Collections
Collections are what it all comes down to. If we don't collect the money that is owed for a project then no one gets paid and the company fails. We do have a pretty basic process that we follow through the collections process. We will start at the beginning and work through each section in detail. Any steps that can not be adequately explained verbally will be videoed for you to review. If at any time in this section you feel a little lost, pause the video and reach out to your training manager. Take notes because again this is one of the most important parts of the job.
The Collections Spreadsheet
The collections spreadsheet is the general location for all of the jobs currently in collections this allows us to keep a true total of our accounts receivable balance owed. The jobs are added here after they are scheduled and put on the calendar. The spreadsheet has auto calculations,and formulas so that it will allow you to see when your jobs are reaching milestones such as the 30 day and 60 day mark, which you will learn in through your training progress are important dates. This spreadsheet is the cornerstone of your collection practices. Take notes and ask questions if necessary.
Verifying Supplements are done
Once the job has been installed we have to verify that the supplements are done and find out exactly what all was approved. To do this you will reach out to the insurance relations department for verification that the jobs supplements process is complete so that we know what the final bill amount will be. To complete the Supplement checks you will utilize the contract worksheet in acculynx as well as messages first. The messages from the insurance relations department will read as” Recevied approved supplemental estimate ready to collect upon completion”. Also you will see on the contract worksheet that the line item that says “approved Insurance Supplements” has been added there. This is your clue that it is time for you to begin the steps to send the final invoice over to the homeowner. If you do not see either one of these items you will need to send a message in Acculynx and tag the insurance department in your message for example “where are we with the final supplements”.
Editing "The Spreadsheet"
The spreadsheet is the central location for all of our jobs for each location. You will have a spreadsheet for each branch and all of their jobs will be on their spreadsheet this step is taken care of by the job approvals department. This spreadsheet keeps up with the profit for all of the jobs and allows us to see what steps have been taken care of in the life cycle of any of our jobs. Your steps will come at the very end of the life of that job. The final amount approved, installed shingles, additional amounts approved, what date you invoiced them, what date you checked for osb charges, and what date you called them back about the invoice are all things you will need to research and add to the spreadsheet. Most of your info is going to come from Acculynx from the messages, and documents from the insurance company. The number of squares installed will come from the sub pay tab on The Spreadsheet it will list all of the jobs installed. You simply find the date installed and expand that week to show all the jobs installed, it will be listed by customer name. Once all of this is done you will add a message to acculynx and tag the job approvals department in a message letting her know you have updated the spreadsheet and it is ready to close out.
Submiting For Depreciation
Submitting for depreciation is fairly straightforward and is a very important step in getting the money released to the homeowner. Most of this will be handled through email. You will pull up the contract worksheet make sure that the supplements have been added to the CWS in acculynx. Then you will pull up the Insurance Summary in documents in Acculynx locate the claim number and the email for the adjuster. This is who and where you will submit the CWS, Certificate of Completion, and any pictures needed to show completion. You will follow up with the adjuster the next day to make sure they have received the documents you sent to them and ensure the final check will go out to the homeowner. Make sure to take Notes as you go through this video and ask any questions you may have.
Verifying the check has been released
Verifying the check was released to the homeowner by the insurance company is a very important part of the collection process. If the check was not released we cannot move forward since they will not have the money in their account. First you will look in Acculynx to make sure that the depreciation request was already sent to the adjuster. Next you will call the insurance claims center or the adjuster assigned depending on the insurance company you are dealing with. Give the claim info to the insurance company and say “I wanted to verify that they final payment of XXX has been sent to the homeowner” they will give you the date the check was mailed or sometimes could ask for additional information. Make sure you document the conversation in Acculynx.
Double-Check for Drip
Drip edge is a commonly installed product but sometimes it can not be installed for a number of reasons. In the video below you will see how to look at post-install pictures and determine if the drip was installed and how much. In the event that the drip was not paid for you will see how to credit that back on the CWS. If you have any questions please reach out!
