Frequently Asked Questions

Plain-language answers about business interruption claims and about how BIClaimPro works out its estimates.

How is a claim laid out, and what are the five tabs?

A claim has five tabs: Claim Setup, Revenue Data, Expenses, Scenarios and Summary & Report. Claim Setup holds the business, the loss dates, the cover and the policy terms, and Revenue Data holds your sales history and the sales during the loss. Expenses holds your costs and extra expenses, Scenarios holds the reductions and the recovery after reopening, and Summary & Report shows the result and the downloads. A tab shows a tick when it is complete, and the Setup sidebar shows a Completion percentage and what is still missing.

What do I need to have before I start a claim?

Have your profit and loss (P&L) statement for the last full fiscal year, or a projected one for a new business, your sales for the months before the loss, your sales since the loss, and your policy terms. The P&L comes first, because the tool sets the claim rate only from a P&L. The Document Checklist on the Claim Setup tab lists the records to collect for your industry, split into Required and Good to Have, and counts how many you have collected.

Why is the Calculate button held, and how do I fix it?

The tool holds Calculate, and shows the reason in plain words, when something would make the result wrong. The reasons are: a new business has no opening date, a history row in the loss month has not been answered, the rows mix two granularities, an insured fixed cost has a blank loss month, an expense row is not marked insured or not insured, a weekly or monthly claim has a loss that needs daily rows, or the rate did not come from a P&L. The button then reads Show me what to fix, and it takes you to the tab that needs the change. The tool also asks for at least 3 pre-loss rows before it calculates.

What does this tool actually do?

BIClaimPro works out a business interruption (BI) insurance claim from your sales history, your profit and loss statement and the policy terms you enter. It shows three versions of the claim: Base Case, Conservative and Insurer View. It produces a PDF report and an Excel workbook. Check the result against your policy and your records before you rely on it.

Who should use this tool?

This tool is designed for three groups: (1) Business owners who have suffered a loss event and want to understand and document their BI claim before engaging an insurer or adjuster. (2) Public adjusters and insurance brokers who want a fast, structured calculation tool for their clients. (3) Lawyers and accountants who need a transparent, auditable financial model to support a claim dispute.

What is a Business Interruption claim?

A business interruption claim, also called a business interruption insurance claim, is a claim on your commercial policy for the income you lose when an insured event stops or slows your business. Depending on the policy, it can cover the loss while you are closed, a recovery period after reopening, and the extra expenses you incurred to reduce the loss. Your policy decides what is covered, for how long and for which causes, and the insurer decides whether the loss is covered. BIClaimPro works out the amount of a BI claim from your sales history, your P&L and your policy terms, and a broker or forensic accountant can help you check the policy.

How should I read the results?

The results are estimates calculated from the data you enter. They depend on that data and on the methods and assumptions you choose. The tool works from your own sales history, your profit and loss statement and the policy terms you enter, and the Revenue tab, the PDF and the Excel file show the working for every loss period. The Base Case, Conservative and Insurer View versions are higher-end, middle and lower-end estimates. The result is an estimate for you to check against your records and have reviewed by a qualified professional before you rely on or share it. It is not a promise of what an insurer will pay.

Does this replace a forensic accountant?

No. BIClaimPro is designed to assist forensic accountants, public adjusters, lawyers, and business owners, not replace them. It automates the structured data entry and calculation steps so professionals can focus on analysis, review, and claim strategy. For complex or disputed claims, the output should always be reviewed and signed off by a qualified forensic accountant or public adjuster.

What events can BI insurance cover?

BI insurance covers interruptions caused by a 'covered peril' as defined in your policy. Common covered perils include: fire and smoke damage, water damage from burst pipes or flooding (if flood is endorsed), storm and wind damage, explosion, equipment breakdown (if endorsed), civil authority orders (e.g., government-mandated closure), and supply chain disruption (if contingent BI is endorsed). Always check your own policy wording. The tool calculates the financial loss whether or not it is covered. Your insurer decides whether the loss is covered. Your broker can help you check.

What is an 'Insured Peril'?

An Insured Peril is a specific cause of loss that is covered under your insurance policy. Your policy will list covered perils either as a named-perils list (only the events explicitly listed are covered) or as an all-risks/open-perils policy (all events are covered except those explicitly excluded). Common insured perils for BI claims include fire, storm, flood (if endorsed), explosion, and equipment breakdown (if endorsed). The key point: BI insurance only pays if the interruption was caused by an insured peril. If the cause of loss is excluded from your policy (e.g., pandemic under a standard policy), the BI claim will be denied regardless of the financial loss.

What is 'Contingent Business Interruption' (CBI)?

Contingent Business Interruption (CBI) coverage extends your BI protection to losses caused by damage to a key supplier's or customer's premises, not just your own. For example, if your primary raw material supplier's factory burns down and you cannot source materials, causing your production to halt, CBI coverage would compensate you for the resulting revenue loss even though your own premises were undamaged. It requires specific documentation of the supplier/customer dependency and the causal link between their loss and your revenue shortfall.

What is 'Civil Authority' coverage?

Civil Authority coverage compensates you when a government authority issues an order that prevents access to your premises, even if your premises were not damaged. Common examples include road closures after a nearby fire, evacuation orders after a flood in your area, and government-mandated closures. This cover can be limited in time and can require that the order was issued because of physical damage to nearby property. Check your policy wording for the exact terms. Whether a closure order is covered depends on your policy wording, so ask your broker or lawyer.

What is 'Service Interruption' coverage?

Service Interruption coverage (also called Utility Interruption coverage) compensates you when your business is interrupted because a utility service (electricity, gas, water or telecommunications) is disrupted due to damage at the utility provider's infrastructure. For example, if a fire at a power substation cuts electricity to your manufacturing facility for two weeks, Service Interruption coverage would compensate you for the resulting production loss. This is a separate endorsement from standard BI.

What is 'Gross Profit' in the insurance context, and how does it differ from accounting gross profit?

In a BI policy, Gross Profit can differ from the gross profit in your accounts. Accounting gross profit is revenue minus cost of goods sold. For BI cover, the policy may define gross profit so that it captures what the business loses when sales fall: the profit and the insured costs that carry on. Check your own policy for its exact definition. In BIClaimPro the Gross Profit rate comes from your profit and loss statement: (Net Income + Insured Fixed Costs) / Revenue. Click the rate button for your cover after you enter the statement.

What is a 'Proof of Loss'?

A Proof of Loss is a formal sworn statement submitted to your insurer that documents the details of your claim: the date of loss, the cause of loss, the amount claimed, and supporting documentation. You will need to attach your policy documents, evidence of the loss event (fire report, police report, etc.), accounting records, and invoices for extra expenses.

How do I calculate a BI claim?

Calculate a BI claim in BIClaimPro by working through the five tabs: set up the claim and the policy terms, enter your P&L and click the rate button, enter your sales history and your sales during the loss, enter your expenses, then click Calculate. The tool works out the sales you would have made, takes off your actual sales and any waiting period days, applies the rate for your cover, adds the recovery after reopening where your cover pays it and the insured extra expenses, subtracts saved costs under Gross Profit and Gross Earnings cover, adds the contingency buffer, and then applies coinsurance, the flat deductible and the policy limit. The Summary tab shows each step, and the PDF and Excel reports carry the same working. A qualified professional, such as a forensic accountant or a public adjuster, should review the result before it goes to the insurer.

Do I need a forensic accountant for a business interruption claim?

Not always, but a forensic accountant is usually worth having for a larger or disputed claim. BIClaimPro does the structured calculation: it projects your normal sales, applies the rate from your P&L and lays out every step in the report. A forensic accountant or public adjuster does what the tool cannot, which is to check your records, judge the assumptions, decide how to treat unusual months and stand behind the claim. The PDF says the report should be reviewed by a qualified professional before it is submitted to an insurer.

Who uses BIClaimPro?

BIClaimPro is built for insurance brokers, public adjusters, claims adjusters, forensic accountants and business owners who need to calculate a business interruption claim, and for lawyers who need a structured calculation in a dispute. A broker or business owner can prepare a first calculation before the adjuster visits, and an adjuster can structure a claim before the first insurer meeting. A forensic accountant can use it to produce the working and then review the assumptions. Firm plans add team members and firm branding on the reports.

How is loss of income worked out in a BI claim?

