If your business is looking to stabilize cash flow and avoid the pain of an unpredictable supplemental bill when it’s time to renew your workers’ compensation insurance, it’s time to learn about pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation insurance. Insurance Plus, an independent insurance agency powered by Accounting Plus, is in an ideal position to provide pay-as-you-go workers’ comp policies.

Pay-as-you-go is becoming increasingly popular because it eliminates up-front costs and outdated payment methods. Simply put, when compared to an estimated annual payroll amount — which is the method used for decades — payas-you-go relies on real-time payroll to calculate your workers’ comp premiums.

The result is more accurate premium payments and less risk of paying too much throughout the year or, as many businesses have discovered, facing a hefty premium adjustment at the end of the policy term due to under-reported payroll.

Why does that make Insurance Plus your go-to resource for pay-as-you-go workers’ comp insurance? That’s an easy answer. Other insurance agencies don’t have the ability to walk down the hall and talk to your accountant, bookkeeper, payroll specialist, or business advisor, which is what Insurance Plus is able to do through its vibrant partnership with Accounting Plus.

More about pay-as-you-go workers’ comp in a minute. First, it’s important to know that Accounting Plus celebrated its 30th anniversary in business in 2022. Insurance Plus began in 2019 and the following year
independent agent Lance Hall merged his agency with Insurance Plus.

“We can do anything anyone else does in writing policies,” Lance says. “For pay-as-you-go, you need to have access to that payroll data. It works so well at Insurance Plus because we have the payroll department here in-house with Accounting Plus.”

That ease of use also highlights the customer service pledge that Accounting Plus has embraced during its three decades in business: Listen intensely, earn your trust, and be a partner in your prosperity.

Here’s a quick overview of pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation insurance:

• Pay your workers’ comp premiums based on your pay schedule. With pay-as-you-go, your premium payments are based on your actual payroll, not projected annual payroll. That can help protect you from audit exposure because your premium is based on real-time payroll wages, not an estimate.

• With pay-as-you-go, you don’t have to make a large, cash-flow-killing down payment upfront. You pay your premium in smaller amounts spread over the course of the year.
  
• Pay-as-you-go is an alternative way of making your premium payments. It’s not different insurance, and it doesn’t replace your responsibility to pay premiums, collect/ issue certificates of insurance from subcontractors, and other requirements.
  
• Your coverage must still be provided through a state-approved workers comp insurance carrier or approved self-insured source.
  
• Working with your payroll service provider, you can bundle your workers’ comp insurance premium
  with your payroll and pay a single bill – with payroll, taxes, and workers’ comp included – each pay period.

Where will you find that option in Columbia? Look no further than Insurance Plus and Accounting Plus.

Lance Hall is a licensed insurance professional with 20+ years of experience. He holds designations for Small Business Coverage Specialist and Professional Workers Compensation Advisor, which enable him to provide expert advice on coverages, risk management, and insurance protection for businesses. Lance helps his clients understand the nuances of insurance and how it can help their businesses grow.