These are answers to questions submitted by attendees on the October 22, 2024 HawkSoft 6 Accounting & Commissions webinar. You can listen to the recording here.

If we have not been using the create agency check feature but have already paid and transferred from sweep to operating, is there a way to clean it out? Would I just create one big check and then not export?

A. Yes, if you've not been using the agency revenue feature, you can "catch up" by creating a large agency revenue check, then mark that item as "do not transfer" so you don't send it to QuickBooks.
Do we have to use the agency revenue workflow?

A. While you are not required to use the workflow, we hope it adds value in your workflow when handling funds that you'd recognize as income.
You can't transfer a lump sum to QuickBooks for commission?

A. If you're talking about retained commissions, you can lump it all together in the agency revenue workflow and send it as a single check to QuickBooks. You can select which payables you are ready to reconcile (and send to QuickBooks) during processing. This allows you to process payables when you are ready. If this does not answer your question, please call Product Support, or see this help resource for more information.
Why would you go the agency revenue route to post retained commissions into QuickBooks when company payables post it into QuickBooks already? Do you do this in addition to company payables?

A. The company payable moves the money into the transfer account for "retained," and the agency revenue check removes the money from that retained account and the trust bank account to complete the process. The retained commissions show up in the agency revenue as you create your company payables. I would recommend doing the agency revenue in addition to your company payable workflows.
What are the best practices for the Agency Revenue feature?

A. This might be a good question for your peers, but I recommend doing this at the end of your month, so you can document all the retained commission, agency fees, etc. that are moving from your Trust Account to your Operating Account.

Carrier Setup

What is the difference between Writing Co vs Program Co and how does that affect accounting and/or report running?

A. Writing Company is a new field that matches data HawkSoft has about carriers. It can also be useful for Brokers or MGAs. In HawkSoft 5, we multi-purposed the program field for both writing carriers and programs; now we have both fields separated out. See this help resource for information about setting up your carriers.

Agency Intelligence and Sales & Retention reports are broken down by Writing Carrier. You can filter reports by Program, just like any other column. Trust Accounting is broken down based on how your agency has configured your Trust Accounting Setup.

Client Accounting

Can you quickly define "Sweep"?

A. A sweep is an accounting action where a carrier will pull (or sweep) the money from a bank account when notified about an insured payment. This is typically used with Direct Bill carriers when the agency is acting as a "proxy" or "passthrough" to receive funds. See this help resource for more information.
How about when we sweep our bank account and the client has not paid yet? Before, this would create an open invoice.

A. If you want to advance the premium of a policy, where you send the check before you are paid, you can create a payment, select the proper line item template but do *not* add payment methods. If you use a line item template such as "Agency Sweep," it will automatically create a check, even if you've not received funds. For steps on advancing premium, see this help resource. Creating a receipt for advanced premium automatically creates an invoice.
Is the Invoicing tab gone?

A. The Invoicing tab on a policy has been replaced with the "Trust Accounting" option. See this video tour of accounting on the client for more.
If you do not choose a policy it defaults to policy #1.

A. When you start an action, we capture which policy you started from. If you started from the client tab, we don't know what policy this action is in reference to. Since invoices, credit memos, and payments require a policy, HawkSoft defaults to the first policy that was created on that client (policy 1) if we don't know what policy the item is for. Learn more about the Action Menu.
In HawkSoft 5, for Agency Bill invoicing, one could email immediately after creating the invoice (all part of the same log). It appears to me, in HawkSoft 6, this functionality is no longer available. I believe one has to invoice the item, close the log, and then go into the attachments, select the item, and email the invoice to a client, etc. Am I missing a shortcut or is this less streamlined workflow now the new workflow for emailing an AB invoice?

A. That is correct. We do not currently have the option to email upon creation of an invoice, but this is something we have on our backlog (to-do list)! I encourage you to post to the HawkSoft Community or upvote an existing suggestion item for this option so we can properly prioritize this.
Why doesn't "direct to company" show up in the Trust Accounting tab? We were able to turn it on in HawkSoft 5.

