Bamboo Insurance · Guidewire commission configuration

Producer transfers and
commission rates

BillingCenter assigns commission on a renewal when the renewal is issued, 90 days before it takes effect. Requests arriving after that point (Commission Reserve Date) require manual work in one or both systems. Of five business requirements, two are met by configuration, one is met partially, and two cannot be met at all.

Expandable sections show supporting detail. The timeline zones below open too.

Plain language

Terms used in this document

Guidewire names several things in ways that do not match ordinary usage. These are the ones that carry the argument below.

TermWhat it means
Policy ChangePolicyCenter's mid-term endorsement transaction. Modifies an in-force policy without changing its effective date. Can move the servicing agency. Cannot move the agency of record.
RewriteCancels the policy and reissues it. The only mid-term way to change the agency of record, and far heavier than an endorsement.
Producer of recordThe agency that earns commission on a policy term. This is the code BillingCenter uses to book and pay commission.
Producer of serviceThe agency actually servicing the policy. Maintained in PolicyCenter, and becomes producer of record when the policy renews.
Policy period, or termOne contract year. Each has its own producer of record and its own commission.
Commission reserveMoney set aside when a term is issued, representing commission expected to be paid. Not yet owed to the agency.
Commission Reserve Date90 days before the renewal effective date. BillingCenter receives the policy period and books the reserve. Producer of record and commission rate are both fixed here.
Earned commissionReserve that has converted into money owed. Under this configuration that happens as premium is received.
Commission subplanThe rule deciding which rate applies and when commission earns. Selected once, at the Commission Reserve Date, when BillingCenter receives the policy period.
Producer of record transfers (BillingCenter)
Point-in-timeMoves reserve to the new agency. Leaves earned commission with the old one.
RetroactiveMoves everything, including commission already earned or paid.
FutureMoves nothing on the current term. Only future charges and future terms.

Root cause

Commission is assigned 90 days early

PolicyCenter issues the renewal. At the Commission Reserve Date, 90 days before the renewal effective date, BillingCenter receives the policy period, selects the commission subplan, and books the reserve against the current producer of record. Producer and rate are both fixed at that point. The effective date is not a factor.

Commission Reserve Date day -90 Renewal effective day 0 Change applies No manual work required Manual intervention required Producer of record and commission rate already committed LOCKED AT ISSUANCE Producer of record on the renewal term  ·  Commission subplan and rate  ·  Reserve amount
Before the renewal issues

What you actually change

  • Someone runs a Policy Change in PolicyCenter. That is the mid-term endorsement transaction, the same job used to add a vehicle or adjust a limit.
  • On that transaction they edit the producer code, which sets the producer of service, the agency servicing the policy.
  • A Policy Change cannot set the producer of record, the agency that earns commission on the term. No mid-term transaction can, short of a Rewrite.
  • So the current term's commission stays with the outgoing agency.

When producer of record actually moves

  • Automatically, when the renewal is written. PolicyCenter sets producer of record to the servicing producer.
  • Or directly, if the renewal job has started but is not yet bound. Changing the producer code on the renewal job sets producer of record on that term.
  • Either path books the renewal reserve to the incoming agency, at the incoming agency's rate.
  • No BillingCenter transfer is required in either case.

What to check

  • Whether the renewal has issued, not the day count.
  • RenewalProcessLeadTime is a floor, not a fixed date.
  • Regulatory lead time, company practice, and batch frequency push actual issuance later by a variable amount.
  • Confirm the producer change reaches BillingCenter through integration.
After the renewal issues

What happens

  • The reserve is already booked against the outgoing agency, at that agency's rate.
  • A PolicyCenter policy change can no longer move producer of record on that term.
  • The commission has to be moved in BillingCenter.
  • A PolicyCenter change still corrects the term after next.

What it costs

  • Point-in-time transfer scoped to the renewal period, if no renewal premium has been received.
  • Retroactive transfer, if premium has been received.
  • A receivable against the outgoing agency, if commission has already been paid out.
  • A manual rate override on the transferred charges, on either path.

Routing

Four cases

A transfer request routes on two facts: whether the renewal has issued, and whether renewal premium has been received. Not on a day count. The third check applies only when the second is yes.

