Commissions Processing 101

Table of Contents

• Tracking vs. processing commissions
• The role of a commissions manager
• 3 key data points for streamlining processing
• Step-by-step guide to processing with Commissions+

Commissions processing involves tracking and managing payments between carriers, insurance agencies, and agents. It’s one of the most critical parts of running a successful health insurance agency. Processing commissions ensures agents and agencies are paid accurately, revenue is tracked correctly, and business decisions are based on reliable data.

While commissions processing can be time-consuming and complex, the right tools and strategies can make the process more efficient and manageable.

Whether you’re new to commissions processing or refining your current system, this guide is here to help. This blog covers what commissions processing really involves, the key data to track, and best practices.

Commissions Tracking vs. Commissions Processing

The first step is knowing the difference between tracking and processing. 

Commissions tracking is the basic level of commissions management. It allows you to:

• Record when policies go live
• Track carrier payments and amounts

Limitations: Tracking alone doesn’t verify whether you were paid correctly, and it doesn’t allow you to project future revenue or analyze performance.

Commissions processing goes beyond tracking. In addition to recording payments, it:

• Manages commissions splits and hierarchies
• Generates agent statements
• Handles overrides, bonuses, and revenue types
• Produces reports for reconciliation, performance, and revenue insights
• Helps your agency identify missing or incorrect payments
• Provides insights into true revenue

Commissions tracking shows what you received, while commissions processing shows what you’re truly owed. Understanding this distinction is crucial because it shapes the role and responsibilities of those managing commissions in your agency.

The Role of the Commissions Manager

In health insurance agencies, the commissions manager ensures smooth operations and accurate, timely commission payments.

A commissions manager's main responsibilities include:

• Processing commissions accurately so agents get paid on time
• Finding and recovering missed commissions to prevent revenue loss
• Answering agent questions about payments, policies, and commission structures
• Analyzing commission data to guide strategic business decisions

Now that you understand what commissions processing involves and who manages it, let's explore the data that makes it all possible.

3 Key Data Points You Need to Streamline Your Commissions Processing

1. Carrier Commissions Statement Data

Accurate commissions start with entering your carrier statements into your AMS. Important data points to track include:

• Agent name
• Agency name
• Policy number
• Coverage type
• The split between the carrier and you

Without this data, you can't track payments reliably or provide complete agent statements.

Commissions-specific software, like AgencyBloc's Commissions+ solution, uses this information to ensure everyone is paid correctly, simplifying tracking and making the whole commissions process faster and more accurate.

2. Bill From Date: A Critical Data Point

When it comes to tracking missed or incorrect commissions payments, one of the key pieces of data you must track in your AMS is Bill From Date. Pair the Bill From Date with your splits and payees to monitor payment dates and amounts.

Understanding Commissions Splits

Commissions splits are how a carrier commission payment is divided. For example, maybe you have an FMO/IMO that takes a percentage or a senior agent that gets a portion. Maybe the house takes a flat rate.

Determine those splits for carrier-specific commissions, then assign payees. Basically, this is defining who to pay and how much to pay them for each payout scenario your agency supports.

Then, the system will do the math from there, working with the Bill From Date to determine when each payment should come in for which agent and how much that payment should be.

It can also determine if what you receive is correct. Sometimes, carriers can get behind or simply miss a payment, so having the backup of a system that is tracking expected payments is crucial to protecting your bottom line.

Without those specific pieces of data, commissions processing can be inaccurate, inefficient, and ineffective.

3. KPIs & Reporting Goals

After you make sure you have your carrier commissions statement data and your Bill From Date, the next step to take is to determine what you want to report on:

• What are your KPIs for the commissions side of your business?
• Which areas within commissions do you want to report on?
• Which questions do you want to answer with this report?

Having clear answers to these questions will help you identify what's most important for your agency to track. With the right data in place, you're ready to implement a streamlined commissions processing workflow.

Choosing the Right Commissions Management Software

Not all commissions systems are the same. It’s important to make sure the software you're investing in fits all of your agency's needs.

You'll typically encounter three main types of commissions software:

1. Industry-specific agency management systems (AMS) with built-in commissions tools
2. Customizable customer relationship management (CRM) software
3. Commissions-specific software (dedicated solutions focused solely on commissions management)

Before committing to a vendor, get clarity on their commissions capabilities by asking these questions:

• What are the full capabilities of the commissions software? Does it simply track commissions, handle processing, or offer a comprehensive solution with tracking, processing, and analytics? These distinctions impact how much manual work remains on your plate.
• What commissions-specific enhancements are currently planned? This shows where the software is headed and whether it aligns with your agency's growth.
• Does the system require workarounds for your current business needs? Understand what this means for your daily operations.
• Does it require additional customizations? If so, what do they require in terms of time, money, and guidance?
• Will customizations stay supported through future software updates? You don't want to invest in customizations that break with new versions.

With clear answers to your questions, you'll be equipped to choose the right vendor and understand exactly how their software will streamline your agency's operations. You'll also know what you're committing to financially and operationally.

Now that you understand the fundamentals, let's look at how commissions-specific software like Commissions+ can streamline your commissions processing.

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Processing Commissions With Commissions+

Whether you're new to AgencyBloc's Commissions+ solution or looking to optimize your workflow, following a structured approach ensures accuracy and efficiency. Let's walk through each step of processing commissions in Commissions+.