Loss of income is worked out period by period. For each loss period the tool takes the sales you would normally have made, called but-for revenue, then subtracts your actual sales and any waiting period days to get the lost sales. It multiplies the lost sales by the rate from your P&L, so the insured fixed costs are inside the rate and are not counted twice, then adds the recovery after reopening where your cover pays it and the insured extra expenses. Under Gross Profit and Gross Earnings cover it subtracts saved costs, and it adds the contingency buffer before applying coinsurance, the flat deductible and the policy limit. BIClaimPro works out Gross Profit, Gross Earnings and Standing Charges cover, and a policy may call its cover business income cover, so check your policy wording with your broker and see the worked example for a fictional motel.

What file types can I upload?

Revenue history and your P&L accept CSV (.csv) and Excel (.xlsx and .xls) files up to 5 MB, or text pasted from a spreadsheet. For an Excel P&L only the first sheet is read. A claim file for Import Claim Data must be a .json file exported from BIClaimPro. Any other file type is refused with a message.

Is BIClaimPro certified?

No. The methods were developed with input from forensic accounting practice, but the software and its outputs are not certified, endorsed or approved by any accounting body, regulator, insurer or individual professional. BIClaimPro is calculation software that produces estimates from the data you enter.

Can I use a BIClaimPro report in court or arbitration?

A BIClaimPro report is not an expert report or professional opinion. If it is used in a claim, negotiation, appraisal, arbitration or court, a qualified professional must review it and take responsibility for it as their own work. The policy wording governs any claim. No claim outcome, settlement or payment is guaranteed.

Who is responsible for checking the results?

You are. The results are estimates calculated from the data you enter. You are solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the data you enter, for choosing the methods and assumptions, for reviewing and checking every result, and for your own professional judgment before you rely on, share or submit any output.

What is a business interruption claim?

A business interruption claim is a claim on a commercial insurance policy for the income a business loses, and the extra costs it has, while an insured event stops or slows its trading. It is worked out as an estimate from the business's sales and costs before and after the loss, and from the terms of the policy.

How is a business interruption loss calculated?

The usual approach is to estimate the sales the business would have made if the loss had not happened, take away the sales it actually made, and then adjust for the costs that stopped and the costs that carried on. Extra expenses and policy terms such as the waiting period, the policy limit and coinsurance are then applied.

What is the period of indemnity?

The period of indemnity is the length of time your policy pays for after the loss starts. It is set in the policy. Some policies also have an extended period of indemnity that covers the time sales take to recover after the business reopens.

What is a waiting period?

A waiting period is a period at the start of the loss that the policy does not pay for. It works like a deductible measured in time. Your policy states it in hours or days.

What is a coinsurance penalty?

A coinsurance clause asks you to insure at least a set share of what the policy base would have been for the period. If the amount you insured is lower, the claim can be reduced in proportion. The tool compares the two amounts and shows any reduction.

What is the difference between gross profit and gross earnings?

Both are bases of cover in a business interruption policy, and each is defined in the policy wording. They can differ in which costs are counted and in how the period after reopening is treated. Check your own policy for the exact definition.

What documents do I need for a business interruption claim?

You usually need your profit and loss statement for the last full year, your monthly sales for the months before the loss and for the loss period, the policy schedule and wording, and records of any extra expenses. The tool has a document checklist for each claim.

What do I see on the My Claims page?

My Claims lists every claim your account can open, and the header says how many claims are saved to your account. Each card shows the business name, the industry, a completion ring with a percentage, the loss date, and when the claim was modified and created. The header also has links for Report History, Firm Settings, Feedback, My Account and Sign Out, and buttons for Import Claim Data and New Claim.

What does the completion percentage on a claim card mean?

The ring shows how much of the claim is filled in. It counts the business name, the industry, the business type, the date of loss, at least 3 months of pre-loss revenue, revenue rows for the loss period, a claim rate, and an insured or not choice for every expense that has an amount. Hover over the ring to see Complete or a Still missing list. The ring is teal at 80% or more, amber from 40%, and grey below that.

What do the Calculated, In progress, Ready to report and Recalculate badges mean?

Calculated means the claim has a result. Recalculate means it has a result that is out of date compared with the inputs, so click Recalculate after you open it. In progress means there is no result yet. Ready to report appears when the completion percentage is 80% or more, whether or not the claim has been calculated.

Can I manage multiple claims in one workspace?

Yes. The Dashboard supports multiple separate claims each with its own industry, revenue data, expense schedule, and scenario settings. Common use cases: A public adjuster managing multiple clients can maintain a separate claim file for each client. A business owner with two separate loss events can run separate analyses for each. A forensic accountant can run different coverage type scenarios side by side for comparison. Saving your work: Your claims are saved to your account. Use Export Claim Data for a local backup. Downloaded reports (PDF and Excel) are saved to your firm account and can be opened again from Report History where your plan includes it.

How do I back up a claim and restore it?

Your claims are saved to your account automatically, so closing the tab does not erase your work. For a portable backup, open a claim and click Export Claim Data. It downloads a JSON file with the claim inputs and settings. To bring a backup back, click Import Claim Data on the Dashboard and choose the file. An imported claim starts without a result, so you click Calculate to get one. Whether that uses a claim depends on the file: see "Does importing a JSON backup use my quota?". The file holds no payment details or login details. You can send it to your accountant or adjuster, who can import it into their own account.

How do I open, create or delete a claim?

Click Open on a card to work on that claim, or click New Claim in the header or on the dashed card to start a new one. The trash icon on a card asks you to confirm. Deleting removes the claim from your list, and the server keeps the record. Export a backup first if you may want the claim again. A deleted claim stays used: see "Does deleting a claim give the claim back?".

How do I import a claim from a backup file?

Click Import Claim Data on My Claims and choose a .json file that you exported from this tool. It can hold one claim or a full backup. If a claim in the file has a problem, the page lists it as not imported, with the reason, and the other claims are imported. An imported claim comes in without a result, so you click Calculate to get one. Whether that uses a claim depends on the file: see "Does importing a JSON backup use my quota?".

Do my claims sync between devices, and what happens when I sign out?

Yes. Your claims are saved to your account, and they appear on a new device when you sign in. Signing out asks you first and offers Download Backup & Sign Out, which saves a backup file before you leave. Signing out clears the claim copies kept in the browser, and any change not yet saved is kept for you under your own firm and user.

Who sees Report History and Firm Settings in the header?

Report History shows for Solo, Firm and Enterprise accounts and for any firm that has paid for a claim, including by buying a pay-per-claim credit. Firm Settings shows only to administrators on the Firm and Enterprise plans. Feedback, My Account and Sign Out show to everyone. The server applies the same plan rule to Report History, so hiding the link is not the only check.

What can I set in Firm Settings?

An administrator can upload a logo (PNG, JPG or WebP, up to 2 MB) and choose a primary and a secondary colour. The logo appears on the cover page and header of the PDF and Excel reports, and the primary colour is used for section headers and table accents. White Label Mode hides the BIClaimPro branding, and the Report Footer Text of up to 500 characters appears in the footer of the reports. On My Claims, a banner reminds an administrator to add a logo and brand colour until both are set or the banner is dismissed.

How do I send feedback?

Click Feedback in the header to open a feedback form in a window. The form is pre-filled with your email, the page you were on and your plan, and no claim data is sent with it. What you type goes to the form, not to your claim.

How do I upload or restore a claim file?

Open a claim and click Export Claim Data to download a .json backup, or use Download Backup & Sign Out for all your claims, then click Import Claim Data on My Claims or inside a claim and choose the .json file. An imported claim comes in without a result, so you click Calculate to get one. Importing is free. A claim imported from a single claim file is always a new claim: calculating it uses 1 claim, even if it is the same business as a claim you already calculated. Restoring a full backup brings claims back as the same claims if they are still in your firm, or were deleted from it: recalculating them is free, and a changed business name or date of loss counts as a correction. A claim from another firm's file is a new claim in your firm.

What do I enter in Claim Setup?

Enter the business name, the industry, the loss start date and the loss end date (or the date operations resumed). Both dates are counted as loss days. Choose the data granularity and your coverage type, then enter your P&L and click the rate button under it. Add the policy terms: indemnity period, ordinary payroll treatment, waiting period, flat deductible, policy limit, extra expense limit and coinsurance. The cause of loss, claim reference and prepared by fields are optional.

What do I enter for the business information?

Enter the business name, which appears on the report cover page, and optionally a claim reference and a prepared by name. Choose Established Business or New Business, then pick the industry and the business type. Each business type tile shows an indicative gross profit percentage, which is never used in your claim. Enter the business name and the loss dates before you click an industry, because the tool asks for them first.

Should I use daily, weekly or monthly rows?

