Dir Billed', and 'Broker Comm. Retained' will all be '0.00' and 'Due Agency' will be the amount of the fee. Click on the 'Company' button, highlight the 'FEE' item, and click on 'Select'. 'Commission' will be the amount of the fee, 'Commission Received' will be '0.00', and 'Commission Due' will be the amount of the fee. The rest of the fields will be '0.00' except for 'Commission Retained' which will be the amount of the fee. Change the transaction to 'Policy Fee' (or whatever wording you like) and click on 'Ok'.
 
 
Enter an installment premium- many agents will have the need to bill a client for premiums due on some sort of schedule. This schedule may be as simple as $150. Due every quarter or as complicated as a different amount due every week. In any case, Amsoft can handle it.
 
To do an installment billing, enter a new client. Then you click on Premiums. At the Premium History Browse Box, click on Insert. You will now be at the Premium field. We have a premium of $600 which we want to bill to the insured at $150. Per quarter.
 
At the premium field we will enter $150. We will want to change the installment premium from no to yes.
 
 
You can accept the default response for the rest of the fields until you reach the date field. At the date field you will enter the date you want this payment due by. Finish filling the screen. You will notice at the bottom of the screen the print button. By clicking here you can print an invoice for this installment to the insured.
 
 
After printing the invoice you need to save the record. You will be returned to the premium history browse box.
 
 
We have billed for the first $150.00. We must now bill him for the next 3 installments. To do this put the cursor on the insured we just entered and click on Copy. This will copy the record under the cursor to a new record. Your screen should now show a new data input screen that is already filled in. This screen is not completely correct. We will need to go to the transaction field and change it to second installment. And change the date to the new due date. Then save the record. We will follow the above step until we have entered installment three & four.
 
After completing this we will be at the premium history browse box. Click on Close to return to the main client update screen. If you have not entered anything else in Premium History, you will notice that the total premium of $600 will be displayed. Also, the total amount due of $600. Will be displayed. We will not want to send past due notices to the insured. Finish the form & save it.
 
 
The last point to this is that you will want to send a notice to your insured as each installment is due. To do this choose reports from the main menu. You will then be given another menu from this you will choose installment billing. You will then be asked through what date you want installment billing issued. Enter the date and press enter. All installments that are equal or less than the chosen date will be printed.
 
 
Enter an Agency Bill Payment - Go to the client's screen, and click on 'Premiums'. From the Premium Browse Box click on 'Insert'. Enter the amount of the payment under 'Payment From Insured'. The 'Due Agency' amount will be the negative amount of the payment. If you are retaining any commission out of this payment, enter that amount under 'Commission Received'. The 'Commission Due' field will then show the negative amount of the commission received. Change the transaction field to 'Payment From Insured', and click on 'Ok'.
 
 
Enter a direct premium payment- first we must know what a direct premium is. This is a premium paid by the insured to the agency. This premium is not owed to the agency but to the insurance company, which would be paid on a direct bill policy. Or the premium may be received by the agency for payment to a finance company for a financed policy.
 
Amsoft can keep track of these payments & produce a listing or transmittal form for these items. To make an entry, find the insured who is making the payment. Bring his account up on the screen. One of the options will be direct $, located at the bottom right. Click on the direct $. You will now see the direct premium browse box for that insured. Click on Insert. At the update screen enter the payment and press tab. You can then save the record by clicking on Ok.
Print a transmittal each day - Go to the report section. Choose direct premiums. You will then get a choice of listings or transmittal. The listings will give you a report of all direct premiums received that day. The transmittal will produce a report for each company displaying the insured, policy number & amount paid.
 
 
Asses Late Fees - Click on 'File' and choose 'Batch'. Click on 'Late Fees'. Fill out the screen - If you are charging interest, fill out that field (.015 for 1.5%) or if you charge a flat fee, fill out that field. Enter the number of days past due. This takes the 'Due By' field and figures how many days past due the premium is, if it falls under the # of days that you have selected, a fee will be added to their premium history screen.
 
 
Cancel a policy - Look up the policy in the browse box. When the cursor is on the policy desired, click on change to view the policy. You will need to change the expiration date of the policy to the date the policy has been canceled. If there is a return premium you will need to enter that in the premium history screen. Remember when you enter a return premium you need to begin the entry with a - sign.
 
 
Renew a Policy - Go to the client's file and change the policy dates, and anything else that is changing for the renewal. Then click on the 'Premiums' button. Click on the 'Archive All' button. This will put the old premium history records on the 'Archived Records' tab (these records will still be active in the report section). You can now insert the new renewal premium.
 
 
Batch Enter Commission Received - Click on 'File' and choose 'Batch'. When the Batch menu comes up, click on 'Commission Rec'd'. You will now be prompted for a company; click on the 'Companies' button to select a company. Highlight the desired company and click on 'Select'. The company code will be imported, and today's date will show as the batch date. To accept this information, click on 'Ok'. You will be brought to an empty browse box. Click on 'Insert' to add an item.
 
An input screen will appear. Click on the flashlight button to see a list of clients for the selected company. Highlight the desired client, and click on 'Select'. Most of the information will be imported; all you should have to fill out will be the amount of commission received. This field is located directly under the Account Code field. Once this amount is entered, click on 'Ok'. (The 'Premium' and 'Commission' fields at the bottom of the screen would only be used by agents who do not enter a premium record when entering a policy).
 
