It just got easier and more efficient for small business employers to pay their workers' compensation insurance premiums and manage their cash flow. Intuit Inc. and The Hartford have entered into a strategic alliance to offer The Hartford's XactPAY Web workers' compensation premium payment service to Intuit Payroll's more than one million customers free of charge. And, they will market Intuit Payroll, designed to help small businesses quickly, easily and confidently set up and manage payroll, to the customers of The Hartford's small business commercial agents.

XactPAY Web, fully integrated with Intuit QuickBooks Payroll, automatically calculates the premiums for Hartford-issued workers' compensation policies each time payroll is run using QuickBooks Payroll. Payments are then automatically drawn from the employer's bank account each pay period, eliminating the hassle of writing checks. Upon request, employers can receive e-mail notifications before payments are made and monthly detailed reports from The Hartford. The XactPAY Web premium payment service is free of charge to Intuit QuickBooks Payroll customers that also have Hartford-issued workers' compensation policies.

The combination of Intuit Payroll and The Hartford's XactPAY Web premium payment service enables small business owners to pay Hartford workers' compensation premiums one payroll at a time. This helps improve the business' cash flow by eliminating the need for large down payments and minimizing the potential for year-end audit adjustments. Traditional billing methods can crimp cash flow by requiring employers to pay all or part of the year's workers' compensation premiums in advance, potentially tying up thousands of dollars at the beginning of each year.

"With this free solution, The Hartford and Intuit aim to help small businesses where it matters most - keeping more cash on hand," said Cameron Schmidt, vice president of Intuit's payroll division. "This initiative is the beginning of what we hope will be a long alliance dedicated to helping small businesses thrive."

"We're pleased to offer Hartford agents and our valued policyholders a unique premium calculation solution through our alliance with Intuit, a leader in providing small businesses with cash flow management tools," added Donato Monaco, vice president of The Hartford's Payroll Alliances Center. "Leveraging nearly 200 years of insurance experience, we developed XactPAY Web Special Edition for QuickBooks to provide Hartford policyholders with a solution that automatically splits up their workers' compensation premium into manageable installments, helping small businesses manage cash flow."

Getting started

Intuit Payroll subscribers can learn more about The Hartford's XactPay Web billing service by calling The Hartford at 1-877-633-6546 or submiting a request online. To learn more about Intuit Payroll, visit The Hartford online. For more information about your local state workers' compensation requirements go to the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.

This strategic alliance to offer The Hartford's XactPAY Web workers' compensation premium payment service to Intuit Payroll's customers is part of Intuit's renewed company-wide focus on helping consumers and small businesses save and make money.