The Baldwin Group’s seamless two-month transition for direct bill processing

See how The Baldwin Group increased monthly applied cash to 97% and processed 200+ more statements a month by automating reconciliation with Ascend.

THE METRICS

• 97% Monthly Applied Cash
• 200+ More statements processed a month (from 2,200 to 2,400)
• 2 Months for seamless go-live transition

We’ve cut our monthly balance of unapplied cash by more than half and time it takes to reconcile cash down from 8 days to 3 — processing over 2,400 statements a month.

Ed Sheppard
Continuous Improvement

Customer type: Agency
Customer size: 4,200+ employees
Products used: Direct Bill Automation, Cash Application
Integrations: Applied Epic
HQ: Tampa, FL

About The Baldwin Group

The Baldwin Group is one of the largest independent insurance distribution firms in the United States. They deliver bespoke client solutions, services, and innovation through their comprehensive and tailored approach to risk management, insurance, and employee benefits.

Founded in 2011, the firm has experienced significant growth and transformed from a local operation into a national powerhouse serving more than three million clients across the United States and internationally. As the company scaled, their existing commission reconciliation software was no longer delivering the results or efficiency they needed for a firm of their size and growth trajectory — prompting Baldwin to transition to Ascend for a more reliable, automated, and scalable approach to accounting operations.

Challenges

As The Baldwin Group grew from 50 employees to more than 4,000 through organic growth and acquisitions, their accounting operations came under significant strain. Their existing commission reconciliation software still required extensive manual work, back-and-forth spreadsheets, and frequent intervention from the accounting team. Instead of reducing effort, the system created persistent bottlenecks and made it difficult to keep pace with the growth of the business.

These operational gaps led to several escalating risks:

• Incomplete or delayed revenue recognition at month-end close
• Producer commission delays and inaccuracies caused by unreconciled statements

The Baldwin Group concluded that its system with its reliance on partial or inconsistent automation was no longer sustainable. They needed a partner and platform that could deliver true, end-to-end reconciliation accuracy at scale — leading them to transition to Ascend.

The transition to Ascend was seamless. We went live quicker than expected and immediately saw faster reconciliation, higher accuracy, and more scalable process.

Ed Sheppard
Continuous Improvement

Solution

To address these challenges, Baldwin sought a proven long-term partner and a fully automated process. They chose to pair ReSource Pro’s managed workflow support with Ascend’s Direct Bill Automation, transitioning off their previous system and implementing a higher-performing reconciliation process.

Together, The Baldwin Group, ReSource Pro, and Ascend deployed a modern, scalable automation approach that:

• Automatically matched 2,400+ monthly insurance carrier commission statements
• Flagged discrepancies for ReSource Pro to investigate deviations between expected and received cash
• Reduced manual touch points required to reconcile and post statements back into Applied Epic

Results

By transitioning from their previous reconciliation tool to Ascend, The Baldwin Group saw immediate and meaningful improvements across accuracy, speed, and scale:

• 90 Days Sooner: Went live 90 days sooner than original project plan following successful proof-of-concept evaluation.
• 97% Monthly applied Cash: Monthly applied cash increased to 97 percent, a significant improvement over their prior automation solution.
• 200+ more Statements processed every month: 200+ more statements processed every month — increasing throughput from 2,200 to 2,400 due to capacity gained back from faster, more automated reconciliation.
• 2 Months Completion: Seamless go live transition completed within two months, replacing the previous software without any operational disruption.
• Reduced monthly unapplied cash amount to lowest level in more than 2 years.
• ROI: The complete solution with Ascend and ReSource Pro was ultimately less expensive than the cost of the prior tool alone.

These gains established Ascend as an outstanding long-term solution and positioned The Baldwin Group to expand automation across additional accounting workflows.

What's Next

Motivated by these results, The Baldwin Group is expanding its use of Ascend to automate carrier disbursement workflows for agency-billed policies. By bringing commissions, cash application, and carrier payables onto a unified platform, The Baldwin Group and Ascend are working together to unlock new financial and operational benefits, including:

• Maximizing carrier incentive program participation.
• Increasing float revenue through optimized cash movement.
• Optimizing accounts receivable turns.
• Expanding operational efficiency across the full accounting lifecycle.

These efforts are part of The Baldwin Group’s aspirational $3B / 30 Catalyst Program, an important step forward for their organization as they aspire to become a broker of the future and reach $3 billion in revenue and a 30% adjusted EBITDA margin within the next five years. The Baldwin Group’s leadership in innovating and reimagining the client experience and expanding the types of client solutions they provide in a rapidly evolving landscape, bolster their status as a leading destination for their industry’s top talent and solidify their vision as a preeminent risk and insurance solutions firm and broker of the future.

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