CASE 1

Renewal not yet issued

CLEAN
PolicyCenter
Policy change setting producer of service. PolicyCenter sets producer of record to the servicing producer when the renewal is written. If the renewal job is already open but not bound, change the producer code on the job instead, which sets producer of record directly.
BillingCenter
Nothing. Renewal charges arrive already coded to the new agency.
Rate
New agency's commission plan applies natively. The renewal is a new policy period.
Agency A$1,200
Agency B$1,200

A keeps the current term. B receives the full renewal. No transfer required.

What to watch

The risk

  • Staff read the calendar instead of the record.
  • Confirm the reserve has not already booked rather than assuming the request arrived in time.

Guard against it

  • Check whether BillingCenter has received the renewal.
  • Confirm the producer change reaches BillingCenter through integration rather than sitting in PolicyCenter.

CASE 2

Issued, no premium received

RECOVERABLE
PolicyCenter
Policy change setting producer of service. Corrects the term after next; it cannot fix the renewal term, since a policy change can't move producer of record.
BillingCenter
Point-in-time transfer, scoped to the renewal policy period only. Use the Transfer Producer Wizard from the Producer tab, which has the period-selection step.
Rate
Carries the old agency's plan. Change the rate on the transferred charges as a second step.
Agency A$1,200
Agency B$1,200

Renewal reserve is unearned, so all of it moves. No reversals.

What to watch

The risk

  • An unscoped transfer also moves current-term reserve.
  • Under on-payment-received earning, that is most of the term.
  • Run at mid-term, it moves roughly half the outgoing agency's commission.

Guard against it

  • Use the Transfer Producer Wizard from the Producer tab.
  • Select the renewal period explicitly.
  • The single-policy wizard on the Policy tab does not offer period selection.

CASE 3

Premium received, not yet paid out

CHOICE
PolicyCenter
Policy change setting producer of service, as above.
BillingCenter
Either accept a split with a point-in-time transfer, or move the whole term with a retroactive transfer. Earned commission has not left the building yet, so retroactive costs nothing in cash.
Rate
Same manual override applies.
Split (point-in-time)$100 / $1,100
Whole (retroactive)$0 / $1,200

Amounts shown as A / B on the renewal term.

How to choose

Split the term when

  • The early-paid amount is small.
  • The transfer follows a service complaint rather than an error.
  • Point-in-time creates no receivable.

Move the whole term when

  • The outgoing agency is at fault, such as a booking error or a lost licence.
  • Set this as policy rather than deciding case by case.

CASE 4

Premium received and paid out

COSTLY
PolicyCenter
Policy change setting producer of service, as above.
BillingCenter
Retroactive transfer scoped to the renewal. BillingCenter transfers an amount equal to the paid commission to the new agency as earned, and the amount already paid to the old agency becomes owed back to Bamboo.
Rate
Same manual override applies.
Agency Aowes $100
Agency B$1,200

Creates a receivable against the outgoing agency.

What to watch

The risk

  • This becomes an accounting matter rather than a system operation.
  • Negative commission statements function as bills.
  • The outgoing agency is invoiced as the relationship ends.

Guard against it

  • Check whether the Producer Payment batch has run.
  • If it has not, this is case 3 and the money moves without a receivable.

Constant across all four

Subplan configuration

The earning event controls when reserve becomes earned. It does not control who owns it. Producer assignment is set per policy period when BillingCenter receives the billing request. No subplan setting changes that. Leave this configuration unchanged.

SubplanAvailability criteriaRateEarning event
New business (priority 1)Term is initial business8%On payment received
Default (priority 2)Always available10%On payment received

On payment received

Earns commission proportional to each payment received. Along with on-invoice-fully-paid, it is one of only two earning events that never pay before premium is collected. It also keeps the maximum amount in reserve, which is what a point-in-time transfer can move.

Payment timing

Premium paid after the due date keeps a request in case 2, since nothing earns until payment lands. Early payment from escrow, pay-in-full, and list-bill accounts moves it to case 3 or 4.

Separate problem

Rate changes cannot key on effective date

Subplan availability criteria cover product type, policy term, assigned risk, business segment, account evaluation, jurisdiction, and underwriting company. There is no date attribute. Commission plans have no effective dating or versioning.

New business

A new policy's billing request arrives at bind, days from the effective date. A plan live 1 August captures new business effective 1 August forward.

