Managing workers' compensation pre-mium payments presents a challenge for small and medium-size businesses. However, The Hartford Financial Services Group now is offering a service that automates workers' compensation premium calculation and payment when businesses run payroll, helping to save time and reduce costly mistakes. The Hartford has launched XactPAY Web, a QuickBooks product that alleviates the burden of manually monitoring cash flow issues associated with workers' compensation payments for policyholders of The Hartford.

"We know business owners have their hands full providing the best service and products to their customers," says Ray Sprague, senior vice president, small-business insurance at The Hartford. "QuickBooks Payroll users can purchase The Hartford's workers' compensation policy through their independent agent and save significant time and expenses. That's a great added value for our customers, and there's no additional charge for this service."

Companies use QuickBooks to track expenses and inventory, prepare and send invoices, and for other accounting tasks in addition to running payroll. "Since QuickBooks has the largest market share of accounting products for small business in the country, it's familiar to our insurance customers," says Sprague. "Our agents have asked us to offer the XactPAY premium billing service so their commercial clients can leverage the cash management advantages of paying workers' compensation premiums more easily."