The Data Granularity choices are labelled with the loss length they suit, and the tool suggests one from your loss dates while no revenue has been entered. The Claim Period is worked out from the dates and cannot be edited. If you switch granularity after entering revenue, the tool asks first. It then clears the revenue grid, including budget and forecast figures, and starts blank rows for your loss dates. Your old figures are not converted, and your expenses and policy details are not affected.

How do I set up an established business or a new business?

Business History has two choices. Established Business means 12 or more months of trading history, and you can add the date the business started trading. New Business means under 12 months of trading, or a loss at or near opening, and it asks for the date the business opened. For a new business the tool fills in the months of actual history from the opening date, up to 11, and uses the budget or projection figures you enter. The rate for a new business comes from a projected P&L.

What is the 'Indemnity Period' and how does it affect my claim?

The indemnity period is the longest time your policy pays for after the loss, stated in months in your policy. Enter it in Claim Setup as Indemnity Period (months). For Gross Profit and Standing Charges cover, the tool limits the recovery after reopening to the end of the indemnity period and says so in the report. The tool does not shorten the loss period you enter. If the loss runs across more calendar months than the indemnity period, the report shows a note, so check that part of the claim against your policy wording.

Does BIClaimPro support manufacturing businesses?

Yes. When Manufacturing mode is selected, BIClaimPro runs a production-based cross-check alongside the standard revenue analysis. The cross-check calculates the expected gross profit loss from production shortfall data (normal capacity, actual output, inventory buffer, selling price per unit, and labour standing charges) and compares it to the revenue-based loss. A variance greater than 10% triggers a warning to review the consistency of revenue records and production records. The revenue-based calculation remains the primary claim figure. The manufacturing cross-check is a cross-check only.

What is a 'Waiting Period'?

The waiting period is the number of days at the start of the loss that the policy does not pay for. It is separate from any dollar deductible. Enter it in days in Claim Setup. Policies often state it in hours, so convert hours to days first (72 hours is 3 days). The tool removes the first waiting-period days of the loss, one calendar day at a time from the loss start date, and it removes your actual sales on those days too. If the waiting period is as long as the loss or longer, there are no lost sales to claim and the report says so. Insured extra expense is still claimed unless you set Waiting period applies to extra expense to Yes. The waiting period is applied first, then the rate. Coinsurance, the deductible and the policy limit come after that.

What does the Budget / Forecast Data Available switch do?

Turn it on if you have budget or forecast figures from before the loss. The tool then compares your past budgets with your actual sales, using the months that have both, and it needs at least 3 such months to run the test. With fewer than 3, a forecast you type for the loss is used as typed and the report says no past forecasts were available to test it against. With the switch on and no forecast typed, your pre-loss budget trend is the forecast when you have at least 3 months of past budgets (6 weeks on a weekly claim, 91 days on a daily claim), the claim is worked out on both bases, and the higher one is the Base Case. The small percentage in a budget cell is the actual sales for that month as a share of the budget.

How do I upload my P&L?

On Claim Setup, click Import P&L, then paste the table or upload a CSV or Excel file. The first sheet is read, with the line name first and the annual amount in the Total, Year to Date or latest year column. A review table lists each line with a Use as choice, and an Insured tick for fixed costs, while totals and profit lines are left out. Add to my P&L stays disabled until every wages line has a choice and every fixed cost is marked Insured or Not insured. The import fills revenue, variable costs, fixed cost rows and the ordinary payroll amount per month, but it never sets the rate, so click Use Rate % afterwards to set it and pre-fill the Expenses tab.

What is the GP% and how do I find it from my financial records?

The Gross Profit rate (GP%) is the share of revenue that remains as profit plus the insured fixed costs. BIClaimPro calculates it from your profit and loss statement. Gross Profit Rate = (Net Income + Insured Fixed Costs) / Revenue. Gross Earnings Rate = (Revenue - Variable Costs - Uninsured Fixed Costs) / Revenue. On the same figures it equals the Gross Profit rate. Enter the profit and loss statement in Claim Setup (the last full fiscal year, or a projected statement for a new business), then click the rate button under it. The button is named after your cover (Use Insurance GP Rate %, Use Business Income Rate %, Use Gross Earnings Rate % or Use SC Rate %), and one click sets the Gross Profit, Gross Earnings and Standing Charges rates together. Without a profit and loss statement the tool does not calculate. Industry template figures are indicative only and are never used in a claim.

What coverage types does the tool support?

BIClaimPro supports three coverage types, chosen in Claim Setup. Gross Profit (GP) cover Rate = (Net Income + Insured Fixed Costs) / Revenue. Covers the loss period and the recovery after reopening, up to the end of the indemnity period. Gross Earnings (GE) cover Rate = (Revenue - Variable Costs - Uninsured Fixed Costs) / Revenue, the same rate as Gross Profit. Cover ends when operations resume, unless the Extended Period of Indemnity (EPI) endorsement applies; then the recovery is covered for the EPI days. Standing Charges (SC) cover Rate = Insured Fixed Costs / Revenue. Net Income is not insured under this coverage. Covers the loss period and the recovery after reopening, up to the end of the indemnity period, like Gross Profit. Under every cover the rate is applied to the lost sales. Insured fixed costs that are inside the rate are not added to the claim a second time.

What is the difference between Gross Profit and Gross Earnings BI coverage?

Gross Profit cover and Gross Earnings cover both turn the lost sales into an insured loss using a rate taken from the business's profit and loss statement. Under both covers the insured fixed costs are inside the rate and are never added on top, so on the same figures the two rates are equal and the loss while the business is closed is the same. They differ in when cover ends: Gross Earnings cover ends when operations resume, unless the policy adds an Extended Period of Indemnity; Gross Profit cover runs to the end of the indemnity period. BIClaimPro uses the cover you choose in Claim Setup.

What is 'Extended Period of Indemnity' (EPI)?

The Extended Period of Indemnity (EPI) is a policy endorsement that extends cover beyond the date operations resume, to cover the time your sales are still recovering toward normal. In BIClaimPro the effect depends on your cover. Under Gross Earnings cover without EPI, cover ends when operations resume and no recovery is claimed. With EPI, the recovery is claimed for the EPI days you enter in Claim Setup, counted from the day after the loss ends. Under Gross Profit and Standing Charges cover, the recovery after reopening is claimed up to the end of the indemnity period. EPI only adds to the claim. It never changes the rate.

What is Gross Profit Rate in a BI policy?

The Gross Profit rate converts lost sales into an insured loss. BIClaimPro does not take it from a typed margin. It calculates it from your profit and loss statement as (Net Income + Insured Fixed Costs) / Revenue when you click the rate button for your cover. Your policy may state its own rate or definition, so compare the two and ask your broker about any difference. Insured fixed costs are inside the rate, so they are not added to the claim separately.

What is Gross Earnings Rate in a BI policy?

The Gross Earnings rate is used under Gross Earnings cover. Rate = (Revenue - Variable Costs - Uninsured Fixed Costs) / Revenue. Variable costs are costs that stop when operations stop: cost of goods sold, commissions, variable labour and packaging. The rate already includes your insured fixed costs by definition, so they are not added to the claim separately. It is the same rate as the Gross Profit rate on the same profit and loss statement.

What does the Cause of Loss field do?

Cause of Loss is a short description of the insured event, for example a fire. It is saved with the claim, and a notice appears in the calculation if it is left blank. It does not affect any figure.

How are the loss start date, the loss end date and the claim period set?

Enter the first and last day of the interruption. Both days are counted as loss days. For Gross Earnings cover the end date is labelled Date Operations Resumed / Repairs Completed. The Claim Period is worked out from the two dates, shown in days and months, and cannot be edited.

What does the Recommended historical data line mean?

The line under the loss dates says how much history the tool suggests, worked out from the length of your loss: on a monthly claim twice the loss months and at least 12 months, on a weekly claim three times the loss weeks and at least 13 weeks, and on a daily claim three times the loss days and at least 21 days. The Document Checklist uses its own fixed wording, 24 months of records recommended with 12 as the minimum, and it shows how many months you have provided. These come from two different places in the tool, and the right amount of history is still a question for the forensic accountant.

What is the declared sum insured, and is it used?

Your policy schedule may show a declared sum insured, and your P&L gives the rate. The loss itself is always worked out with the rate from your P&L. For the coinsurance test the tool uses the policy limit you enter, and it shows the base it used in the coinsurance box on the Summary. A new claim has no separate sum insured field.

How does the P&L section work?

