Clarity Commission Management

From April 1st 2010, ValidPath have been running the commission-management process off the back of the new network-wide Clarity backoffice system.

From July 31st 2010 onwards, the old manual commission-process has been abandoned and everything is now handled by Clarity.

Members receive: 

• faster reconciliation (to policy level) via EDI
• weekly commission run and statement
• proactive help and problem-solving from ValidPath staff plus additional tech support from Bluecoat Software personnel
• full reconciliation down to policy reference
• individual client accounting
• integration with fee-based work
• on-demand (PDF) copies of product-provider paper commission statements

Processing similiarities to our old system

• we are conscious as a network about the potential negative impacts of clawbacks, especially those triggered by product-provider administrative error:  we will therefore always notify members in advance of applying sizeable debit balances to their account
• it's still 'cash driven':  if we have not received the funds from a product-provider, we cannot pay it
• it's still robust - we actually verify every penny prior to making payment, with the aim of minimising administrative headaches later on
• we can supply scanned PDF copies of commission statements 'on-demand' so that Members can verify what is due prior to payment being made

Main differences with the new approach

• if the Member firm does not have the correct policy number on their own system, Clarity is not able to match incoming payments
• until the end of May 2011, it will be possible to pay small sums of up to £50 without the policy matching to the Member system, after which that cutoff sum will reduce to £25
• there is no 'month-end' reconciliation, but rather a weekly electronic statement which reconciles every penny of incoming commission down to each policy reference