For employee benefits general agencies
Benefits comparisons and proposals for the brokers you support.
Bring the carrier quotes into one reviewable case. Compare plans, model employer and employee costs, and prepare a branded proposal your retail broker can take into the client conversation.
Your service team’s work
The broker needs a recommendation. Your team has the carrier files.
A general agency may prepare the comparison while the retail broker owns the client relationship. Planlined’s proposal workflow connects the plan details, contribution assumptions and finished materials, so your team can prepare the numbers the broker needs to explain.
Prepare the case in your GA team
Bring received quotes into a comparison, review the rates and benefits, and prepare the proposal book. The broker can review the exported PDF or Excel file without joining your workspace.
Plan how you work across brokerages
For shared case access, multiple retail-broker brands or a wider network rollout, confirm the workspace and permissions first. A document handoff and shared editing are different ways of working.
Carrier response to broker handoff
Build the comparison. Review the costs. Hand over the proposal.
- 1. Bring the broker’s carrier packet togetherStart with the current plans, renewal and competitive quotes, SBCs, rate sheets and enrollment. Keep the effective date and the broker’s requested options with the case.
- 2. Review the comparison against the originalsCheck extracted rates, benefits and qualifiers against the carrier documents. Correct missing or unclear values and assign current, renewal and alternative plan roles before modeling costs. Source-page links may be unresolved.
- 3. Work out the employer and employee costsSet contribution and enrollment assumptions, then compare the renewal with the options the broker wants to discuss. Test a different strategy in a working scenario before adopting it.
- 4. Prepare the broker’s client materialsReview the proposal book’s plan comparisons, program financials and paycheck costs before exporting. Keep the assumptions and any unresolved questions with the handoff.
For the retail broker’s side of the work, see benefit comparison and proposal software for brokers.
See the completed result
Inspect the comparison and the finished proposal.
Follow two medical plans from reviewed rates to employer contributions, paycheck costs and a six-page proposal PDF.
- Current → renewal per month
- $8,200 → $9,020
- Employer contribution
- 75%
- Employee-only per paycheck · 26 deductions
- $63.46
Fictional medical example. Plan roles and contributions were set manually. The published PDF contains six proposal pages; the worked example includes the source inputs and verification method.
Inputs and outputs
What goes in, what comes out.
You bring
- Carrier quotes, SBCs, rate sheets, invoices and renewal packets in the documented file formats.
- Enrollment by coverage tier and the employer contribution assumptions to use.
- Medical, dental, vision, life and short- and long-term disability proposals.
You get back
- A reviewed comparison of current plans, the renewal and market alternatives.
- Employer and employee cost scenarios on the same case.
- A branded proposal book as PDF or Excel for the broker to review and present.
- An employee benefit guide as PDF or a hosted link when the selected plans are ready.
Every accepted file type and export format is listed on the integrations, exports and API page, and the one-page summary of what Planlined is and is not lives on Planlined product facts.
Team and network setup
Start with one case and the people who will work on it.
A free trial is available, with no credit card. Professional is $75 per month or $744 per year, with seats and AI allowance confirmed for your account. Before extending access to retail brokers, confirm the seats, organizations, permissions and branding your arrangement needs.
The fictional example above shows a medical comparison and actual PDF export. It does not demonstrate separate brokerage permissions, multiple agency brands or a GA network rollout. Check the capability and evidence table, published pricing and data handling before choosing your setup.
General-agency workflow questions
How can a general agency use Planlined to support retail brokers?
A general-agency service team can use the document-to-proposal workflow to compare received carrier quotes, set contribution assumptions and prepare proposal materials for a retail broker. Start with one case and review the output. Shared case access across separate brokerages, branding for multiple agencies and network-wide setup need a separate workspace discussion.
Does the retail broker need a Planlined account to review the proposal?
The broker can review an exported PDF or Excel file without a Planlined account. Access to a live or editable case is a separate setup decision. Confirm the users, organizations and permissions before sharing case access.
Can a GA and its retail brokers work in the same case?
Planlined documents team workspaces and case sharing, but the published worked examples do not demonstrate a GA-to-broker network workflow. Confirm which organizations can access a case, what each person can change and which plan is required before relying on shared editing.
Can proposals carry the retail broker’s branding?
Planlined documents branded proposal exports. Check the logo and layout on your first exported proposal. For a GA working under several retail-broker brands, confirm the branding setup with the team before rolling it out across agencies; per-broker brand switching is not demonstrated by the published examples.
Does Planlined distribute RFPs or request quotes from carriers?
No. Planlined works from the carrier quotes and documents you already have. Keep using your existing process to request quotes and follow up with carriers, then bring the responses into the comparison.
Which lines of employee benefits can the team compare?
The documented scope includes medical, dental, vision, life, and short- and long-term disability. The published fictional medical and dental examples demonstrate narrower workflows, not extraction accuracy across every carrier or line. Review each document and correct or enter values manually where needed.
Does the Professional plan cover an entire broker network?
Professional is $75 per month or $744 per year, with unlimited cases and exports; AI usage has a separate allowance. Confirm team capacity and billing scope before extending access to external brokerages. Confirm seats, organizations, broker access and any Enterprise requirements for your network.