Julie Richt, President and Founder at Lucid Insurance, shares their experience with Balanced:

What I appreciate most about Balanced is that they're always thinking a step ahead. Insurance accounting is its own beast, and most firms would just close the books and move on. Balanced builds for where we're going. Practical solutions that work today but are designed to scale. It's rare to find an accounting team that genuinely understands the business behind the numbers

Overview

Lucid Insurance Group is a fast-growing startup Managing General Agent (MGA) and specialty wholesale broker focused on middle-market commercial insurance. Based in Omaha, they specialize in property insurance and niche programs (such as dairy farmers), using cutting-edge technology, AI data integration, and platforms like BindHQ to deliver tailored solutions with greater transparency and efficiency for brokers and insureds.

The Challenge

As a traditional insurance agency transitioning into a tech-enabled MGA, Lucid was experiencing rapid growth but operating with very basic financials. They were preparing to raise their next round of funding and ran into serious limitations:

• Running on cash accounting with no proper accrual basis books.

• Manual, time-consuming revenue recognition — the owner spent hours each month explaining how to book revenue for her bookkeeper.

• Difficulty tying out the books and gaining clear visibility into revenue.

• Complex prepaid expenses and other accruals due to the nature of insurance operations.

• Limited automated reporting for FP&A modeling, budgeting, and investor-ready financials.

Balanced’s Solution

We stepped in to transform their financial operations from basic cash accounting to a professional, accrual-based system tailored to their insurance business and growth ambitions. The goal was to give them clean books, save the owner significant time, and prepare them for fundraising.

What We Put in Place:

• BindHQ Integration — Created a custom integration with their insurance binding platform (BindHQ) to automate revenue recognition and eliminate manual monthly work.

• Accrual Accounting Setup — Fully transitioned them to accrual basis, including proper setup for prepaid expenses and other accruals common in insurance.

• Monthly Reconciliation & Close Process — Established reliable processes so the books now tie out cleanly with clear revenue visibility.

• Automated Reporting & FP&A Support — Implemented automated reporting to support financial planning and analysis, budgeting, and creating models for investors.

• Ramp for Expense Management — Got them on Ramp to streamline bill payments and credit card expense tracking.

The Results

Lucid Insurance now has professional, accrual-based financials with accurate and automated revenue recognition. The owner no longer spends hours each month on manual revenue booking — the process runs smoothly on its own.

They have clear, tie-out books and automated reporting that supports confident FP&A modeling for investors and internal budgeting. This solid financial foundation has removed previous uncertainties around revenue and expenses, freeing leadership to focus on growth, product innovation, and raising capital.