Enter the annual revenue, the variable costs (cost of goods sold, sales commissions, variable labour, and packaging and delivery) and the fixed costs from your last full fiscal year, or from a projected P&L for a new business. Net income is calculated for you as revenue minus variable costs minus fixed costs. Tick Insured? on each fixed cost your policy covers, and use Add expense row for a cost that is not listed. A fixed row with no name shows the placeholder Name this cost, and nothing is deleted.

What does the Use Rate button do?

The recommended rate box shows the rate worked out from your P&L, and the button under it is named after your cover, for example Use Insurance GP Rate %. One click sets the Gross Profit, Gross Earnings and Standing Charges rates together from the P&L and pre-fills the Expenses tab from your P&L lines. The button is disabled until the P&L is valid. The tool shows a line naming the costs that lower the rate, for example costs that stop or are not insured.

What do the P&L warnings say?

If a cost line is a small number, 100 or less, on a P&L with a year's revenue of at least ten thousand dollars, the tool says: If that amount is a percentage, enter the dollar amount for the year instead. It also warns when a single cost is more than the year's revenue, and when the rate in use is far from the typical rate for the industry, which can be right but is worth checking. They are notes for you to check, and they do not change a figure.

What is projected business income?

Projected business income is an optional field that appears once you choose a coinsurance percentage. It is your projected business income for the 12 months from the policy start or renewal. If you leave it empty, the tool estimates the base from your sales and the claim rate. The coinsurance box on the Summary names the base it used, for example last fiscal year at the claim rate.

What do the Document Checklist counts mean?

The Document Checklist in the Setup sidebar appears once you choose an industry. It is split into Required and Good to Have, and the header shows how many items you have ticked as collected. Lines about records show the recommended months and how many months you have provided. The Summary tab has a shorter checklist, a plain list without ticks.

What is the 'but-for' revenue concept?

The 'but-for' revenue is the revenue your business would have earned 'but for' the loss event. The tool projects it from your own sales history (for a new business with fewer than 3 periods of actual sales, from the projections you enter). If you enter a forecast for the loss period, the claim is also worked out on the forecast and the higher result is used. The forecast is tested against your past forecasts when the budget switch is on and you have at least three periods of both. A seasonal pattern from your own sales history is applied only when you turn on the Seasonal Revenue Pattern setting and have 24 months or more of history. The difference between the but-for revenue and your actual sales during the loss is the lost sales, and the claim is worked out from that.

How do I import revenue from a file?

On the Revenue tab you can type or paste revenue into the grid, or use the import wizard. You can download a CSV or Excel template from the wizard, or use your own file. The wizard finds the date and revenue columns, lets you change them, and shows every row for your review before it is placed in the claim. A blank revenue cell stays blank. It is never treated as zero. Only a zero you type is a real zero.

How many months of pre-loss revenue data should I enter?

The tool can only work from the history you give it. The checklist recommends 24 months of records, with 12 months as the minimum. More history gives the tool a firmer base, and the report shows how many months you provided. A seasonal pattern from your own sales history is applied only when you turn on the Seasonal Revenue Pattern setting and have 24 months or more of history. If your business is less than 12 months old, use the months you have and enter a projected profit and loss statement for a new business.

What if I do not have 12 months of pre-loss revenue data?

If your business traded for fewer than 12 months before the loss, enter every month you have. The tool chooses its method from the length of your history, and the report states how much history it used. If the business was new, use New Business mode and enter a projected profit and loss statement. Industry figures are indicative only and are not used in the claim. Keep your records ready, such as bank statements and sales reports, and consider asking a forensic accountant to review the claim.

Step 1: How is the 'But-For Revenue' calculated?

But-For Revenue is what the business would have earned during the loss period had the insured event not occurred. BIClaimPro works it out from your own sales history. The tool chooses the method from the length of your history and the length of the loss: 1. Part periods, including short losses: when the loss covers only part of a month or a week, that period uses its own normal sales per calendar day. A month is divided by its own number of days, a week by 7, and the loss days are counted inclusively. So a 10-day loss inside a 31-day month is that month's normal sales divided by 31, times 10. This applies whatever the length of the loss, so monthly or weekly figures are fine for a loss of a few days; daily figures give a finer answer if you have them. 2. Trend method (OLS regression): with 12 or more months of history (13 or more weeks on a weekly claim, 365 or more days on a daily claim), the tool fits a straight line through your pre-loss sales and projects it across the loss period. If the line fits poorly (R-squared below 0.3), the tool uses the simple average instead and tells you. 3. Simple average: from 3 months of history (6 weeks on a weekly claim, 91 days on a daily claim) up to the amount the trend method needs, the tool uses the average of your pre-loss periods. 4. Year-over-year growth: on a monthly claim with 13 or more months of history, the tool uses the same month of the prior year and the growth rate between the years. You turn it on with the Prior Year Same-Month Method setting on the Revenue tab. 5. Seasonal pattern: a pattern from your own sales history is applied only when you turn on the Seasonal Revenue Pattern setting and have 24 months or more of history. 6. Day-of-week averaging: on a daily claim, when you turn on the Day-of-Week Averaging setting on the Revenue tab, each weekday uses its own historical average. 7. New business: with fewer than 3 periods of actual sales, the tool uses the budget or projection figures you enter. The warnings panel and the generated report state which method was used and why.

Step 6: How is the Recovery Ramp-Up Loss calculated?

A business may not return to normal sales at once after reopening. For each period in the recovery window the tool takes the normal sales for that period less the sales you entered for it, never below zero, and multiplies the shortfall by your rate. On a whole period the normal sales are the whole period's, and the shortfall is then shared by the recovery days divided by the days in the period. Where the window opens part way through the FIRST period, the box asks for the recovery days only and says so, and the normal sales it is compared with are those days' share, so your own figure is not scaled a second time. The window depends on your cover. Under Gross Profit, Business Income and Standing Charges cover it starts the day after the loss ends and runs through the periods you fill in, extended one period at a time with Add next period, and never past the end of the indemnity period. Under Gross Earnings cover there is no recovery unless the policy has the EPI endorsement, and then it is claimed for the EPI days. The recovery is worked out only from the sales you enter, actual sales or your expected sales for a period that has not happened yet (the row says "your estimate" until you update it with actual sales). If you leave a recovery period blank, the tool does not estimate it: the recovery stops at that period, the report says the loss may continue, and you can enter sales for it to include it. A typed 0 is treated as real sales of zero. The waiting period never applies to recovery days. Once the sales you entered for a period reach its normal sales, that period and every later period claim nothing.

How is the average revenue in the Revenue Summary calculated?

The Revenue Summary shows the average revenue of your pre-loss history: the sum of the pre-loss revenue divided by the number of pre-loss periods counted. Once a result exists, it also shows the average the claim used. The history average is a reference figure. The claim uses the but-for projection for the method chosen, which can differ from the plain average. For example, with the trend method a growing business has a higher but-for figure than the plain average.

How is 'Lost sales (all loss periods)' calculated, and what does it mean?

Lost sales are worked out one loss period at a time: the sales the business would normally have made in that period, less any waiting-period days, less the actual sales earned. The Revenue Summary adds up each period's 'Lost sales claimed'. The loss is never worked out by setting an average of the sales after the loss against an average of the sales before it. The Revenue tab, the PDF and the Excel file show the working for every period, and the Summary states it as: 'Sales loss for 6 months during the loss period equates to $X.' This is the sales lost, not the final claim: the claim applies your rate to it and then the policy terms.

Can post-loss revenue be negative, and how does it affect the claim?

Post-loss revenue can legitimately be negative in some situations, for example when a business processes large customer returns or chargebacks during the interruption period. How it affects the claim: The loss formula is But-For Revenue minus Actual Revenue. A negative actual revenue increases the calculated loss beyond what a zero-revenue month would produce. How to enter one: Type the minus sign in front of the figure in the sales cell, for example -500. The cell keeps the minus, the figure is shown in red, and a note says the month is a refund or credit month. An imported file with a negative month is kept the same way. Before entering negative post-loss revenue confirm: 1. The negative value is a genuine accounting entry supported by your accounting system export or bank statements, not a spreadsheet formula artifact from dragging cells 2. You have documentation for each negative month 3. Expect the insurer to ask for documents for any negative figure If the business was simply closed during that period enter zero, not a negative number.

Does negative post-loss revenue balance out against expenses, like a balance sheet?

No. A BI claim does not net negative sales against expenses the way a balance sheet does. Negative post-loss revenue increases the lost sales for that month. Your insured extra expenses are not reduced by it. Insured fixed costs are inside the rate, so they are not added as a separate line. If any month shows negative post-loss revenue, check it carefully and keep documents that support it.