1. Building Your Foundation With Rate Tables & Payees

Before you can process commissions efficiently in Commissions+, you need to establish the framework that tells the system who gets paid and how much. This starts with two critical components: rate tables (how much) and payees (who).

What are rate tables? Rate tables are the rules that define how incoming commissions are distributed. Think of them as formulas that automatically calculate splits between agents, account managers, and other parties.

Here's how to create a rate table in Commissions+:

1. Create a new rate table.
2. Name the rate table descriptively so you know what type of payout structures it has (i.e., “75/25 Split” or “100% of Commission”).
3. Add rules to the rate table by specifying rate types (% of Commission, % of Premium, Flat Amount, Per Life, or % of Remainder).
4. For policies that change, set time periods to automatically adjust rates.
5. Save your rate table and start applying it to policies.

Next is setting up payees. Payees are the people or organizations that earn commissions.

Every policy should have at least one payee, whether that is:

• An agent
• Sales manager
• Account manager
• Referral source
• House account (like your agency or business)

By adding payees to policies, you can define their specific splits and track each payout accurately. Commissions-specific systems like Commissions+ allow you to manage complex hierarchies, like splitting payments between internal and external agents.

The next step is automating how carrier data flows into Commissions+.

2. Streamline Data Entry With Import Maps

After setting up your rate tables and payees, the next step is automating how carrier statement data enters your system. This is where import maps can save your agency significant time.

An import map is a template that tells Commissions+ exactly where to find each piece of information in a carrier's statement. You create these maps once per carrier, and then importing new statements becomes almost automatic.

Your Import Process

When you're ready to upload a carrier statement:

1. Start a new import
2. Select whether it's a new or existing transaction
3. Upload the carrier's file
4. Assign statement dates and deposit information
5. Import and review the summary
6. Address any issues flagged by the system

Commissions+ automatically highlights entries that need your attention (commonly called "red edits") so you can review them before finalizing the import. This safeguard prevents errors from slipping through while still saving you significant time compared to manual entry. Using the streamlined tools, agencies typically report reducing their time processing commissions by  up to 75%.

With your carrier data successfully imported, Commissions+ can now process commissions and identify any discrepancies.

3. Processing, Reconciling, & Finding Missed Commissions

After importing your carrier statement, this is where an efficient commissions system really proves its value. Instead of manually calculating splits or checking past payments, automated processing takes care of the hard work for you.

What happens during processing in Commissions+:

• The system matches imported carrier data with your policies
• It applies the correct rate tables
• It calculates each payee's amount based on your predetermined splits
• It generates a unique transaction ID you can reference anytime

Commissions+ organizes everything into a Commissions Transaction with a unique ID, making it simple to review past statements and verify payment amounts when questions come up.

4. Identifying Missed/Incorrect Commission Payments

Without a system actively tracking what you're owed versus what you've received, missed commissions remain one of the biggest threats to your agency's bottom line.

Commissions can get missed for a few reasons:

• Carriers are often two to three months behind on payments
• Policy cancellations go unreported
• Carriers make payment errors

Here are a few of the standard reports you can run in Commissions+:

• Commission Not Received: Quickly identify missing commissions from carriers
• Carrier Deposits: View all deposits received across your transactions
• Commission Payments: See how much commissions the agency earned, who received payment, and the payment method
• Commission Totals: Track total premiums and commissions paid to individual agents or the agency
• Agent Balances: Evaluate agent performance using current and previous balances, payment frequency, and balance carryovers

Best Practice: Run these reports a few months after the expected payment date, which accounts for normal carrier delays while still catching legitimate issues.

When you identify a missing payment, having all the necessary information in Commissions+ makes the recovery process straightforward. This is one area where having a commissions-specific system significantly helps your agency.

Step 5: Final Review & Issuing Agent Statements

The last step is to lock your commission statement and issue agent statements. Locking a statement ensures the records and details are preserved for accurate tracking and audit reporting. Before locking the commission statement, take time to review any flags or edits that appeared during import and processing in Commissions+. These might be:

• Policies that don't match existing records
• Formatting inconsistencies
• Data that needs clarification
• Rate tables or payees that didn’t apply automatically
• Confirmed missing payments that require carrier follow-up

Consistently reviewing these flags ensures your commission records remain accurate and reliable.

Now, it’s time to issue agent statements.

Commissions+ offers two ways to share agent statements:

• Generate statements in .CSV or .PDF and send each one out individually
• Create an agent statement login account for each agent to login in and access their current and past statements for easy reference

The agent statements in Commissions+ provide:

• Individual policy commissions
• Splits and overrides
• Bonuses or adjustments
• Total payment amount

With all your agent, policy, and commissions data in Commissions+, it’s much easier to support agents and provide information about their income. Instead of digging through spreadsheets or portals, you can instantly see an agent’s full commission history (every carrier, every coverage type) and trace any payment back to its source. This transparency within your team builds trust with your agents, knowing their payments are correct.

Simplify & Elevate Commissions Management with Commissions+

At the end of the day, your commissions team needs a system they can trust. They need a solution that makes their jobs easier, ensures everyone gets paid on time, and gives your team more time to focus on growing your agency.

Agencies moving to AgencyBloc’s Commissions+ solution have spent 75% less time processing commissions, and have uncovered tens of thousands of dollars in missed commissions from carriers.

These efficiencies alone often pay for the system, and give your team the time and tools to focus on what really matters: moving your agency forward.

Posted by Shannon Beck on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 in Commissions Management

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