A. Transactions that do not affect your bank account currently do not appear on the Trust Accounting tab. If you would like to see this, I encourage you to post a suggestion to HawkSoft Community. Thanks for the feedback!
Can you "refresh" from the Trust Accounting page?

A. On a client, when viewing the Trust Accounting tab, you can click the "refresh" icon to refresh the page. On Trust Accounting Reports, you can click a similar looking icon (located next to the "mark do not transfer" button) to refresh the report.
I miss the reissue option on payments to correct small mistakes instead of completely redoing the payment. Will that be an option later?

A. That is something we have on our backlog at some point! Please upvote or post suggestions on the HawkSoft Community so we know what to prioritize next.
Are there any changes to credits owed back to the insured?

A. While the workflow may look different, there is little change in the actual process to issuing credit in HawkSoft 6! You select the "Issue Credit" action menu item, then select the credits, and the insured refund will be created. See this help resource for more information.
Will the calculator feature come back in Hawksoft 6?

A. Yes!
What is the difference between 'issue credit' vs create 'credit memo'?

A. Issue Credit allows you to select unapplied credit to be issued as a check to the insured. Credit memos are the way to provide credit to a client without receiving money (typically used for adjustments to a policy or for lost commission). For more information and links to detailed workflows, see this help resource.
Currently the line item template is not in alphabetical order, but HawkSoft 5 was in alphabetical order. Will that feature be coming back?

A. HawkSoft 6 does now show this in alphabetical order. Please let us know if you are not seeing this!
Before you could edit the amount of the commission, why not anymore?

A. You can modify the retained commission when creating the payables. We are looking at adding more flexibility to invoices in the future. See this help resource for more information on creating payables.

Commissions

When running commissions, why do policies that are in our system as renewed sometimes show up as in the new term on manual and downloaded statements?

A. We have a pretty robust logic to calculate the term of the policy using the commission transaction date and the policy's data (such as the inception date, effective/expiration dates, and the length of the policy term). If you are seeing this being calculated incorrectly, please reach out to Product Support so we can take a look at why this may not be calculating properly. See this help resource to learn more about Policy Dates and how they impact Policy Status.
When we process commissions, we need detail on each transaction for Agent 1, 2, and 3. Right now we get a CSV summary and it does not show where the commission is coming from such as Agent 1, 2, or 3. How do we get more detail?

A. You can see Agent 1, 2, and 3 in commission reports. However, in agent paid statements we combine the amounts. We will be adding more functionality in the future to view the details of an agent's paid statement (without printing or exporting) that will provide a report with a list of the transactions the agent is assigned to (including more details for each commission transaction).
Is HawkSoft 6 going to continue with the code based commissions or are you going to rule based? If not rule based, are you going to open up 4 digit codes vs 3?

A. We have the ability to create commission rules based on the agent's position (Agent 1, 2, 3). See this help resource for more information.
Once you create a company payable, does the commission automatically appear in the client's policy?

A. When creating a company payable check, you will have the ability to create a commission statement with transactions for your retained commission. Once reconciled, these commissions will appear on the clients/policies.
In the sandbox, I have tried to drop spreadsheets into the importer tool and an error comes up every time, no matter how I do it - clipboard, drag and drop, etc. Is this an error with HawkSoft sandbox? How do we practice in the sandbox if you cannot add a spreadsheet?

A. Great question! The Commission Importer requires your downloads to be enabled, because HawkSoft processes these imports similar to downloaded statements. As downloads are not enabled in the sandbox environment, that is the reason this is not working. We would encourage creating a manual statement to test out some of these workflows. See this help resource to learn more about creating commission statements.
How can I change an inactive retired producer in HawkSoft 5 to active in HawkSoft 6 to pay commissions?

A. You should be able to reactivate a user that is inactive so you can make rules for them. You can inactivate users you no longer need. To inactivate a user, see this help resource.

You can also create "Tracking Only" users when you need to track someone who does not use HawkSoft (e.g. a group user or an outside agent). To create a Tracking Only user, see this help resource.
What are the best practices when setting up commission rules for a producer with commission structure changing 1/1/25 ?