What is the difference between 'Forecasted Revenue' and 'Actual Revenue' in the calculator?

These are separate figures with different jobs. Actual revenue before the loss: what the business earned before the loss. It is the history the tool projects from. Enter it from your accounting records. Forecast or budget revenue before the loss: what the business expected to earn. With the budget switch on and at least 3 periods that have both a budget and an actual, the tool works out how closely past forecasts were met and applies that ratio to your forecast for the loss period. The report shows the ratio and both bases. Actual revenue during the loss: what the business actually earned during the loss. The gap between the but-for sales and this figure is the lost sales. Forecast revenue during the loss: what you expected to sell in that period but for the loss. If you type one, the tool works the claim out on two bases, your history and your forecast, and the Base Case is the higher of the two. Both are shown. A forecast is a forecast of normal sales and never an actual. Expected sales for months that have not happened yet go in Actual.

Should forecasted revenue be close to actual revenue, or far apart?

It depends on which comparison you make. Before the loss, forecast and actual should be close. When you turn the budget switch on and at least 3 periods have both a budget and an actual, the tool works out how closely past forecasts were met and applies that ratio to your forecast for the loss period. The report shows the ratio and both bases. During the loss, the but-for sales and the actual sales will differ. The gap is the lost sales, and a larger gap means a larger loss. If actual sales stayed close to the but-for sales, the loss was small. Fixed costs that carry on should be similar before and after the loss. Where an insured fixed cost fell because of the loss, the saving is deducted from a Gross Profit or Gross Earnings claim.

How does the trend method (OLS regression) work, and how does it differ from using last year's revenue?

The trend method fits a straight line through your pre-loss revenue, using ordinary least squares, and projects the line across the loss period. For an established business, with a loss longer than 31 days (both dates counted) and 12 or more months of history, the tool uses the trend unless you turn on the year-over-year option or, on a daily claim, Day-of-Week Averaging, or the line fits poorly. Compared with using last year's same month, the trend picks up growth or decline across all your history instead of one prior year. The year-over-year option is called Prior Year Same-Month Method on the Revenue tab. It uses the same month of the prior year and the growth rate between the years. It works on monthly claims with 13 or more months of history and a loss longer than 31 days (both dates counted). You turn it on on the Revenue tab. It cannot be used with the seasonal setting or for a new business. The tool shows an R-squared value, which shows how closely the line fits your data. A value below 0.3 means the sales were too uneven for the trend to be reliable, so the tool uses the simple average and tells you.

How do I enter my sales history and my sales during the loss?

On the Revenue Data tab, type or paste your actual sales for each month, week or day before the loss into the pre-loss table. You can add a past budget or forecast beside each period if you have one. The loss rows come from your loss dates, so change the dates in Claim Setup to change them, and in the loss rows enter the actual sales earned during the loss, and enter 0 for a period when the business was completely closed. When you paste, blank cells, N/A and a dash become no data and are never treated as 0, and nothing changes until you confirm.

The loss started part way through a month. What do I enter?

The row for the loss start month tells you how many of its days are loss days, for example that the loss starts on a given date so a number of the month's days are loss days. Enter only the sales from those loss days in that row. For the month the loss ends, enter only sales up to the end date, and sales after the end date go in Recovery after reopening. Weekly claims show the same note for a part week. The tool pro-rates the normal sales for the part period by calendar days, and the working for each row is shown on the Revenue tab, the Summary, the PDF and the Excel file.

What is the Normal full-month sales box?

When the loss starts part way through a month, the Revenue tab shows an optional box called Normal full-month sales for that month. Leave it empty and the tool uses the normal month from your history for that month. If you fill it in, that figure is the base for that month and is counted once in the normal-month average. It lives only in that box and never in the history above. A normal full month cannot be zero, and the tool warns you when the figure is far from your history average.

Why does the tool ask a question about the loss month in my history?

If you typed sales for the month the loss started, or for a later month, into the history, the tool does not guess what they are. It locks that row and holds Calculate until you answer. For the loss start month you can say the figure covers only the days before the loss, which keeps it as a note and never uses it in the calculation, or that it is a whole normal month, which moves the amount into the Normal full-month sales box. A row after the loss start can be moved to the loss rows as actual sales, and the bin icon removes a row entered by mistake. Your answer is recorded on the claim, and Change my answer lets you revisit it.

Where does my sales history stop?

History ends with the last full month before the loss, so the Add button is greyed out for the month the loss started, with a tooltip that sends you to the loss rows. Sales earned in that month before the loss date are not part of the claim and do not need to be entered, unless you want to record them in the Normal full-month sales box. You can still add earlier months with Prepend. A new business cannot prepend before its opening month.

How do I type a forecast for a loss period?

Type it in the Your normal-sales forecast (optional) column on that loss row. A forecast is the sales you expected for the loss days of that row only, not for the whole month, and the row shows it as, for example, Forecast for the loss dates (N days). A blank cell means no forecast. A typed zero is not used as a forecast, and the row says so, so leave it empty or enter the normal sales. For months that have not happened yet, put the expected sales in the Actual column instead, or 0 if the business stays closed.

What does the Seasonal Revenue Pattern switch do?

The seasonal switch can be turned on with 12 months of history, but 24 months or more are needed to say whether the business is seasonal. With less history no seasonal pattern is applied to the figures, even if the switch is on. For weekly claims the figures are 52 and 104 weeks, and for daily claims 365 and 730 days. The switch is disabled while the Prior Year Same-Month Method is on. The Revenue checks card says whether your last two years follow the same pattern.

What is Day-of-Week Averaging?

Day-of-Week Averaging is a switch on the Revenue tab for daily claims. When it is on, each weekday is projected from its own historical average, so a busy Saturday is not averaged with a quiet Tuesday. The tool needs at least 2 of each weekday in your history, and it shows the count for each weekday. The switch is not available while the seasonal switch is on, or for a new business.

What is the recovery check on the Revenue tab?

After each calculation, the recovery check compares actual and projected sales for the last few periods of the loss. If actual sales were already back to the projected level before your loss end date, or were still below it at the end date, a note appears in Notices & Warnings. It is advice only. It never moves your dates and never changes a figure. It needs a few periods in a row to speak, and when there is not enough data the tool says so.

How do I enter my sales after the business reopens?

The Recovery after reopening section on the Revenue tab shows each period of the recovery window with its dates and days, and for each row you enter the actual sales and, if you want, your own forecast. Add next period extends the window by one period, up to the end of the indemnity period, and a period saved on the claim that the window does not reach reads "Saved but not used" and is in no total, with Use to take it in and Clear to remove it. If you leave a period blank, nothing is estimated: the recovery stops at the first blank period and the row says the loss may continue. A period that has not happened yet can hold your expected sales, which count as your estimate until you replace them with actual sales. A typed 0 means no sales, and once actual sales reach the projection that row claims no further loss.

What is the Projection Basis Comparison box?

When you type a forecast for a loss row, the box shows the claim worked out two ways: based on historical results, and based on forecasted results. The forecasted row also shows how the past forecasts tested, or says there were no past forecasts to test against. If you typed no forecast but the budget switch is on with enough past budgets (at least 3 months, 6 weeks on a weekly claim, 91 days on a daily claim), your pre-loss budget trend is the forecast and the box says so. The row the Base Case used carries the SELECTED badge, and a difference of more than 10% between the two bases triggers a warning. With neither a typed forecast nor a usable budget, the box shows one row and says No forecast entered.

What are the Revenue checks, and do they change my claim?

Revenue checks is a card on the Revenue tab, and a section in the PDF and Excel file when there is something to report. It shows the normal sales for each loss period under a few methods, checks your forecast against the history, points out unusual periods and data problems such as missing, negative or duplicate periods, comments on the seasonal pattern, and lists your answers. The card says it is for your information and does not change the claim figure. It reads your saved claim, so it waits until your changes are saved. One of its lines names the method that fit best on your last periods, which needs at least 6 periods, and says it is not used in the claim.

What are Your answers and the questions an accountant may ask?

Where a forecast is far from your history, or a period in your history looks unusual, the Revenue checks card asks for a short reason. For each unusual period you can answer A one-off event, A normal period for this business, Caused by the same event as the loss, or Other with a note. A collapsed list called Questions an accountant may ask covers changes planned before the loss, outside effects that would have happened anyway, and whether a rise in sales after reopening may be make-up sales. Your answers are printed in the report. They explain your figures to the reader, and they do not change the claim figure.

