Cities and Villages Mutual Insurance avoids 1099 errors with Sovos

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Case Study

Cities & Villages Mutual Insurance

The CFO of Cities and Villages Mutual Insurance Company (CVMIC) was wasting time stuffing envelopes for 1099 reporting. Sovos saved her company time and eliminated B notices.

Summary

Business Challenges

  • CVMIC’s CFO was bogged down with manual reporting processes.
  • The company struggled with abating B notices and paying P-notice penalties..

Solution

  • Sovos 1099 reporting automated the 1099 reporting process.

  • The company was able to perform name-TIN matching and avoid errors.

Benefits

  • CVMIC’s CFO can focus on critical work during reporting season rather than stuffing envelopes.
  • CVMIC has eliminated B and P notices.

The Organization

Cities and Villages Mutual Insurance Company provides liability insurance and risk management to municipalities in Wisconsin, as well as workers’ compensation and auto physical damage insurance. Founded in 1987, the company now has about 30 employees and is headquartered near Milwaukee. In addition to processing about 300 1099 forms of varying types per year, CVMIC also handles 1099s for some of its clients as a third-party administrator.

The Challenge

CVMIC’s CFO was in charge of processing 1099 forms, which involved both hiring temporary employees and taking time away from critical duties during reporting season to stuff hundreds of envelopes. The company’s staff struggled to find time to respond to B notices and chose to take a financial hit one year by paying P-notice penalties rather than seeking abatements. CVMIC used manual processes to distribute and report 1099s until the CFO met with Sovos about automating the reporting process.

The Solution

Sovos 1099 reporting empowered CVMIC to import 1099 information directly from Excel spreadsheets and, with its automated reporting capabilities, eliminated the need to print forms and manually stuff envelopes. The company can also match names with Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) to correct errors before reporting, thereby avoiding B notices. 

“I’m about automation and efficiency. Sovos saves a ton of time on printing, sending and mailing forms in reporting season.”

CFO, Cities and Villages Mutual Insurance Company

The Benefits

The Sovos 1099 reporting solution has been worth the investment for CVMIC. The CFO can focus on critical work rather than having to mail forms. CVMIC no longer needs to employ temporary workers during reporting season. The company has also been able to clean up its records. Furthermore, CVMIC hasn’t had a B notice in at least two years and no longer deals with paying P-notice penalties. Most importantly, a process that used to take a week now takes just a few hours.

Why Sovos?

Sovos offered automation and efficiency that clearly enabled CVMIC to make its reporting processes more efficient and save the company’s CFO from having to stuff envelopes. The company’s IT manager suggested the Sovos solution, and the CFO signed off on it after some cost-benefit analysis.