A. My recommendation would be to document the rules you want to do, then wait until 1/1/25 and change the rules and start to process statements. We only apply the agent rules when you are doing the "agent payout" workflow, so you can continue to reconcile statements as you get them. We do not currently have a way to give a rule a future date.
Will commission downloads still be the same on how they come in?

A. Yes, and they will be using policy history to be more accurate for term.
Will commission reports still be divided into agent, office, unsum, etc?

A. We have many commission reports, from the agency commissions (tracking how much money your agency is getting) to agent commission reports (tracking how much each agent is getting in each position for each reconciled transaction). From these reports, you are able to summarize to slice and dice the data as you'd like. For more information about available commission reports, see our help resources on agency commission reports and agent paid commission reports.
Will HawkSoft 6 have agent commission rules that are based on revenue thresholds on the account/policy and not just whether the business is new/renew/rewrite?

A. This is something we have heard and are looking into! Currently, commission calculation can be set manually on policies if needed. See this help resource for more information.
Are we able to set up commission rules based on agency revenue?

A. We have plans to add a way to create agent paid statements from agency revenue, but we currently do not have plans to add deeper connectivity between the agency revenue report and commissions.
There can only be 3 agents? What if you have more?

A. We have plans to add more agent slots for more complex commission splitting in the future! We wanted to be careful as we designed commissions since adding more fields to this feature would require adding them to client and reports and everywhere else you can see policy data.
Since rules can be written based on commission for agents, are any plans in the works for the 'retained commission' being automated according to carrier vs. having to input manually in the invoice?

A. We have some ideas on how to help input these numbers. Agency Billing, how much each carrier tends to give, and the reality of what you actually get are all very complex. We are exploring ways to make it easier to input a retained commission amount based on information we know about the carrier.
I didn't see you select an agent paid date. Do we still do everything by an agent paid date like the 15th?

A. In HawkSoft 5, we dual-purposed the "Agent Paid date" to mean the "reporting date to get accurate results" and "the date you pay your agents." In HawkSoft 6, we now have a field specifically called "reporting date" that we recommend you keep the same date each month so you always get the proper results for transactions that you want to report on a specific date.
Will this page ever be able to be exported?

A. We are unsure which page you are referring to, but most of our pages are exportable. If there is one you cannot export, it would be great to add it as a suggestion to the HawkSoft Community so other agents can vote on it!
Are detailed reports available for the these commissions and breakdowns?

A. Yes, there are detailed commission reports available in HawkSoft's reporting site. We are also working on making some of the reports you build for the agent paid statements to be able to drill into and get more data. See this help resource for more information.
I have a question about the imported spreadsheet. In HawkSoft 5, after I import it, I would go to select an old one that was done to get the mapping and then give it a date and new name. It is not letting me change the name from the one I copied to the new one. Am I missing or step or how do I do this?

A. The configuration name found in the commission importer is used to identify the mapping and resulting commission statement. The description is meant to be shared between statements, with the date separating the statements. After a statement is uploaded, you can change the description of the statement by selecting the "Change Carrier/Description" field and selecting "no carrier (enter description)" option. Please post to the HawkSoft Community if you'd like to be able to customize the name/description of your statement before upload!
We can add amounts instead of percentages, correct?

A. For commission rules: You can add flat fees for commission rules. Percentage-based rules are more common, from what we've seen.
For commission amounts: When modifying commission amounts, you do not need to use percentages only, you can change the amounts directly as well.
Will we have an option soon to enter a mass direct bill statement/reconciliation like we did in HawkSoft 5? It doesn't quite work like it did in 5.

A. We are exploring ways to make it easier to input commissions for carriers that do not provide downloadable or importable statements! Please let us know what you'd like to see in the HawkSoft Community so we can gather more feedback on this.
If we do not currently download commissions but are hoping to start within the next few months, who should we contact to assist us?