Can I undo a revenue import?

Yes, for a short time. After you import revenue, the confirmation message has an Undo import button that puts the rows back as they were before the import. The undo is available for 10 minutes. After that the import stays, and you can still edit or remove rows by hand.

What does the rate heading on the Revenue tab show?

The heading on the Revenue tab names the rate for your cover, for example Insurance Gross Profit Rate, Gross Earnings Rate or Standing Charges Rate. A badge says which rate is in use and that it is the rate the tool applies to lost revenue. Below it, the industry indicative figure is shown for reference only, and it is never used in the claim. With no P&L, the tab asks you to enter the P&L and click Use Rate %.

What do the buttons and icons on the history table do?

Prepend adds an earlier period at the top, Add adds a later one, and Import Revenue opens the import wizard. The eye icon on a history row excludes that period from the baseline, for example a period distorted by a promotion or a one-off event, and clicking it again includes it. The bin icon removes the row. A long history is collapsed into one line that says how many earlier periods it holds and that they are still used in the calculation.

What do the projection method and the confidence label on the Revenue and Scenarios tabs mean?

The tool names the method it used to project your normal sales, for example a 17-month average, and gives the reason, such as sales that vary too much for a trend line. It also shows a confidence label with a sentence that says why, and what would raise it, for example a steadier sales history. The method follows the length of your history, as described in the but-for revenue answers. The label is a guide to how reliable the projection is, not a promise about what an insurer will accept.

How do I answer the unusual periods in Your answers?

When the Revenue checks card flags an unusual period, Your answers shows a dropdown with four choices: A one-off event, A normal period for this business, Caused by the same event as the loss, or Other. Add a short note, and with Other the tool asks for one so the reader knows why. If you say the same event caused it, the tool adds a line that an accountant may leave the month out of the normal-sales average or start the loss earlier. Your answer is saved on the claim, printed in the PDF and the Excel file, and never changes the claim figure.

What are the accountant questions and the forecast question?

Under Questions an accountant may ask you can describe changes planned before the loss, such as a new product, a price change or a move, and outside effects that would have happened anyway, such as roadworks, a strike or the weather. A third question asks whether the rise in sales after reopening may be make-up sales for sales lost during the loss, with the answers No answer, Yes, No or Not sure. If you answer Yes, the report says the insurer may deduct sales after reopening that make up for lost sales. When your forecast is far from the history, a box asks why your forecast is different. None of these answers changes the claim figure, and all of them print in the PDF and Excel file.

What do the Loss days and momentum and the reductions sections of Revenue checks say?

Loss days and momentum shows, for a part period, how many of its days are loss days and the normal sales for those days, and it says whether sales in the last 3 periods are above or below the same periods a year earlier. The reductions section explains the suggested Conservative and Insurer View percentages: it names what the suggestion looked at, such as the amount of history, how well the trend fits and the seasonal switch, then shows the suggested and the applied figure. Both sections are for information and do not change the claim figure.

What does Ongoing claim: some months have not happened yet mean?

The Revenue tab shows this notice only while part of the loss is still in the future, and it marks those rows Future month, update when it happens. Enter actual sales for the days that have already passed. For a period that has not happened, enter the sales you expect in the Actual column, or 0 if the business stays closed, and the row is labelled Estimated, assumes the business stays closed, update with actual sales. A forecast of normal sales goes in the forecast column, not in Actual. Once the loss has ended and every period has happened, the notice goes and you replace each estimate with the sales the business really made.

How do I upload my revenue history?

On the Revenue tab, click Import Revenue, then paste rows from a spreadsheet or upload a CSV or Excel file (.csv, .xls or .xlsx, up to 5 MB). The wizard finds the date and revenue columns, and you can change the header row and the columns, including an optional budget column. It then lists every row with a tick box, and nothing is placed in the claim until you click Confirm import. You choose whether to fill only empty months or to replace the months the file covers, and Undo import stays available for 10 minutes. You can also paste a column of values straight into the history grid.

What if my file has extra columns or totals rows?

Only the date, revenue and optional budget columns you map are read, so extra columns in a long file are ignored, and a file with periods across the columns lists the columns it did not import. A row that looks like a total, subtotal or year-to-date row is flagged and left unticked in the review step, and totals and profit lines in a P&L are left out. A blank cell, N/A or a dash becomes no data and is never treated as 0. Identical duplicate rows are removed, and if a period appears twice with different figures the wizard asks which is right before you can import. Rows after the loss end date are not imported, and a file on a different granularity from the claim is refused.

Does BIClaimPro keep the file I upload?

Not by default. For a revenue file you upload, a box reads Keep a copy of this file with the claim, and it is unticked until you tick it. Pasted data and P&L files are never stored. The tool always keeps a record of the import, which holds the file name, a fingerprint of the file, the row counts and which columns were used, but not the row values. A kept copy is stored privately for your firm, only a firm administrator can open it, and it is deleted automatically 12 months after you import it, the same 12 months for every plan.

What are Fixed Expenses?

Fixed expenses are costs that carry on during the interruption whether or not the business is operating, such as rent or mortgage payments, insurance premiums, loan interest, management salaries and utilities. Insured fixed costs are inside the Gross Profit and Gross Earnings rate. They are not added to the claim a second time.

What are Variable Expenses?

Variable expenses rise and fall with sales, such as raw materials, packaging and sales commissions. They are left out of the Gross Profit and Gross Earnings rate, so they are not claimed. Ordinary payroll has its own policy setting.

What are Extra Expenses?

Extra expenses are costs you incurred specifically to reduce the interruption, for example renting temporary premises, hiring emergency contractors, speeding up equipment delivery or paying premium rates for temporary staff. The tool does not claim an extra expense marked Not insured. The insured extra expenses are counted as they were incurred in each loss period. It does not reduce them for the waiting period unless you set Waiting period applies to extra expense to Yes. If your policy has an extra expense limit, enter it and the tool caps the extra expenses at that limit. Keep the invoices for every extra expense.

Can I edit the pre-populated expense categories?

Yes. Each industry template starts with a list of common expense rows for your type of business. Enter an amount on any row you need, or add your own rows with the Add custom expense buttons. Template rows you have not used are hidden behind Show unused template rows. A blank amount means no data. A typed 0 means the cost was really zero, so type 0 only when that is true. Rows you add yourself can be removed.

Step 4: How are Continuing Fixed Expenses calculated?

Continuing fixed expenses are costs that carry on during the interruption whether or not the business is operating, such as rent, insurance premiums, loan interest, management salaries and utilities. Under Gross Profit and Gross Earnings cover, insured fixed costs are inside the rate and are not added as a separate line. Under Standing Charges cover, the insured fixed costs are the basis of the rate. Where an insured fixed cost stopped or fell because of the loss, the saving is deducted from the claim, the same way for Gross Profit and Gross Earnings cover. Enter your continuing fixed costs in the profit and loss section and on the Expenses tab.

Step 5: How are Extra Expenses calculated?

Extra expenses are costs you incurred specifically to reduce the interruption, such as temporary premises, emergency contractors, expedited equipment or premium-rate temporary staff. The tool does not claim an extra expense marked Not insured. It claims the others as they were incurred in each loss month, and caps them at the extra expense limit when the policy has one. Keep the invoices for every extra expense.

What is the difference between fixed, variable and extra costs in a BI claim?

Fixed continuing costs carry on during the interruption whether or not the business is operating, such as rent or mortgage payments, insurance premiums, loan interest, management salaries and minimum utility charges. Insured fixed costs are inside the Gross Profit and Gross Earnings rate and are not added to the claim a second time. Variable costs reduce or stop when the business stops, such as cost of goods sold, sales commissions, packaging and delivery costs. They are not claimed. The rate already takes them out, so the Expenses tab does not take variable costs. Extra expenses are costs incurred specifically to reduce the interruption, such as temporary premises, emergency contractors, expedited equipment delivery, premium-rate temporary staff or data recovery. Insured extra expenses are claimed as incurred in each loss month, up to the extra expense limit if there is one. Document each one with an invoice.

How should I enter expense data for the loss period?

On the Expenses tab, each fixed cost has its normal monthly amount from before the loss. For each loss month of an insured fixed cost that has an amount, enter what was actually paid, or click Same as the previous month to confirm the same amount. A blank month is never zero. The tool holds Calculate until every month is entered or confirmed, and it tells you which ones are missing. Type 0 only if nothing was paid. Where the amount fell because of the loss, the difference is the saving. The saving is deducted under Gross Profit and Gross Earnings cover. Enter extra expenses as you incurred them.