Sending a final invoice
When all of the payments have been released and you have verified the checks were in fact sent to the homeowner from the insurance company you will move to the invoicing part of the collections system. This means that you will go into the contract worksheet in acculynx and revise the invoice to show in detail the supplements approved. Once you have revised this you will mark as recorded and code the supplements as a supplement so that it will record into our invoice in Quickbooks, if you code it wrong it will not record correctly and there will be questions from the homeowner. After this is done you will add a note in acculynx and tag the bookkeeping department which will flag them to send out the final invoice to the homeowner.
Mortgage Co? Now what?
When the final check is above a certain amount and the homeowner has a mortgage company they will have to sign off on the final check. Most of the time we will know ahead of time and can fill out all the paperwork for the check to be sent to them. There will be a lien release, a w9, also they will need a copy of our contractor’s license, final invoice and the contrat the sales associate filled out. Send all of this in to their claims email and give a copy to the homeowner to send with the check to them. Also, it is a good idea to call the mortgage company and make sure they have everything they need to release the payment. As with everything else note in acculynx that you have sent this info and upload it in the documents for that job.
Positive Collections
The process for a job’s collections if there are no install issues or payment arguments is as follows:
1-Speak to the insurance company verify they have sent the money
2- Send the invoice information to bookkeeping so they will send the invoice.
3- Follow up with the homeowner the next week to ensure they have the invoice.
4- Receive the check in the home office and check to make sure it was applied to the account and the account was paid in full.
There will usually be calls from the homeowner to go over the invoice and ask questions about the supplements, this is to be expected since most of our homeowners have never dealt with insurance claims before. Sometimes the lingo and process will confuse them. We need to try to help and guide them through this so they feel like they are not floating it alone. This is part of what sets us apart from the other roofing companies.
The follow up call & notices
The follow up call is just to confirm that the homeowner has received both the invoice and the final check from the adjuster. Sometimes the insurance check can take up to 2 weeks to get to them so just reassure them that the check is on it’s way and have them call you when it gets there. The second notice will go out to the homeowner one week after the first if there has been no contact with the homeowner in that time frame. The Third notice will follow the week after the first unless there has been some promise to pay by the homeowner. 30 days from the date of install you will send out the notice of intent to lien if there has been no attempt to pay the balance on the roof, this gives them 5 days to either pay or contact us to set up payment. It is vital that we stick to this system of notices so that we know where the account is at any point.
The Notice of Intent
The Notice of intent is the final notice you will send to the homeowner before the lien is filed. This notice outlines the charges such as the original contract amount, supplements approved, and payments made so they are clear we have applied everything and there is still a balance. This notice gives the homeowner 5 days to pay or contact us to pay. All of the info on this form can be found in acculynx.You will include the notice of intent letter that can be found in the Google Drive, this letter explains why they are receiving this notice. This notice is always sent certified mail so we will be notified when it is delivered. At the end of that 5 day period you will file the electronic lien and send a copy of the filed lien to the homeowner. The lien can be lifted after payment is made but it will remain on record until they no longer own the home.
Filing a lien
Filing a lien is a legal process that will place a hold on the property from being sold until that amount is satisfied. The lien process begins with filling out the lien document, you will pull all the info from Acculynx for the balance and address information. The property info will come from qpublic which is a central database website for all county property records. Make sure you verify that the info is all correct. You will fill out the form, have the notary in the office sign off on the form. You will need to scan this document into the system once it has been notarized. After you review this to make sure it is legible you will start a claim of lien in the Simplifile system.
Simplifile is fairly simple to use, you begin by creating a “package” in the county you have already researched, always use the last name and Lien as the file name so it is easy to research later. After this you will name the homeowner as the Guarantor and us as the Guarantee. The final step is to click record once the document is recorded it will alert you in the account and send an email with the document as well.
Print out this document and save a hard copy to refer to later when it is time to remove the lien.
Applying Fees for collections
The final step after filing the lien is to refer them to the collection company our current outside collection company is ACI. They have a system that you will log all info into. Once the file has been created you will need to apply all the fees to the contract worksheet(CWS) in acculynx. You will click on the actions drop down menu on the CWS click revise and add a line. Then you will take the final balance due and calculate the amount to add which is 40% of the balance. You will log it as Collection Fees under the upgrade/discount column. You will then save as approved. At this point you will copy the account to the collections tab in the collections spreadsheet and they will take it from there.