Renewals

A renewal effective 1 October was issued and reserved in early July. The plan must be live before then. Work from the longest lead time in the book, not the average.

Workaround

Time the plan change to renewal lead time rather than the target effective date. Correct already-booked periods with commission overrides, which adjust both reserve and earned amounts. The affected set is queryable: policy periods effective on or after the target date whose reserve booked before the plan went live.

Achievability

Requirements assessment

The two rows marked no require a business decision. No configuration resolves them.

Pay commission only on commissionable premium receivedYES

Why it works

  • Earns commission proportional to each payment as it arrives.
  • No commission exists before premium is collected.
  • Agency bill requires no change. The producer withholds commission and remits net.

Still verify

  • Charge breakdowns mark taxes and fees non-commissionable.
  • Permissions restrict who can issue advance and bonus payments.
  • Both types pay unearned commission and bypass the earning configuration.
New agency earns from the next renewal forwardYES

Why it works

  • Commission tracks per charge.
  • Every charge belongs to a policy period with its own producer of record.
  • Renewal charges carry whoever holds the code when BillingCenter receives that period.
  • The separation is structural, not configured.

Still verify

  • This is automatic only in case 1.
  • After the renewal issues, a transfer is required to place the correct agency on it.
New agency earns nothing before the renewal effective datePARTIAL

Where it breaks

  • Renewal invoices are billed ahead of inception so insureds can pay before coverage starts.
  • If premium arrives and distributes to those items, commission earns before the effective date.

Workaround

  • Set payment allocation eligibility to Billed or Due rather than Next Planned Invoice.
  • Early payments then hold in unapplied funds until the renewal invoice bills.
  • Shortening invoice lead time narrows the window further.
  • Neither closes it. The remaining exposure equals the invoice lead time.
Old agency stops earning entirely at renewalNO

Why it cannot work

  • The outgoing agency was producer of record on the prior term.
  • Under on-payment-received they earn whenever that term's premium arrives.
  • That includes late installments, cured delinquencies, and audit premium.
  • This runs months past the renewal date.

Alternative

  • A retroactive transfer on the prior term stops it.
  • That takes commission earned on premium already collected.
  • It creates a receivable if the commission was already paid.
  • Recommend accepting the tail and stating it in agency communications.
Commission rate cutover keyed to policy effective dateNO

Why it cannot work

  • Availability criteria offer seven attributes and none is a date.
  • Commission plans have no effective dating or versioning.
  • BillingCenter resolves the subplan once, at the Commission Reserve Date, when it receives the policy period.
  • A renewal effective 1 October is rated in early July under whatever plan was live then.

Workaround

  • Time the plan change to renewal lead time instead of the effective date.
  • Go live before the earliest issuance for the target effective month.
  • Correct already-booked periods with commission overrides, which adjust reserve and earned amounts.
  • Size that override pass into every rate change.

Accepted risk

Known limitations

Two require a business decision. Four require process controls.

Outgoing agency continues earning on the prior term

Prior-term premium collected after the renewal effective date earns to the outgoing agency, because they were producer of record on the term that generated it. Late installments, cured delinquencies, and audit premium flow to them for months.

ResponseAccept and communicate. The alternative takes commission earned on premium already collected. State in agency communications that the prior relationship pays out until that term's receivables close.

Underlying mechanism
  • BillingCenter divides each charge's commission into item commissions, one per invoice item.
  • Each item commission belongs to the policy period that produced it and carries that period's producer of record.
  • A payment landing on a prior-term invoice item earns to that period's producer regardless of subsequent changes.
  • There is no date at which a policy period's commission stops belonging to its producer.

Rate cutover keys on billing-request date, not effective date

No date attribute exists in availability criteria and plans have no versioning. For renewals, the billing-request date is one lead time earlier than the effective date.

ResponseAccept a timing-based cutover. Size an override pass into every rate change.

Underlying mechanism
  • BillingCenter evaluates subplan availability criteria when it receives a policy period with a producer code.
  • Subplans are evaluated in priority order, lowest to highest, and the first match is used.
  • If none is true, it falls back to the Default subplan.
  • That evaluation happens once, at receipt.
  • The seven attributes are product type, policy term, assigned risk, account business segment, account evaluation, jurisdiction, and underwriting company.

