small business insurance
Cash Flow Management Crucial to Small Businesses
Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | Business Insurance | Comments Off
June 25, 2009 – The heartbeat of any small business is its cash flow. That’s why it’s so important for small businesses to pay careful attention to successfully managing their cash flow.
What is cash flow? It’s the difference between receipts and payments and it shouldn’t be confused with profit and loss or income and expenditure. During these rocky economic times, cash flow management is often a challenge, particularly when small businesses are faced with paying large premium down payments for their workers’ compensation insurance.
Roobik Galoosian of the Pacific Way states, “There is a new solution to this old problem for small businesses – a pay-as-you-go premium payment service for those small businesses that have a Hartford workers compensation policy and use Intuit® QuickBooks®.” This new service is named XactPAY Web®. It’s a payroll-based premium calculation and billing service offered through Hartford agents that allows small business owners to take care of workers’ compensation premium payment on a pay-as-they-go basis, one pay period at a time.
Roobik adds, “QuickBooks dominates the “do-it-yourself” payroll management software market with over 3 million small business customers.” Of these 3 million, 1 million utilize QuickBooks to manage their payroll. The Hartford is the first insurance carrier to offer a pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation premium payment services for QuickBooks’ customers.
XactPAY Web integrates fully with a business’ Intuit QuickBooks Payroll software and automatically calculates the premiums for Hartford-issued workers’ compensation policies each time payroll is run using QuickBooks Payroll. This new system helps improve the business’ cash flow by eliminating the need for large down payments and minimizing the potential for year-end audit adjustments. Traditional billing methods have crimped cash flow by requiring employers to pay all or part of the year’s workers’ compensation premiums in advance, potentially tying up thousands of dollars at the beginning of each year.
Roobik adds, “This free solution can help small businesses where it matters most – keeping more cash in hand.”
To learn more about XactPAY Web and Intuit payroll, visit www.qbpayroll.com/xactpay or call Pacific Way.
QuickBooks® is a registered trademark and service mark of Intuit Inc. in the United States and other countries, and is displayed herein with permission. XactPAY Web® is a special edition for QuickBooks users with (1) a 2007 or newer version of any PC Desktop version of QuickBooks, and (2) a subscription for Intuit QuickBooks Basic, Standard, Enhanced or Assisted Payroll (XactPAY Web is not available to QuickBooks Online Payroll subscribers). Intuit Inc. receives a royalty fee from The Hartford in connection with The Hartford’s use of the Intuit name, marks and other property, which are used for purposes of marketing the XactPAY Web service. The purchase of a Hartford Workers’ Compensation policy is necessary to utilize the XactPAY Web service. All insurance policies offered by The Hartford are sold through licensed insurance producers or agents appointed by The Hartford.
Tempted to Cut Back on Insurance? Think Twice.
Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | Business Insurance | 1 Comment
June 25, 2009 – During these trying financial times, you may be looking for ways to trim the monthly expenses of your small business – perhaps you’ve toyed with the idea of cutting back your insurance coverage.
Roobik Galoosian of Pacific Way suggests that you think twice. “An underinsured business may not have the coverage needed to survive a fire, a theft or an accident on your premises.” Roobik adds that the best course of action is to go over your insurance coverage with your insurance agent.
You may have made improvements to your building or purchased new equipment. That may mean you need to update your coverage. Or, the value of your real estate may have fallen and it might make sense to reduce coverage. But, it’s never wise to decide against the coverage you need to help your business survive. For example, business interruption insurance may be available through your business owner’s policy, or BOP. This insurance provides coverage for a business’ expenses and lost profits if the business can’t operate for a variety of reasons. While this coverage may increase your premium payment, it can make the difference between survival and failure if your business can’t operate because of a disaster.
Your insurance agent can help you to understand your insurance and to evaluate your level of coverage. Roobik Galoosian says, “You may also find that your business needs a policy that is tailored to your particular line of work. The Hartford has a particularly good BOP that can be custom-tailored for the unique needs of your industry with competitive prices.”
For more information, you can visit the Insurance Information Institute Web site: http://www.iii.org/smallbusiness/intro. You’ll find explanations of a variety of business coverages and also descriptions of specific coverages that might be needed in various industries.