AP Intego has been evangelizing the benefits of our Pay As You Go workers’ comp product for a long time. To borrow and alter a famous line from James Carville, “It’s the cash flow, stupid.”
Now comes COVID-19, and cash flow (or just cash in general) is thrust into the spotlight. Perhaps it should have always lived there, but in a matter of days we went from the longest economic expansion in modern history to what might well turn out to be the next Great Depression. Cash is going to be King for a while.
But businesses must go on. Not all businesses will shut down. Twenty percent unemployment still means 80 percent of us are working. And workers’ comp in 49 states (come on, Texas!) is still required. And so our Pay As You Go solution becomes even more of a no-brainer.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pay As You Go, here is a quick overview (the rest of you can skip this paragraph): Traditional workers’ comp charges an annual premium that is determined on your best guess at total payroll for the coming year. Then you pay all or most of it up front and true up at the end of the year with an audit, which can mean a surprise lump-sum payment, or a refund of money you never should have paid in the first place. With Pay As You Go, we simply connect to your payroll company, see what your actual payroll is, and calculate your premium for just that payroll period. No guessing, no up front payments, and a lot less hassle.
But with all the hype around the cash flow angle, I think we miss a very important side note. For all of our clients who already enjoy this benefit, they didn’t have to do anything when this crisis hit. They didn’t have to call us to ask for a refund. They didn’t have to tell us they were letting people go. They didn’t have to do anything. Because the way the system works, well... it just worked. They could focus on the rest of the million things they had to deal with. We were one less thing.
The absence of a task can easily go unnoticed. In the COVID era, many things we’ve always taken for granted—taking my 4-year old to the playground comes rushing to mind—all of a sudden become a life goal to get back to. I would like to say it must have been a comfortable feeling for our clients to not have to worry about their workers’ comp. But my guess is it never even crossed their minds, which for all of us at AP Intego is the goal. It may not be total peace of mind, but it is a piece of it.
Here's a quick video that lays out the 123s of Pay As You Go. Enjoy.