Commission rate does not follow a BillingCenter transfer

BillingCenter moves commission on the original producer's plan and does not recalculate. The receiving agency earns at the outgoing agency's rate until the rate is changed on the transferred charges. Under on-payment-received the error surfaces slowly, over months.

ResponseAdd a required step to the transfer runbook. Build a standing query flagging transferred charges whose rate does not match the receiving producer's plan.

Underlying mechanism
  • BillingCenter transfers commission based on the plan associated with the original producer code.
  • It does not recalculate for the new producer code.
  • The prescribed fix is two manual steps: transfer the policy, then change the commission rate on the transferred charges.

PolicyCenter and BillingCenter disagree after a transfer

In cases 2 through 4, PolicyCenter shows the outgoing agency as producer of record on the renewal term while BillingCenter pays the incoming one. Financially correct, structurally inconsistent.

ResponseAccept and document for reconciliation. The alternative is a PolicyCenter rewrite of the renewal, which is a cancel and rewrite, and heavier than the inconsistency warrants in most cases.

Underlying mechanism
  • A PolicyCenter policy change can edit the producer of service but not the producer of record.
  • Only a submission, issuance, rewrite, or renewal job can set producer of record.
  • That is why a mid-term change requires a cancel and rewrite.
  • The systems are decoupled by design. PolicyCenter owns producer identity, BillingCenter owns the commission.

Early premium narrows transfer options

Escrow, pay-in-full, and list-bill accounts routinely pay before the effective date. Once that premium distributes, commission earns and a point-in-time transfer can no longer move it.

ResponseConfirm the payment allocation plan uses Billed or Due eligibility rather than Next Planned Invoice. Consider shortening renewal invoice lead time, weighed against lapse risk from less time to pay.

Underlying mechanism
  • All payments pass through an unapplied fund and distribute per the account's payment allocation plan.
  • Billed or Due makes items on planned invoices ineligible, so money holds until the renewal invoice bills.
  • Next Planned Invoice makes the next planned invoice eligible, so the payment distributes and commission earns immediately.
  • The setting decides whether an account lands in case 2 or case 3.

Renewal lead time varies by policy

RenewalProcessLeadTime is a floor. Regulatory lead time, company practice, batch frequency, and concurrent transactions all push actual issuance later.

ResponseDo not set a date-based SLA. Intake reads two flags, renewal issued and premium received, and routes from those.

Underlying mechanism
  • The renewal batch checks the expiration date against the configured lead time first.
  • It then adds regulatory lead time, company practice, and a delay for concurrent policy transactions.
  • No policy starts automatic renewal sooner than the configured lead time. Many start later.
  • Batch frequency adds further variance. A renewal eligible on Wednesday waits for the next scheduled run.

Before go-live

Open items for testing

01
Does period scoping hold on a point-in-time transfer?

Under on-payment-received earning, most of the current term is still reserve. If scoping leaks, the receiving agency takes a large share of the outgoing agency's commission. The documentation describes the period-selection step without stating what it constrains.

How to test
  • Set up an account with both terms live and roughly half the current term in reserve.
  • Run a point-in-time transfer scoped to the renewal period only.
  • Query the commission transactions on current-term charges and confirm the producer code is unchanged.
  • Repeat at mid-term, where a leak costs the most.
02
How do endorsements and negative charges route after a transfer?

The point-in-time rules state that commission for future charges added to the current policy period goes to the new producer, which contradicts a renewal-scoped transfer. Mid-term endorsements and return premium after a transfer are common enough to need a documented answer.

How to test
  • After a renewal-scoped transfer, post a premium-bearing endorsement on the expiring term.
  • Post a return-premium endorsement on the same term.
  • Check which producer code the resulting item commissions carry.
  • The negative case matters most. If it lands on the incoming agency, they are clawed back on commission they never received.
03
Does editing plan rates re-rate booked reserves?

Overrides are documented as adjusting existing commission transactions. Plan edits are not. The answer decides whether a rate cutover is a plan edit or a bulk override job.

How to test
  • Book a reserve on a policy period under an existing plan and note the amount.
  • Edit that plan's commission rate.
  • Re-query the reserve.
  • If unchanged, every rate cutover requires an override pass over already-booked periods. Size that work into the release.