How Caldwell Insurance Saved 10+ Hours Weekly with Ascend

Glenn S. Caldwell Insurance Services, a family-owned agency nestled in the heart of Sonora, California, has been a cornerstone of local insurance services for generations. With a migration toward Hawksoft 6 and potential acquisition plans on the horizon, the agency has consistently prioritized innovative solutions to serve their clients more effectively while growing the business.

As Caldwell expanded, managing agency bill financial operations became increasingly complex. The trust accounting process, once handled internally, grew more demanding as transactions tripled—from around 5 to 15–20 policies per week. Christina Tyler, Director of Operations, noted the mounting strain on her team as administrative burden began diverting attention from strategic work. The agency realized it needed to automate financial workflows to free up staff for higher-impact initiatives.

Although the agency had been using ePay for payment collection, it became apparent that an invoicing solution alone wasn’t enough. They implemented AndDone via IPFS but the problems remained—staff still had to invoice through Hawksoft, collect the down payment, forward it to the carrier, and send a separate finance agreement to IPFS. The system helped, but it didn’t fully consolidate the agency bill workflow.

The Caldwell Insurance team implemented Ascend’s agency bill automation platform – purpose-built for agencies facing increased challenges in invoicing and accounting processes that come with working in non-admitted markets.

Ascend provided one unified workspace that offered the Caldwell team:

• Automated invoice generation with AI-powered document processing
• Real-time commission and payment tracking
• Simplified trust accounting workflow
• Seamless integration with Hawksoft 6
• Digital payment options for insureds including ACH and credit card
• One flow for customers and accounting for both pay in full and premium financed policies
• Automated email reminders for invoices

The best part – the team’s transition to Ascend was fast. Both teams initially met with each other the first week of October in 2024 to discuss their challenges, and by the third week of the month, Caldwell's account and users were all set up.

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Since adopting Ascend, Caldwell Insurance has not only optimized its existing agency bill processes, but also seamlessly onboarded a newly acquired agency without increasing operational overhead. While scaling their operations over 6 months, they saw nearly double the agency bill volume than anticipated but their respective work decreased. The team has experienced:

• Saved 10+ hours per week across accounting and service teams by eliminating manual trust accounting, reconciliation, and payment collection related tasks.
• Nearly 90% of premium-financed customers enrolled in autopay, reducing overdue invoices and time spent on payment follow-up.
• 18% increase in insureds opting to finance premiums, unlocking a new revenue stream through financing fees and improving cash flow consistency.

Across all these levers, the partnership with Ascend has positioned Caldwell Insurance for scalable growth, showcasing how purpose-built technology can eliminate operational bottlenecks and empower agencies to scale efficiently.