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Trusted by people who lead insurance and accounting.
Why Direct Bill Automation
Purpose-built to eliminate manual reconciliation, reduce errors, and close your books faster—without adding headcount.
Reconcile in days, not weeks
Auto-match 92% of statement lines on first pass. Your team resolves exceptions in minutes, not hours. Month-end close happens on schedule—not two weeks late.
Handle 50 carriers as easily as 5
Process any carrier format—CSV, PDF, scanned documents—without custom configuration. As your carrier mix grows, reconciliation time stays flat.
Audit-ready from day one
Every match logged with complete audit trail. Confidence scores show you exactly why items matched. Variance explanations ready when auditors ask.
Know where every dollar sits
Link carrier statements to bank deposits automatically. Suspense balances shrink from $500K to under $50K. Your cash position is always current, never approximate.
Direct Bill Automation by the Numbers
Processing
$25B+
$01234567890123456789B+ in annual premium
First pass
80%
01234567890123456789% auto-match rate
Change 5-10 days to
2 Days
0123456789 Days to close
Unlock New Powers
What Direct Bill Automation does for you
Eliminate manual statement collection
No more logging into 40 carrier portals monthly or chasing down PDFs. Ascend fetches statements automatically from every carrier—or you upload them once. Every format parsed into structured data, ready to match.
Auto-match 92% of statement lines
Manual line-by-line lookup eliminated for the vast majority of reconciliation. Policy numbers, insured names, premiums, and dates cross-validated against AMS invoices. Fuzzy matching handles carrier variations. Confidence scores show certainty.
Resolve exceptions in minutes, not hours
Discrepancies surface with context, not as mysteries to solve. Unmatched items categorized by type—new policies, premium variances, policy number mismatches. Suggested matches ranked by confidence.
Post to AMS with complete audit trail
Validated transactions write directly to your AMS. Every match, override, and exception logged with timestamp and user. Audit reports export in seconds.
Link statements to bank deposits
Three-way reconciliation—carrier statement, AMS invoice, bank deposit—complete. Expected deposits tracked. Actual deposits matched automatically.
Five operational improvements that compound into faster closes, accurate books, and scalable reconciliation.
The Capabilities
Built to handle enterprise complexity
The platform capabilities that make Direct Bill Automation reliable, secure, and scalable across your entire carrier mix.
Carrier coverage & format handling
40+ carriers supported. Native CSVs, carrier PDFs, scanned documents—all parsed automatically. New carriers added in 4-6 weeks based on customer priority.
AMS integrations
Native sync with Applied Epic/TAM, Sagitta, AMS360, BenefitPoint. Real-time API or scheduled batch. Direct write-back for posting. Setup in 1-3 weeks.
Bank connectivity
10,000+ banks via Stripe Connect. Automatic deposit matching. Expected vs. actual tracking. Discrepancy alerts.
Exception intelligence
AI categorizes by type, prioritizes by impact, suggests resolutions. System learns from your corrections. Team collaboration built in—assign, comment, bulk resolve.
Compliance & security
SOC 2 Type II certified. AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit. Complete audit logs with 7-year retention. Role-based access, 2FA, SSO (enterprise). GLBA and GDPR compliant.
Reporting & revenue intelligence
Pre-built dashboards: match rates by carrier, exception trends, time-to-close. Team productivity metrics. Revenue visibility: expected vs. received deposits, variance tracking. Benchmark against peer agencies. Export to BI tools or download (PDF, CSV, Excel).
Ascend spent the time to train each team member and guided them through the Ascend system, ensuring every person, no matter how tech-savvy, felt comfortable and found value with the software.
Frequently asked questions
What accounting leaders ask about Direct Bill
01
How long does implementation take?
Typically 2-4 weeks from kickoff to processing your first statements. We handle AMS integration, carrier credential setup, and historical data migration. Your dedicated implementation lead ensures smooth onboarding with minimal disruption. Most customers are live and reconciling current-month statements within 30 days.
02
What if my carrier isn't supported yet?
We support 40+ carriers today and prioritize new integrations based on customer volume. If your carrier isn't supported, we'll work with you to add it—often within 4-6 weeks. In the meantime, you can upload statements manually and Ascend will parse and match them just like auto-fetched statements.
03
Can we start with just one product line or a few carriers?
Absolutely. Many customers start with a pilot—1-2 carriers or a single line of business—to build confidence before expanding to their full book. This phased approach lets your team learn the workflow without overwhelming initial setup.
04
How do you handle exceptions Ascend can't auto-match?
Our exception queue surfaces unmatched items with suggested matches ranked by confidence. Your team reviews and resolves with full context—statement details, AMS invoice candidates, historical patterns. It's fast, not blind. Plus, our AI learns from your corrections to improve future matching for similar cases.
05
What if we switch AMS providers?
We support the leading AMS platforms (Applied, Sagitta, AMS360, BenefitPoint). If you migrate, we'll help reconfigure integrations—your historical data and workflows remain intact. Typical AMS migration support takes 1-2 weeks to re-establish sync and validate data flow.
06
How is our data secured?
Ascend is SOC 2 Type II certified. Data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.3). Carrier credentials are encrypted and never stored in plaintext. We never store bank credentials—connections are made via secure, read-only APIs (Plaid, Finicity). Role-based access controls ensure only authorized users can view or modify data.
07
What happens if a statement doesn't match because of an AMS data issue?
Ascend flags these as exceptions and suggests the most likely match based on available fields (insured name, premium). Your team can manually link the statement to the correct invoice or flag it for AMS data cleanup. Once corrected in your AMS, future statements with that policy will auto-match.
08
Can we customize posting rules and account mapping?
Yes. Posting timing (immediate, daily batch, manual approval), GL account assignments, variance thresholds, and approval workflows are all configurable. We set up rules during implementation based on your accounting practices, and you can adjust them anytime.
09
How do you handle bulk carrier deposits that cover multiple statements?
Ascend tracks expected deposits by carrier and automatically allocates bulk deposits across multiple statements based on statement amounts and carrier. If a deposit doesn't match expected totals, it's flagged for review. You maintain full control over allocation decisions.
10
What reporting and audit trail capabilities do you provide?
Every transaction is logged with complete audit trail: timestamp, user, action taken, supporting data. You can export reconciliation summaries, transaction details, exception logs, and user activity reports in PDF, CSV, or Excel. Reports are designed for month-end reviews, auditor requests, and internal compliance.
11
What's your uptime and support SLA?
We maintain 99.9% uptime (enterprise plan) with 24/7 email support and <4 hour response time during business hours. Critical issues (system downtime, data integrity) are escalated immediately. You'll also have a dedicated customer success manager for ongoing support and optimization.
Explore all the Ascend product suite
Billing & Invoicing
Automate invoice creation, delivery, and collections to get paid faster.
Carrier Payables
Reconcile and disburse carrier payables without manual tracking or spreadsheet workarounds.
Cash Application
Turn bank deposits into clean, matched accounting entries inside your ledger.
Premium Financing & Payments
Finance and collect premiums in a single, seamless workflow.
Explore Premium Financing & Payments
See what Ascend can do for you
Book a tailored demo using your actual AMS, carrier mix, and sample statements, not a generic deck. We'll show you exactly how Direct Bill handles your workflows.