How to Be a Great Surplus Lines Tax Filer
Surplus lines tax filing is no ordinary job. As a filer, you do a lot of correspondence with insurance agents, state regulators, and state stamping offices. You need to be organized and detail-oriented to succeed. If you’re hoping to stand out as a filer, here are 5 ways to become the in-office surplus lines expert.
1: Increase Your Knowledge of Surplus Lines
To become an expert surplus lines filer, you need to know all you can about surplus lines. Dedicate some time every day to learning. Read books, journals, blogs, and email newsletters. Listen to podcasts, webinars, and YouTube videos. Take online courses and classes. Improving your knowledge will help you complete tasks quicker and make fewer mistakes.
2: Never Miss a Deadline
Keeping up with surplus lines deadlines is half the job of being a surplus lines tax filer. To excel as a filer, you need to manage all of your deadlines in a timely manner. Some ways to do this include:
-sign up to receive state department emails
-utilize a surplus lines management software
-maintain an internal organization system
-ensure accurate accounting
The better you manage your deadlines, the better you’ll perform your filing responsibilities.
3: Stay On Top of All Your Licenses
As mentioned above, there are plenty of deadlines to manage as a filer. Many of them have to do with licensing requirements. Tax filers may need to obtain and renew SL licenses, keep up with CE credits, and much more if there are not dedicated License Managers and teams! Failing to keep your licenses up to date could stall certain aspects of your business.
Fortunately, there are a variety of ways you can organize your licensing needs. We recommend using a license management service. With a management software, you can say goodbye to exhaustive spreadsheets and manual tracking systems. You’ll be able to stay on top of all your licenses in one simple platform.
4: Be Open to Change
The surplus lines industry is constantly changing. With new rates and new regulations consistently coming into play, filers need to be flexible. A good filer is adaptable.They find ways to embrace new change and use and find ways to succeed.
There are many ways you can practice embracing change. Some examples include:
-If the office switches to a new software, stay positive and take the initiative to learn it
-If a new employee joins your team, spend some time getting to know them better
-When new processes and systems are introduced, do your best to master them
5: Great Filers Build Relationships
As a filer, you get to interact with a diverse group of people everyday. You collaborate with coworkers, clients, state regulators, and the state stamping office. So building strong relationships is a necessary part of your job. You can build and nurture your relationships by:
-Asking questions and listening
-Providing assistance
-Keeping your commitments
-Being present and attentive
-Expressing appreciation
By building strong relationships, your work as a filer will run more smoothly. People will trust you to get the work done and you can trust others, too.
Conclusion
There are a lot of skills that a surplus lines tax filer utilizes to succeed at their job. By increasing your knowledge of surplus lines, keeping deadlines, staying on top of licenses, embracing change, and building relationships, you’ll be the in-office surplus lines expert. You’ll contribute to your office in a meaningful way and demonstrate your value to the company.
InsCipher is an insurtech company providing software and services that are revolutionizing inefficient insurance processes. Save your agency time and money by automating surplus lines compliance, filing, and reporting. Want to learn more? Request a free demo today!