A. Contacting the carrier you are wanting to get direct bill commissions from is the best starting point. HawkSoft works with Ivans to get downloaded files automatically, so once your carrier begins to send direct bill commission statements, we can process them. See this page for a list of carriers that are certified for download, and what downloads they send.
What about service fees charged?

A. We're sorry, but we are not sure what the context is behind this question. Please call Product Support for assistance.
How can I run a report that shows the total premium, commissions amount paid to the agency, and commission amount paid to the producer?

A. The Agent Commission Paid report found in the Reporting site should have all of the data you are looking for. It includes the commissionable premium, the commission paid, the agent commission amount, and a breakout of the commission amount and % for each agent on the policy. For steps on running the Agent Commission Paid Report, see this help resource.
I don't see agent commission $ figures in reconcile?

A. During reconciliation of a commission statement, we are confirming the total commission for the agency. It is during the agent payout workflow that we apply individual agent commissions.
I know updating commissions on the client file is not yet ready - is there a way to correct an already reconciled commission?

A. Yes, you are able to unreconcile a statement to make corrections.
In regard to the reconcile statement: I'm confused why you would import all these into HawkSoft 6 (reconcile statement) when you still have to go on and pull everything yourself. Why not just print & go through statements? How would this make it faster if you have to go through and double check? Is this purely for tracking everything in QuickBooks? It could have 1,000 lines and that is not easy to review line by line.

A. We have some ideas on how to improve the reconcile experience so you can focus on only items that need checking. The goal is that most transactions would match properly to a policy so we'd know which agents should get commission for a transaction. We also expect that downloaded statements are the "source of truth" from the carrier. We heard there are cases where this data is incorrect, so we allow for agents to change these values if needed.
Does it still give you the summary option so you can see the full summary of what each agent is getting paid?

A. We are planning on adding more drill-down options to Agent Paid reports to get more details in the near future. If you are wanting more options for this report, please let us know in the HawkSoft Community! You can summarize reports by any column. For more information, see this Help resource.
Is there a specific HawkSoft employee assigned to brokers for commission specific help?

A. If you are referring to outsourcing your accounting, our HawkSoft Managed Accounting team can help you with commissions and other related accounting work.
How do you archive commission statements?

A. From the Reconcile Statements section, you will see a three-dot menu in the "Actions" column for each statement, where you will find the option to archive statement.
I love the print statement feature; however, it would be super helpful to be able to tweak the columns. For example, we share the agency commission instead of the premium. So I would love to swap that out. Is it possible for an agency to format that just once for an easy "agent pay" at the end of the month?

A. We've talked internally about possibly adding something like a "Customize columns" and would love to know how many other agents would like this feature. Please see if it's already in the HawkSoft Community forum and upvote it, or add it as a new suggestion!
Can we add the transaction type as something that displays on the agent paid statements?

A. Great suggestion to add to the HawkSoft Community!
Is there any discussion regarding changing the agent commission reports to show more detail? It currently just shows the total and then the commission. It would be helpful to show the commissionable amount and the commission rate as well. Agents are asking for this.

A. Yes, we have plans to allow you to drill into each agent row to see the details you can see in the exported agent paid statements.
Once you create a company payable, does the commission automatically appear in the client's policy?

A. No. Once you've created the company payable, you can create a new Agency Bill commission statement that will show up to be reconciled over in the commission system. Once the statement has been reconciled, it will show up on the policy in the Commissions tab. See this help resource for more information. Making this reconciliation process faster is something we have on our future roadmap.

Company Payables

When creating an Agency Bill check from Company payables and you modify the retained commission from that screen, will that modification be reflected on the original invoice in Trust Accounting on the customer page?

A. Yes, when modifying the retained commission in the company payables workflow, any modifications you make will be reflected on the invoice when viewed on the client. See this help resource for more information.

Downloads

How does the Billing Type on the policy get populated? Specifically, does a carrier download that info and that populates the field?

A. I believe the billing type is not entered by downloads. See this help resource about entering policy information.

Invoicing

Can we edit invoices yet (without voiding or reversing it)? We used to be able to edit the retain portion.

