You’ve heard the phrase time is money – and in no industry is that more true than in restoration.

As a restoration business owner, you know that every minute you’re not focused on doing the job is costing you money, and one of the most time-consuming aspects of the business can be the claims collection process. It can be complicated, tedious, and frustrating, as you wait months to get paid at all for work that’s been done for weeks. 

Luckily, there are some incredible tools out there to help. In this blog, we’ll walk you through the best tech to streamline job management, documentation, estimating, task management and accounts receivable.

With the right tools in your arsenal – and the right partners working alongside you – the claims process can become something you rarely have to think about, giving you time back to focus on what you do best: run your business. 

A Streamlined Estimating Process

When it comes to actually writing out your insurance claims estimate, the right software can go a long way in streamlining the process and saving you time. Two tools you want at your disposal are Xactimate and Actionable Insights. 

Xactimate walks you through the steps of the claims process, from gathering loss information and sketching out a diagram of the structure, to selecting related project costs and verifying the accuracy of the estimate. Actionable Insights works as an add on within Xactimate, providing you with invoicing templates and alerts about commonly-missed line items and inconsistencies between line items.

Though these are great tools, it’s important to note that you will probably need to adjust the suggested pricing of line items to make them reflect your actual costs. These tools give averages and these averages are often skewed because insurance carriers upload their data to Xactimate more often than contractors. This is why it’s important to upload your custom pricing to Xactimate every time you create an invoice.

Field Documentation Solutions

In restoration, evidence is everything. You want a tool that makes documentation easy and simple, so you’re not left with a mountain of paperwork at the end of a long work day. Enter field documentation solutions like Encircle and Xcelerate. 

Encircle features an easy-to-use mobile app that lets you take photos, videos, notes and more, with automatic organization processes that make documentation a breeze. Xcelerate also has an intuitive field capture, and it features job management options as well. These include workflow solutions, time tracking, customizable daily checklists and more. 

As you already know, documentation is essential to the claims process. You want it done quickly, but you also want it done well, in case you’re asked to provide additional documentation after the work is finished. Tools like Encircle and Xcelerate are great to keep you totally covered regarding documentation. 

Tech for Job Management

Mistakes in the field can mean extra costs in time and money for your business. Because of this, it’s essential that you be able to manage what’s happening out in the field anytime, from anywhere. Clean Claims is one of the top technologies to accomplish this. 

Clean Claims is a process enforcement software. It’s your one-stop-shop for job management, with step-by-step management tools, remote monitoring, and accountability features. Every action is time stamped and attributed to a person, removing the doubt around who’s done what – especially if something goes wrong. 

A bonus: Clean Claims is a preferred tool by insurance companies, because it assists in achieving the ultimate goal of perfect documentation and accountability for every job.

Task Management and ERP Solutions

In thinking about task management systems, you want one that’s easy to use so that it’s not another time sink. Monday, Salesforce, Dash and PSA are all excellent options for the restoration industry. 

Monday is the most traditional when it comes to task management – you can create projects, assign tasks, develop workflows and more, with deadlines and goals tracking, to boot. Salesforce is typically a customer relationship management (CRM) platform and can be a powerful tool in managing all of your customer relationships from start to finish, along with fostering new and old business.

DASH is a technology specific to the restoration industry, with a customized workflow builder, compliance manager, equipment manager, jobs calendar and more. PSA is an ERP solution by Canam Systems designed to help restoration companies manage their projects, resources, time and expenses, and invoicing and billing processes more efficiently. PSA is a fully integrated solution capable of providing open API access with any industry leading solutions. It integrates with Xactimate & XactAnalysis, CoreLogic Symbility, Encircle, Matterport, DocuSketch, and more.

The more efficient your task management, the more efficient your job overall, and the easier the claims process will be in the end. These tools can help increase your efficiency with your team across the board. 

Claims & Accounts Receivable (AR) Management

Of course, once the job is done, it’s time to make sure you actually get paid. This can be one of the most stressful parts of the entire process, and there isn’t a great AR tool out there specifically designed  for contractors. 

That’s why we at One Claim Solution developed the software that our claims advocates use: to make them more efficient and provide you as the contractor with absolute clarity into your own AR. 

At One Claim Solution, we bridge the gap between you, the insurance adjusters, and getting paid. Once you submit your claims with us, we will routinely follow up with the adjusters, immediately address any questions that come up, provide additional documentation if necessary, and work cooperatively with adjusters to make sure you get paid quickly. We take the entire invoice submission and follow-up process off of your hands. 

Beyond that, we also provide reporting functionality around days of first payment, collection rates when it comes to billed vs. collected amounts, and more – all sent to you weekly, or however often you’d like. 

You deserve clarity when it comes to your AR – and you shouldn’t have to spend your evenings following up on claims you’ve already submitted. When you work with a partner like One Claim Solution, we do all that work for you.

A Final Word

We know how exhausting the claims process can be – but with these tips, tricks and tools, we’re hoping the process can go from daunting to just a part of your workflow. A streamlined process will take the stress out of getting paid, and the right tools can give you accountability and surety in every aspect of a job.

To stay up-to-date on everything restoration and to learn more tips about simplifying the claims process, sign up for our newsletter, Claims Corner. We’ll keep you in the know when it comes to new technology, restoration news and more.

Need even more help? We’d love to work with you. Reach out to us today to learn how we can help you with your unique business needs and goals.