How to handle Principals in Visual Audit

Here are a few things to keep in mind regarding the principals (officers, partners, members, sole proprietors, etc.):

You do not always have to list the title of a principal in the Title Text column of the principals section. The Title Text only needs to be filled out if the correct title is not listed in the Title column. (The title will be abbreviated in the Title column, but the full title will be listed out on the final audit. For instance, only “Pres” will be listed in the Title column, but if you look at the Principals section under View Audit, it will list “President.”) If the principal is a President or a Treasurer, for instance, you do not need to list anything in the Title Text column; you just need to list a “P” or a “T,” respectively, in the T column of the worksheet, and those titles will be carried over to the worksheet automatically.

On the other hand, if you list an “M” in the T column, the Title column of the principals section will be left blank. Therefore, if the principal is a Partner or Member, you will need to list this in the Title Text column manually. If you list a “C” in the T column, it will list “Chairperson” in the Title column; therefore, if the principal is a CEO, you will need to list this in the Title Text column manually.

You need to list the ownership percentage of the principal, but you do not need to specify that this is the ownership. For instance, you do not need to list “100% owner” or “100% owned.” Both we and the carriers know that this percentage refers to the ownership; therefore, it is sufficient to just list the percentage, followed by the duties.

To avoid confusion, do not list any other percentages in the Principal duties. Rather than saying “100% in office,” for instance, state “only in office” or “solely in office.”

If a principal is active, you do not need to list the word “active” in the duties. You just need to list the duties. If a person performs duties, then they must be active; if they perform no duties, they are inactive. By virtue of having duties, they must be active, and so listing the word “active” is redundant and just takes up space. Likewise, if a principal is Inactive, you do not need to state that they have no duties. It is sufficient to simply list them as “Inactive,” since an inactive individual cannot be performing duties.

All principals must be carried over to the Principals section regardless of whether they're active or inactive, have ownership or no ownership, are listed on the endorsement or not listed. If someone is a corporate officer, a member, a partner, etc., they must be carried over to the principals section, and have their title, ownership percentage, and duties listed.

Normally, the Duties column of the payroll worksheet should be left blank for principals. The title and duties of a principal should already be listed in the Principals section, so they do not need to be listed on the worksheet.

If you click on the View Audit tab, and go to the principals section of the final audit (it will appear after the description of operations), you will see that the duties column on the final audit has limited space. So, please keep the duties listed for the principals concise.