A. As of now, once an invoice is issued, there is no way to modify it. You do have the option to create a "draft" invoice, which will allow you to make any modifications to invoices until you are ready to issue it or apply payment (see help resource). You can also edit the retained amount when you are reviewing your Payables transactions. See this help resource for more information.
How are Invoice items set up? I was told to set up completely different?

A. HawkSoft's recommended workflow is to create an account for each payable, and a line item template for each account. For more information about setting up line item templates see this help resource.
When creating an Agency Bill invoice, should we list out pure premium and then taxes separately?

A. HawkSoft's recommended workflow is to combine these items into the "split details" of an invoice line. Each "line" on an invoice represents a possible payable. For steps on creating a split detail line item, see this help resource.
We have multiple locations. Why aren't the agency bill invoices showing class codes?

A. Class codes are not something HawkSoft 6 is capable of right now. It is something we are looking into!
If an invoice is saved as draft, can you still apply payments?

A. Yes, when you save an invoice as a draft, it will appear as an option to select when creating a payment. When a draft invoice is paid on, it will automatically become "issued." See this help resource for more information.
Is there a limit to how long it [a draft invoice] is a draft?

A. There is not! They will be in a draft state until you issue or apply payment to them.
Agency bill - what about the taxes/fees? Commission is from pure premium only.

A. We are looking into making it so you can tell us which lines in the split detail are commissionable so we can properly calculate commission percentages.
Can you enter multiple policies on one invoice?

A. Yes.
When you enter a retained amount does the commission % still have to be entered?

A. As of right now, we do not have the commission calculator. That should be returning in the future!
How do you add an agency fee such as a broker fee to a policy? On HawkSoft 5 that section was called Fees.

A. Adding fees to an invoice is simple, as long as you have a line item template designated for these types of fees so you can track them and create agency revenue checks from them! See this help resource learn more about line item templates.
Direct bill - does the invoice get created when you post a payment, or can you still create the invoice first then apply the payment once it comes in?

A. You can indeed create invoices before payment. While we don't recommend it as a workflow, you can use company payee line items in an invoice. Once it is paid the first time, we create the check. Watch our video for more information.
Can an e-Payment link be added to the invoice? I use ePay.

A. You can place e-pay links in the printed comments. Two things to note about printed comments:
1. They do not currently allow clickable hyperlinks (we would like to do this in the future).
2. There is a known issue right now with colons ( : ) in printed comments that causes some errors when exporting to QuickBooks Desktop.
For bank accounting, setting up new Agency Bill carriers, I understand it's a bit simpler in HawkSoft 6. My question is, does the % retained commission come into play at all? It appears (to me) that it's all retained with $ as opposed to % as entered only on the invoice (and this part of setup in back accounting is sort of not needed?). I just want to clarify that % is now essentially moot (as you just enter it at the invoicing part of things)?

A. We don't have a commission calculator built into the invoices yet where you can enter a % and get a number. We plan on adding that into a future version of HawkSoft.
What if we don't want the invoice to populate Agent 1 and we want it to be CSR?

A. We don't have that feature right now, that is a good suggestion for HawkSoft Community if you'd like to have that in the future.
Is there any way to have extra room in the description box? It only allows a certain amount of characters.

A. We are assuming you mean the line item description box? Some of the limits we have are due to our integration with QuickBooks. Especially since we manage integration between both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online.
When an invoice is created, can we simultaneously create a task and tag the invoice?

A. When you are creating an invoice on a client, you will be in the Action Menu. When you are in the "Finalize Log" screen you can create a Task. We currently do not have "Default Tasks" for invoicing.
Is there a way to have the invoices auto populate the premiums, taxes/fees based on the values input when renewing a policy?

A. Currently, there is not a way for fields entered in the policy edit screens to flow into the invoices. This sounds like a good suggestion to put in the HawkSoft Community.
How do you issued an Agency Bill refund to an insured?

