The Commission You Never See: Finding Expected Policies Missing From Carrier Statements

Every line on a statement can add up to the penny, and the statement can still be short. The shortage is the policy that is not on the page.

The check people skip

Every policy you expected should be on the statement. Matching the rows that arrived only proves the carrier's arithmetic on the rows the carrier chose to print.

This is a different question from "does this line match a policy." That question starts at the statement and looks inward. The missing-money question starts at the book and looks at the statement. If the book says 40 policies should have paid this month and the statement has 37, the work is the three that are absent. Their commission is zero on the page, which is why a total-only review never sees them.

CommissionScope can match the lines you upload. It cannot invent a payment the carrier did not send. The expected list is still yours. Export the policies in force for that carrier and term, and compare.

Build the expected list first

Do this before you open the PDF. For one carrier and one month, list the policies that should produce commission. Direct bill and agency bill do not belong on the same list. BrokerLedger describes direct bill as commission paid after the insurer collects premium, and it lists installment business as a question to confirm with your CPA. Use the carrier's collection and payment schedule to decide which cycle includes a renewal. A renewal that takes effect on the 2nd may pay this month; one that takes effect on the 28th may pay next month. For installment or monthly-pay direct-bill policies that pay commission as premium is collected, use this cycle's collected premium rather than the full-term premium. Confirm the carrier's payment terms before marking a policy absent.

Suppose this is the March direct-bill list for one carrier. The figures are an example.

HO-2210 paid in full. HO-1008 is expected and absent, which is $108 you cannot deposit. PA-4481 is present and short by $12. A total-only review catches neither one.

When the rate is not printed

The rate is often not on the statement. The commission and the premium are. Divide commission by premium. That percent is the rate you were actually paid. Compare it with the schedule.

On PA-4481 the statement paid $48 on $600 in premium. That is 8%. The schedule says 10%. Nothing on the page says "we cut your rate." The line looks normal because it has a policy number and a positive amount. The drift shows up only when you do the division.

Do that division on a sample of lines every month, not only on lines that look small. For example, a 1-percentage-point shortfall on $20,000 of collected commercial premium is $200, more than the missing $108 on HO-1008. Check policies that appear as well as those that are absent.

Duplicates run in both directions

One direction is the statement. The same policy, same premium, same month, paid twice. You are overpaid until the carrier notices, and the reversal often arrives in a later month, aimed at a producer who was paid on both rows. The chargeback guide is how to label that later line with the original commission month.

The other direction is your own book. The deposit is recorded twice, or the same statement is imported twice. The second copy makes the carrier look short the next month, because you already counted the money. Or it makes a producer look underpaid, because the payable was cleared against the wrong copy.

A useful rule is one statement, one import, one deposit. If a second file arrives labeled "revised," retire the first file in the open-item list. Do not add the revised file on top.

Date the absent policies

Check the carrier contract for the correction deadline. Date each open item when you find it, then prioritize approaching deadlines and older items.

The expected-list check is not a quarterly project. It belongs in the same close as the four checks on the lines that did arrive. The policies that are absent are open items with an age, the same way a mismatched rate is an open item.

What to do with a line that is not there

• Export the policies you expected this carrier to pay, for this term.
• Mark each one present, present-but-short or absent.
• For every present line with no printed rate, divide commission by premium.
• Compare that percent with the schedule, including new business versus renewal.
• Search the statement for the same policy number twice before you pay either row.
• Search your own imports for the same statement twice before you call the carrier short.
• Date the open items. The oldest one gets a phone call now, not a note for next quarter.

A guided pilot is a place to run this on one approved statement and the policy export that should match it. You review the lines that matched, the lines that are short and the policies that never appeared. Your team pays producers through its payroll or check process.