We close out the year with a look into our Accounting department. Ami Starks, Senior Accountant, describes her team’s role at BCS, the skills someone needs to succeed, how she got started with BCS, and her favorite thing about the holidays.
Q: Describe you/your team’s role at BCS.
A: I am a Senior Accountant for BCS in the Program Accounting area. Our main role is to process reinsurance activity to outside reinsurers and inter-companies each month. These transactions and the timely settlement of balances between reinsurers are very important for BCS to ensure that we manage our net retained risk. In addition, we are responsible to monitor all the different insurance product lines/management programs to ensure that they are running according to forecast. We analyze all the different components (gross written premium, claim activity, loss ratios, commission activity, etc.) that lead to the contribution to profit and overhead. This work is very rewarding and challenging, and what I love the most about my job is that each product and each month is so different from each other.
Outside of accounting, I am also part of the Wellness Team. The team encourages employees to find healthy lifestyles. Some of the ways we have encouraged the company to take healthy steps was by creating a Wallyball league during lunch time, installing new vending machines with healthier snack options, bringing in massage therapists to help reduce stress, and hosting a chili cook-off.
Q: What skills does someone need to succeed in your role?
A: The two main skills needed to succeed in my role are organization and time management. By knowing what steps need to be completed first you get the most out of your time. There are a lot of tight deadlines that need to be met so if you have your work organized in the right flow, you’ll be good to go!
Q: How long have you been with the company?
A: I have been with BCS for a little over four years. I started as an accounting intern for six months, and then transitioned to a full-time employee. Since I was an intern, I feel I was able to get a “sneak-peak” of the company. With this sneak-peak I was able to see how friendly the staff was and the unique-ness of the work. These two things are what drew me to accept a full-time position.
Q: Describe your department in three words.
A: Efficient, detail-oriented, and reliable.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about the approaching holidays?
A: My favorite thing about the approaching holidays is the non-stop Christmas movies being played on the Hallmark Channel. Each movie has the same predictable love story, but I cannot get enough. I love watching!