A. First, you would want to make sure you have credit on the client. If the carrier is sending your agency the funds to deposit, then issue the credit, you would want to create a payment for "Client Credit." You would also want to create a credit memo to document any lost commission you would need to return. Finally, you would use the action menu "Issue Credit" to create an insured refund check to the client. See this help resource for more information.

Migration/other

When is the last day to migrate to HawkSoft 6?

A. We must move HawkSoft Online (Parallels) agencies off one of our hosting providers and onto HawkSoft 6 by the end of this year (2024), with agencies on our second hosting partner following soon after. Time-sensitive contracts with these third-party hosting providers for HawkSoft Online will expire soon, and agencies must migrate before those deadlines in order to maintain access to our management system. You will receive an email when it's your turn to migrate - please schedule your migrate within a couple weeks of receiving the email. See our migration resources for more information on migrating.
If we already have Agency Bill company specific accounts (other current liabilities) set up on HawkSoft 5, will those transfer or need to be reset up in HawkSoft 6?

A. These settings should migrate as expected! We tried to make the migration process as painless as possible for agencies moving from version 5 to 6. We provide a checklist of items for you to go through to ensure the best experience. See this resource for more information on what accounting items will and will not be migrated to HawkSoft 6.
Will the Company line items transfer over from HawkSoft 5 to HawkSoft 6? Or will we have to enter the company names again?

A. We migrate all accounts and line items to HawkSoft 6. There might be some modification on what the account types are or what reporting accounts are used, depending on the line item type. See this resource for more info on what accounting items migrate and do not migrate to HawkSoft 6.
When I'm in the sandbox, every time when I go to Accounting, it requests a security code. How can we handle this?

A. When launching a website from HawkSoft, you might be required to enter a Multi-Factor Authentication code. We are exploring ways to ease this pain.
If we currently have companies set up to import, will those company mapping set ups carry over from HawkSoft 5 to HawkSoft 6?

A. Yes, your mappings should carrier over so you can continue to use them! See this resource for more info on what accounting items migrate and do not migrate to HawkSoft 6.
Do you have to log in on the website every time you click on something in the sandbox? I clicked on training videos and it opens a webpage requiring a log in.

A. You do need to log into the Help system in order to view articles. You should only have to log in once per session, not every time you click something.
I'm having a hard time understanding credit memos or using balance waived.

A. Credit memos are the way to adjust the credit balance on a client without receiving money. Typically this is an adjustment to an invoice that has been issued, such as an endorsement.

Balances waived are either a balance or credit that is small enough or has been with the agency long enough that the agency decides they will just eat the cost. Typically, you are looking at balances of cents, where you are not going to go after getting that balance fully paid, or some credit (for cents or small dollar amounts) that you do not plan to issue to the customer.
How can I see the activity report?

A. The activity report is part of Quick Reports! See this help resource for more information.
Is HawkSoft 6 going to fix the issue of agency billed invoices creating an automatic email WITH the invoice, like it did in HawkSoft 5? It's cumbersome to save the invoice, then go to attachments to THEN send the invoice to the client.

A. Being able to email the PDF created after creating an accounting item (invoice, receipt, etc.) is something we have on our roadmap to complete.
Will the customer's statements change to have more detail like there was in HawkSoft 5? On most of our customers we bill 4-6 policies per billing. We don't want to send out that many invoices so we send out the statement. We also send statements out for past due customers. Currently we have created a statement on our system and have to manually process a statement which takes a lot of time.

A. This is a great suggestion for the HawkSoft Community so other agents can vote on it! If you are referring to creating a statement from reports, this is something we are currently working on.

QuickBooks

Does HawkSoft 6 work with QuickBooks Desktop, or only with QuickBooks Online?

A. HawkSoft works with both QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online. For steps on integrating with QuickBooks, see this help resource.
Can we still send information to QuickBooks?

A. Yes, HawkSoft 6 still allows you to integrate with both QuickBooks Desktop and Online and all items can be exported to QuickBooks via the Trust Accounting reports. For steps on exporting processed accounting transactions to QuickBooks, see this help resource.
In HawkSoft 6, is information transferred to QuickBooks the same way? If so, what happens when the invoice information was sent and then the invoice is "edited" after the fact? Specially if it is done in different months affecting the financials. Does the change go back to the original date of the invoice?