How do I say which expenses are insured?

Each fixed cost and extra expense row has a choice: Insured or Not insured. Nothing counts as insured unless you choose it, and a row you have not chosen shows Choose insured or not. The tool holds Calculate until every row is chosen. A fixed row marked Not insured shows Not covered by policy: not claimed, and an extra expense marked Not insured is never claimed.

What is the Not covered by policy box on the Expenses tab?

The box lists the uninsured fixed costs from your P&L, shown per month, with a Not covered badge. It is for your reference only. These costs are not part of the claim, and the box appears on screen but not in the PDF or Excel file.

How are saved costs found and deducted?

On Gross Profit and Gross Earnings claims, a saving comes only from an insured fixed cost. For each loss month the tool takes the normal monthly amount from before the loss, subtracts the amount you entered for that month, and counts the drop as a saving, never below zero. The savings are deducted from the claim when you click Calculate, and the green Saved costs deducted box shows the amount once the result is current. Older claims that used the separate saved costs section keep it, with a notice and a Move to Fixed expenses button.

How do I enter what I actually paid in each loss month?

Open an insured fixed cost row and enter the amount actually paid in each loss month. Every month must be entered or confirmed. A blank month is never counted as zero. Click Same as the previous month to confirm the same amount, or type 0 if nothing was paid. The tool holds Calculate until every month is done and tells you which ones are missing.

What does Tidy expense rows do?

When some rows repeat the same cost, or hold an uninsured P&L line, the Expenses tab offers Tidy expense rows. It opens a confirmation that lists every change, and nothing happens until you confirm. Tidying does not change the claim. It never runs by itself and never runs when you open a claim.

Will choosing an industry template overwrite what I entered?

No. Loading or switching a template only adds rows, and when rows already exist the tool asks you to confirm first. A row you filled in, a custom row and a P&L row stay exactly as they are, with their amounts and their Insured or Not insured choice. Choosing an industry tile removes only template rows that are still untouched. Template rows load with no amounts, and rows you have not used are hidden behind Show unused template rows.

How do extra expenses work after the business reopens?

Extra expenses during the recovery period count only inside the covered recovery window. A row outside that window shows (outside the covered recovery period) and is not claimed, and the report says how much extra expense was left out. The extra expense limit then applies, and the policy limit after that.

What do the columns of the fixed expenses table mean?

Pre-Loss is the normal amount before the loss, Post-Loss is the actual amount during the loss period, and Projected is a budget or forecast amount for comparison. The Saving / Extra column shows green where a cost fell during the loss, which is deducted as a saving, and amber where it rose, which can be added as an extra expense. Once the claim is calculated, the saving shown is the figure your claim used for that cost, with the text saving counted in the claim. Before that it says Calculate to see.

What does the Loss-caused tick on a fixed expense do?

When the post-loss amount of a fixed cost is higher than the pre-loss amount, the row shows a Loss-caused tick. Ticking it adds an extra expense row for the difference, labelled as auto-linked from that cost, and the overrun is claimed with the extra expenses. Without the tick the row says Not claimed, check Loss-caused to include. Changing the post-loss amount updates or removes the linked row.

What does the warning Looks like the same cost mean?

The Expenses tab warns when two fixed rows look like the same cost, for example two rows for repairs or two for depreciation, and at least one of them has an amount. The note says Enter each cost once, so a cost is not counted twice. Rows moved from older saved costs are not flagged. Tidy expense rows can help you clean up the repeats after you check them.

How do waiting days change the saved costs?

Saved costs are worked out from your monthly actuals with the waiting period days removed, so a saving during the waiting days is not claimed. The saving is capped at the Gross Profit loss, and it is zero if the waiting period covers the whole loss. The Expenses tab shows the saving counted in the claim, which is already net of the waiting days.

What do the Expense Summary and the Expense Entries box show?

The Expense Summary shows monthly figures: insured fixed costs, which are inside the rate, fixed costs not covered, extra expenses covered and not covered, the pre-loss and post-loss covered totals, and the saving deducted. The Expense Entries box counts the rows that have a monthly amount, out of all the rows, including template rows that are hidden. It counts the monthly amount only, not the post-loss amount.

How do I add my own fixed or extra expense?

Use Add custom fixed expense or Add custom extra expense on the Expenses tab. Each adds a blank row with no amount, and you name it and choose Insured or Not insured. Custom rows are never hidden and can be removed. Template rows you have not used are tucked away behind Show unused template rows.

Which expense templates are there?

The Expenses tab offers Brick-and-Mortar Retail, Restaurant & Hospitality, Franchise Operations and a Common template, and it says how many expense items are loaded and which template they came from. Your P&L lines are pre-filled into the template rows. Loading or switching a template only adds rows. It never removes a row you filled in or changes an amount you entered. The industry tiles work the same way, and only untouched template rows are replaced.

How do I enter an expense for a month the loss only partly covers?

On a monthly claim, for the first or last month of a loss, the box takes the whole month's cost, including the days before or after the loss. If you only know what the cost ran at during the loss, type that amount and the box offers to fill the month in for you, for example "Fill in May 2026 for me", which adds the normal cost for the other days; tick "I only have the bill for those days" if the figure you hold is what was paid for those days alone. Copied and monthly amounts are read as a monthly rate and counted for the loss days only, and on a weekly or daily claim every month is read that way. Each part month shows the saving your claim counted.

What is Ordinary Payroll in a BI policy?

Ordinary payroll is wages paid to temporary, casual and part-time staff, as distinct from key employees. Policies treat it in different ways. In Claim Setup you choose one of three settings: Fully covered, Excluded by the policy, or Limited to a number of days, counted from the date of loss or from the end of the waiting period. When ordinary payroll cover ends before the claim ends, the tool uses a lower rate for the later part of the claim, so the claim reflects the payroll the policy no longer pays. Enter the ordinary payroll amount on the Expenses tab.

How do ordinary payroll settings work on the Expenses tab?

You choose the ordinary payroll treatment in Claim Setup: Fully covered, Excluded by the policy, or Limited to a number of days. If it is limited, enter the number of days and choose whether they count from the date of loss or from the end of the waiting period. The Expenses tab then has an Ordinary payroll per month field. When the cover ends before the loss does, the report shows the two periods and the lower rate for the second one.

Where do I enter ordinary payroll?

You choose how the policy treats ordinary payroll in Claim Setup: Fully covered, Excluded by the policy, or Limited to a number of days. The amounts go in the Ordinary Payroll section of the Expenses tab, in two per-month fields. The section is shown for Gross Profit and Gross Earnings claims, and for Standing Charges cover ordinary payroll is not part of the insured standing charges.

What is the difference between Total wages per month and Ordinary payroll per month?

Total wages per month (all staff) is one month of wages before the loss for everyone. Ordinary payroll per month (declared portion) is the part of that month's wages that the policy declares as ordinary payroll, meaning temporary, part-time and casual staff. Only the ordinary payroll amount is used in the calculation. The total wages figure is used for a note that shows what share of wages is ordinary payroll and that key staff wages stay covered for the full indemnity period.

What does Use P&L wages ÷ 12 do?

When your P&L has wage lines, the Expenses tab offers Use P&L wages ÷ 12 and shows the monthly figure and the lines it used, for example Key Staff Salaries plus Payroll Taxes. Clicking it fills Total wages per month, not the ordinary payroll amount. The lines are found by name, so a line is included when its name has a word such as wage, salary, payroll, staff cost or labour, and variable labour is included whenever it has an amount. Check the lines it lists before you accept the figure.

How does the Setup payroll choice change the calculation?

With Fully covered, no payroll split applies and the ordinary payroll amount you entered is ignored. With Excluded by the policy, or with Limited to a number of days when the days the policy covers are fewer than the claimed days, the tool splits the claim into Period 1 and Period 2 and uses the amount. Period 1 uses the rate for your cover, and Period 2 uses a lower rate, so the claim reflects payroll the policy no longer pays. The Summary shows the Period 1 and Period 2 rows only when a split applies and an amount was entered.

What does the payroll line on the Summary tab say?

The line under the headline claim states the payroll treatment in words. It reads Ordinary payroll fully covered when the setting is Fully covered, and Ordinary payroll excluded by the policy when it is excluded. For a limited setting it says how many days are covered from the date of loss or from the end of the waiting period, and from when payroll is not covered. On a Standing Charges claim it says that ordinary payroll is not part of the insured standing charges.

What is the 'Base Case' scenario?