You will now be back at the batch commission received browse box, and the record you just entered will be highlighted. The total commission received is located at the bottom right of the browse box and will keep a running total as you enter more records. Continue adding records in this same procedure until all records have been entered. When you are finished, you can print a commission received statement from the printer button at the bottom of the browse box. This should match the statement from the company if you have entered everything correctly.
 
Each of the entries you have made on this screen have been simultaneously entered into the corresponding Premium History screens. Deleting a record from this screen will delete that entry from the corresponding Premium History screen as well.
 
 
Enter producer commission & printing statements - The producer statements are based on the commission received field & the date the commission was received. You may enter the commission received in one of two ways. First, look up the client. Go to the premium history screen for that client. Click on Insert to enter a new record. In the commission received field enter the commission received. In the date field enter the date the commission was received. Next be sure to enter the code for the sub producer. There may be other fields you wish to fill in this is ok!. The above steps could actually be done as you enter a new policy.
 
The second method for entering commissions would be used when you are entering a large number of commissions. These commissions might be from a company statement. From the menu bar, choose Batch. Now you will see a browse box with the date at the top. Click on Insert and you will see a screen allowing you to enter commission information. Your cursor will be located at the account # field. Enter the account number or at least the first few letters. A list of accounts will appear if you did not enter the complete account#. Choose the correct account# & press enter. Fill in each of the following fields. When done click on Ok to save. You will notice that each item will be displayed in the look up box. At the bottom of the screen will be a total of all commissions entered today. To enter another commission click on Insert.
 
Print a producer statement - go to the main menu, choose reports. From the reports menu you will see producer statements. Place the mouse on accounting then on producer statements. You will now have a selection of: Date written and date paid
 
The date written report will print a statement for each producer. It will list all items within the desired time frame. The report will be based on commission received. After the report prints you will be given the option of posting the date paid. If you choose yes each record that was printed will be changed to reflect the date paid date. Once this date is posted this item will not print on the producer statement again.
 
The second selection you will have from the producer menu is date paid. This will print a listing by producer of all commissions paid on a certain date.
 
 
Look up records other than by account# - From the main menu choose clients. You will then see a listing of clients, and you will be able to select your client by Account #. To change this selection click on the option you desire. These are located directly under the left side of the scrolling portion of the browse box.
 
Enter a surplus lines premium - Choose clients from the main menu. Choose the appropriate client or enter a new client. Go to the premium history screen. Enter the policy premium and any other information. Set transaction to new policy. Do not enter any fees or taxes on this entry. Save the record - it will be displayed in the premium history browse box. To enter the fees click on insert while in the premium history browse box. You will be given another premium history update screen. Enter the tax for the policy in the premium field. Fill in any other fields. At the transaction field enter taxes. Save the record. You will now be at the premium browse box. You should see an entry for the original premium and the taxes. You can add as many additional entries as you desire by clicking on Insert.
 
 
Enter a prospect or expiration date - Choose prospects from the main menu. You will see the prospect browse box. Click on Insert. Now simply enter the prospects name & address, phone number, expiration date and a code for the type of coverage he is a prospect for. When done click on Ok to save the record. Click on close to exit prospecting.
 
Print prospecting reports - choose reports from the main menu. When the reports menu appears select prospecting. You will then see the prospecting menu. You will have the following choices:
Mailing Labels by Name
Mailing Labels by Zip
Prospect Listings
Mail Merge Report
 
Any of the above reports can give you a listing of all prospects. The report can be limited to any combination of fields. For example, you could get a listing of expiring policies in a certain zip code.
 
 
Enter a claim- From the main menu choose clients. Next you get a list of clients. Chose the client that had a claim. Place the cursor on him click on Change. Now displayed is the client update screen. Click on the claims icon which is indicated by two cars and the claim browse box will be displayed. Click on Insert. To save the claims information click on Ok. Enter all the claim information you have. If you wish a claims report click on the printer icon button.
 
Enter Family, Driver & Employee Information - this section stores names, address & dates of birth of insured's. It can also, store employee information for commercial accounts or employee lists for group insurance. To enter family information, go to the insured's update screen you want to add this information to. Click on driver family & employee information. This icon will be indicated by a smiling face. From the browse box click on Insert. At the update screen enter information for each field desired. When you are done click on Ok to save the information.
 
 
Print date of birth labels - Go to the report section and choose 'Mailing Labels' and then 'Date of Birth'. Choose 3 or 1 across. The next screen you see will give you a choice to set additional selections. You will need to click on this box.
 
Batch Delete Records - To delete expired policies through a certain date, click on 'File' from the main menu and choose 'Batch'. From the Batch Menu, click on 'Delete Files'. A window will come up and ask you if you have a backup for your data; you will only be able to batch delete old files if you have a backup. Click on the button indicating that you do have a backup to continue. The batch delete screen will now appear. Enter a date through which you wish to delete all expired policies. Next, enter the code 'GETRIDOFOLDRECORDS' in all capital letters in the space provided. Click on the 'Begin Deleting Records' button. A processing records screen will appear, and when the system is done deleting records you will be returned to the previous screen. Click on the 'Exit' button, and on the next screen (which asks if you have a backup) click on the icon in the top left corner and choose 'close'.
 
.

Created with DrExplain