A. This is a good question that we will have to address if/when we allow editing of invoices. For Draft Invoices, they do not appear on reports to be exported to QuickBooks.
Where does the invoice land in QuickBooks? HawkSoft will show it was transferred but I cannot find it in QuickBooks. What account does the invoice go to like Direct Liabilities or A/R?

A. The invoice should be visible on the customer job that matches the name of the client where you created the invoice in HawkSoft. If you look in Trust Accounting Settings, you can see which reporting account a line item template is associated with to see where the invoice is moving money into.
Why is the export to QuickBooks creating invoices in QuickBooks? It has not done that before.

A. This is new in HawkSoft 6! We now have a 1-to-1 with QuickBooks. The same items you see in HawkSoft will now be shown in QuickBooks, making it easier for traceability!
Under the Item on the invoice, the different options (sweep, check, etc.), what impact do those have on how they come into QuickBooks?

A. Line item templates tell us what happens when the invoice is paid. For "Company" payee line items, for example, when the invoice is paid, we automatically create the check to be printed or set as EFT. But, everything you see in HawkSoft should have a corresponding item in QuickBooks when exported! See this help Resource for more information.
Currently using QuickBooks Desktop…tried QuickBooks Online and didn’t like it much a while back. Previously they wanted to charge for separate accounts. Is it normal to have one QBO login and still keep trust account completely separate from other bank accounts?

A. We recommend separating your Trust Account and Operating account into separate bank accounts. This makes sure you can keep your fiduciary liabilities separated from non-fiduciary liabilities better. QuickBooks is able to manage multiple Bank Accounts well, so you could keep everything in a single "company" while still keeping Trust transactions separated. For steps on processing agency revenue, with a separate or combined operating account, see this help resource.
I've noticed when the company payable payment transfers to QuickBooks it's now creating a - (hyphen) in front of the carrier name. Previously this wasn't done in HawkSoft 5. This is now creating duplicate carrier (payee names) in HawkSoft. Is this a setting that can be changed so we can have them combined with the previously set up carriers already in QuickBooks?

A. We added the (-) in front of vendors to prevent clashing with customer names. QuickBooks shares the same list of names for customers, vendors, and employees. That means that if you have a customer named "Smith" and a business named "Smith" you cannot have them share a name in QuickBooks. To help prevent this, we added an underscore (_) in front of customer names and a hyphen (-) in front of vendor names. You might need to merge some clients to make sure HawkSoft posts to the proper vendor account.
Is there anything we have to do on the QuickBooks side to set up the invoices/payments so everything transfers over correctly?

A. No, we will create and sync up the settings needed to make invoices, payments, and credit memos properly in QuickBooks. For initial setup instructions, see this help resource.
We pay agents in payroll....how do we transfer to QuickBooks as a payable?

A. If you withhold money in your Trust Account (retained commission, agency fees from trust-related transactions, etc), we recommend creating an Agency Revenue check to send to the money from your Trust Account to your operating account. From there you can deposit this into your operating account and reference the proper income accounts. This should get you to the point where you can pay agents using money you have. For information about Agency Revenue, see this help resource.

Trust Accounting Reporting

How do we mass print statements out of the new version? Our company relies on this feature which seems to not be available now. Do you have a timeline when we can print all statements each month? Until then, can we do this in QuickBooks?

A. We have heard many are wanting this feature and we are currently working on it (as of 10/24/24)! We hope to get it out as soon as possible.
How I can see an invoice report ?

A. If you are looking for an Unpaid Invoice report, we have an option to run Customer Accounts reports, the current invoice reports that are available are your Unpaid and Past Due Invoice reports! Learn more about trust accounting report options.
Will there be a report created to see what drafts have been created so we know when we need to issue the drafts?

A. This is something we have on our backlog to be able to view in the future.
In regard to check per statement, can I send a check per client policy?

