WingsPlus: Statutory financial reporting from the cloud. The Roving Reporter. A Special Interview with. Greg Klaus. Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Company

The Roving Reporter A Special Interview with Greg Klaus Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Company

Our thick-skinned Roving Reporter typically is a roll-with-the-punches kind of guy. But after getting razzed for rocking his knickers in Clackamas, Oregon, he changed into a pair of rather innocuous Dockers before heading to Saint Louis, Missouri, to see the Gateway Arch up close and personal. When he arrived, he was crestfallen to discover it had just been taken down for its semi-annual cleaning and polishing.

However, in the depths of his despair, he received a call from Greg Klaus, CFO at Bar Plan Mutual Insurance Company, who d heard of our sad scribbler s predilection for discussing statutory financial reporting in general and Wings Plus in particular.

Hi, Greg. Do they really clean and polish that thing? Well, yeah. You know: smog, acid rain, and what not. I guess I can see that. How long have you been CFO at Bar Plan? Just about six years now; although, I ve been with the company for almost 15 years. Is it fair for me to think, then, that you were probably here when Bar Plan Mutual first started to use ETM products, or were they here before you got here? Actually, I was the one who initiated the process of bringing ETM aboard. I also notice you use many products in addition to Annual Statement ICC Pro, Premium Tax, Municipal Tax, and the Municipal Tax Handbook. Actually, we don t use Municipal Tax quite so much because we don t really deal with that many municipalities. But it s such an affordable part of the package, it made sense to have it.

I see you re also using State Financial Filing [formerly State Forms Supplement], which I would fully expect. But I m curious about how frequently you use ICC Pro, the Insurance Compliance Calendar. I don t use that. But someone on my staff does. She uses it to keep track of all the due dates for premium tax returns, quarterly payments, semi-annual payments and all of that stuff. Was there any kind of progression to your use of Wings Plus capabilities? Yes. We started with Annual Statement. And then as I went to a couple of seminars with ETM, in which they showed their different capabilities, that s when I started using a couple of the other ones, beginning with Premium Tax. We added State Financial Filing Forms next because we re licensed in 48 states, and I have a staff of just two working on those things. So, we needed something that would enable us to get more work done with less time and effort.

Before you adopted any of the ETM capabilities, did you use anyone else s? Were your financial reporting processes systematized in any way? We did have another annual statement software prior to ETM, but I liked the way ETM s capabilities were shaping up as a functionally integrated package. The notion of one, shared, inter-operational database made too much sense to ignore. You used an expression that really caught my ear. You said you liked the way their product was shaping up. That suggests to me that you re either in the market or keeping your eye on the market. When I go to the annual IASA Conference and various IASA regional meetings, I like to check things out. I was looking at different things, and I knew Layton Olson from when he was with another company prior to ETM. Does the Bar Plan typically exhibit at IASA? No. But I always attend. If I were working for a company similar to the Bar Plan, and I called to say we re interested in statutory reporting software, what might you tell me?

I d say we ve been very happy with ETM. We ve had no complaints that I know of over the last few years we ve been using them. When we first started using them and had some questions, they were very quick to respond and easy to talk to. They d get us through the issues. So I ve been very happy. I especially like the fact that it s housed on their end. All the updates and everything are taken care of on their side, so I don t have to worry about that here. And I d also cite general ease of use. I wouldn t look to make any changes at this point in time, that s for sure. All right, sir. On that note, I thank you for your time and a very enjoyable conversation. It s been a pleasure. You re very welcome. I ve enjoyed it, too. Do you happen to know if the Gateway Arch is dishwasher safe? Uh I doubt it.