A. We have the option to "Create Statement Check" as well as "Check Per Item." The latter will allow you to create a single check for each item rather than a statement check. See this help resource for more information.
Can we display printed comments in the invoice report?

A. If you are referring to past due or open invoice reports, not at this time. But this is a great suggestion for the HawkSoft community so others can vote on it.
How do you put the date range in the download reports?

A. If you're talking about the Trust Accounting Reports, you can do a search to give a date range. When building Company Payable or Agency Revenue reports, you can add a date range as well. See this help resource for more information.
How I can see the advance report in HawkSoft 6?

A. We are unsure what report you are referring to. Perhaps you can use a combination of Agency Intelligence reports and the All Agency Revenue report.
Will there be a trust accounting report and receipt report showing details that can be printed like in HawkSoft 5, as well as export or copy into excel?

A. You can currently export trust accounting reports to CSV. We do have plans to add customization of columns so you can export the data you are looking for in the future.
Will there be an option to print these reports? You cannot print receipt reports now. And how can we void an invoice? We don't "invoice" anyone but sometimes our agents create one and we need to get rid of it. We only use trust accounting for posting payments.

A. Two questions here: how to print reports and how to void.

1. You can export any of our accounting reports to CSV to print them. See this help resource for more information.
2. You can void an invoice from reports or from the client, it all happens in the same place! See this help resource for more information.

Payment Processing

I noticed twice he had to put the agent in. Does this not populate from the policy screen?

A. When creating a payment, the agent is not populated automatically. This is the same as it was in HawkSoft 5 (although it was called "CSR" in 5). We would like to enhance this in the future to include ways for it to auto populate, if so desired.
Is there a way to NOT put an agent in there? Can we get rid of that? Or set it to whoever is listed as Agent 1? People at our office have complained about having to choose that every time.

A. If your agency does not want to track agent on payments, you can disable this option via the Trust Accounting settings > General Settings > "Show Agent Field on New Payment." See this help resource for more information.
When we create a draft invoice and apply payment to it, we can go in the back end and adjust the retain then?

A. The Retained Commission line on an invoice can be modified when creating a company payable for that line. This is found in the End of Period Processing and reporting site. For steps to edit the retained amount when you are reviewing your Payables Transactions see this help resource.

Voiding Workflow

Can you void the sweep, but keep the payment?

A. When voiding a receipt, you will have the option to select which parts of the receipt you want to void, so you will have the ability to select only the invoice part and keep the payment(s) as unapplied credits. For steps, see this help resource.
Do we need to void the log itself?

A. You do not need to void the log itself. There will be an append on the log note that displays that the transaction has been voided.
I was shown to click Action > Trust Accounting > Transaction List to void an item. Which way is better?

A. You can void from both the client as well as a Trust Accounting report, and both will have the same effect! It will now void the item everywhere (so no more multiple places to void). This is really up to your agency's preference.
After Void Payment, the log still remains. Do we manually void the log payment?

A. The log note will have an append that will display that the payment was voided. You should not need to void the log note as well, as the "history" will be in that log displaying what happened.

Q&A from The HawkSoft 6 Webinar: Accounting & Commissions

These are answers to questions submitted by attendees on the October 22, 2024 HawkSoft 6 Accounting & Commissions webinar. You can listen to the recording here.

Resources

Who to contact with questions

Questions & Answers

Agency Revenue

Carrier Setup

Client Accounting

Commissions

Company Payables

Downloads

Invoicing

Migration/other

QuickBooks

Trust Accounting Reporting

Payment Processing

Voiding Workflow

About Us

Q&A from The HawkSoft 6 Webinar: Accounting & Commissions

These are answers to questions submitted by attendees on the October 22, 2024 HawkSoft 6 Accounting & Commissions webinar. You can listen to the recording here.

Resources

Who to contact with questions

Questions & Answers

Agency Revenue

Carrier Setup

Client Accounting

Commissions

Company Payables

Downloads

Invoicing

Migration/other

QuickBooks

Trust Accounting Reporting

Payment Processing

Voiding Workflow

About Us

Contact Us