The Base Case is the main estimate of the claim. It uses your sales history, the sales you actually made during the loss, your costs and your policy terms, with no reduction applied. When you type a forecast for a loss period, the tool works the claim out two ways, on your history and on your forecast, and the Base Case is the higher of the two. Both are shown. The forecast is tested against your past forecasts when the budget switch is on and you have at least three periods of both.

What is the 'Conservative' scenario?

The Conservative scenario reduces the sales you would have made but for the loss, to model a cautious position. The reduction is set from your data, between 0% and 15%, unless you set your own percentage with the slider on the Scenarios tab. It is applied to the basis the Base Case used, and the Base Case never moves. Use it to test the lower end of the range.

What is the 'Insurer View' scenario?

The Insurer View scenario models a cautious position an insurer might take when it reviews your claim. Its reduction is set from your data, between 0% and 30%, unless you set your own percentage with the slider on the Scenarios tab. Looking at it before you meet the adjuster helps you prepare your supporting documents.

What is the Recovery Ramp-Up period?

After a business reopens, its sales may stay below normal for a while. The recovery period covers the time after reopening while sales are still below normal. What is paid depends on your cover. Under Gross Profit and Standing Charges cover, the recovery is claimed for the ramp-up period you set (months, weeks or days, matching the claim), never past the end of the indemnity period. Under Gross Earnings cover, cover ends when operations resume, unless your policy has the Extended Period of Indemnity (EPI) endorsement. With EPI, the recovery is claimed for the EPI days, which you set in Claim Setup. On the Scenarios tab you set the ramp-up period for Gross Profit and Standing Charges claims, in months, weeks or days to match the claim. Each recovery period claims only the shortfall against normal sales, and a period where actual sales reach normal claims nothing.

What is the Contingency Buffer in the report?

The contingency buffer is a setting from 0% to 25%. A new claim starts at 0%. You change it on the Scenarios tab. When it is above 0%, the tool adds that percentage of the total insurable loss to the claim and shows it as its own line in the report. A buffer is your own allowance for items that are hard to document, so keep notes that explain why you chose it.

What is the industry benchmark data?

Each industry subcategory shows an indicative gross profit margin on its tile. These figures are static template values, not taken from a published source. They are indicative only and are never used in your claim. Your claim uses the rate calculated from your own profit and loss statement. Figures built from other users' reports are shown only when an industry has at least 10 reports from at least 3 different firms.

Step 7: What is the Contingency Buffer and why is it included?

The contingency buffer is a setting from 0% to 25%. A new claim starts at 0%. You set it on the Scenarios tab. When it is above 0%, the tool adds that percentage of the total insurable loss as its own line: Calculated loss = Total Insurable Loss x (1 + Buffer%) Coinsurance, the deductible and the policy limit then apply. At 0% there is no provision and the calculated loss equals the total insurable loss. A buffer is your own allowance for items that are hard to document. An insurer may question a large one, so keep notes that explain why you chose it.

What are the three calculation scenarios and how do I use them?

BIClaimPro works out three versions of the claim from the same data. Base Case Your main estimate, with no reduction. When you type a forecast for a loss period, the Base Case is the higher of the history basis and the forecast basis, and both are shown. The forecast is tested against your past forecasts when the budget switch is on and you have at least three periods of both. Conservative Case A cautious version. It reduces the but-for sales by a percentage set from your data, between 0% and 15%, unless you set your own percentage on the Scenarios tab. Insurer View A version that models a cautious insurer. It reduces the but-for sales by a percentage set from your data, between 0% and 30%, unless you set your own percentage on the Scenarios tab. Both reductions are applied to the basis the Base Case used.

How does the industry benchmark comparison work?

The Industry Benchmark panel on the Scenarios tab compares your gross profit rate, ramp-up period and claim period with the median figures from reports for your industry, once there are enough reports. Figures built from other users' reports are shown only when an industry has at least 10 reports from at least 3 different firms. Until then the panel shows only the industry template figure, labelled indicative. The industry figure is for reference only and is never used as your claim's rate. When figures from reports are shown, a coloured dot shows whether each figure is within range, has a moderate variance or has a high variance compared with the median. If a figure has a high variance, keep documents that explain why.

What is the difference between the suggested and the applied reduction?

The Conservative and Insurer View reductions start from a suggestion worked out from your data. The suggestion looks at how much history you have, how well the trend fits, and whether the seasonal switch counts. The Scenarios tab shows the suggested and the applied percentage. If the applied figure is different, the claim holds a saved setting, and the tab says This claim uses a saved setting of X%, not the suggested Y%, and how to return to the suggestion by moving the slider. The Base Case is fixed at 0% and never moves.

How do I set the recovery ramp-up on the Scenarios tab?

For Gross Profit and Standing Charges claims, the Recovery after reopening slider asks how many months, weeks or days after reopening until sales return to the level before the loss, from 0 to 24. The recovery itself is worked out only from the sales you enter on the Revenue tab. The slider shows the cap at the end of the indemnity period. For a Gross Earnings claim the slider is greyed out, and the tab shows either that cover ends when operations resume or the EPI days set in Claim Setup.

What is the Readiness Check?

The Readiness Check on the Scenarios tab lists what is still missing or looks wrong before you calculate. It says All checks passed, ready to calculate when nothing is outstanding. The main button reads Calculate & View Summary. When a result on screen is older than your latest change, a banner says the results need updating and offers Recalculate Now.

What is the difference between the recovery period and the Extended Period of Indemnity?

The recovery period is the time after reopening while sales climb back toward normal. How the tool prices it depends on your cover. Gross Profit and Standing Charges claim the recovery up to the end of the indemnity period. Gross Earnings claims the recovery only if the policy has the Extended Period of Indemnity (EPI) endorsement, and then only for the EPI days. The tool prices the recovery only from the sales you enter for each recovery period. A period with no sales entered is not estimated: the recovery stops there and the loss may continue.

How long should the recovery ramp-up be?

The Scenarios tab shows typical ranges as guidance only: about 3 to 6 months for retail, hospitality and small services, and 12 to 24 months for manufacturing, healthcare and complex operations. The slider runs from 0 (Immediate) to 24. The length you set only decides how long the recovery window is. No loss is claimed for a period in it unless you enter sales for that period.

What is the Scenario Guide on the Scenarios tab?

The Scenario Guide sums up the three scenarios. Base Case is the higher-end estimate, calculated from the data you entered with no reduction. Conservative is the middle estimate and Insurer View is the lower-end estimate. The gap between Base and Insurer View is the range of estimates, and the scenarios show how the estimate changes under different assumptions. They are not a prediction of what an insurer will do.

What are the slider ranges on the Scenarios tab?

The Conservative slider runs from 0% (none) to 30%, and the Insurer View slider from 0% (none) to 50% (aggressive). Each shows the data-driven default and says to drag to override. The Contingency Buffer slider runs from 0% to 25% and starts at 0%. The Base Case is fixed at no reduction.

What does the Risk Rating mean?

The Risk Rating (Critical, High, Medium or Low) is a quick guide to the size of the claim compared with the size of the business. The Risk Rating compares the Base Case calculated loss with a full year of your sales (your average per pre-loss period times 12 for months, 52 for weeks or 365 for days). Critical is 50% or more. High is 25% to under 50%. Medium is 10% to under 25%. Low is under 10%. It is a quick guide only.

Step 2: How is the Gross Revenue Loss calculated?

Gross Revenue Loss is the But-For Revenue minus the Actual Revenue earned during the loss period, worked out one loss period at a time. Days removed by the waiting period are taken out first. This is the total sales shortfall before any rate. The tool then turns it into an insured loss with the Gross Profit, Gross Earnings or Standing Charges rate for your coverage, and applies the policy terms.

Step 3: How is the Gross Profit Loss calculated?

The insured loss is the lost sales multiplied by your rate. Gross Profit and Gross Earnings cover use the same rate on the same figures: (Net Income + Insured Fixed Costs) / Revenue, which equals (Revenue - Variable Costs - Uninsured Fixed Costs) / Revenue. Insured fixed costs are inside the rate. They are not added to the claim separately, because that would count them twice. Standing Charges cover uses Insured Fixed Costs / Revenue, so its rate is lower by the Net Income share. Enter your profit and loss statement and click the rate button for your cover to set all three rates together. Insurance does not pay the lost sales themselves. It pays the insured part of those sales: profit, earnings or standing charges, depending on your cover.

How is the Risk Rating determined?

The Risk Rating compares the Base Case calculated loss with a full year of your sales (your average per pre-loss period times 12 for months, 52 for weeks or 365 for days). Below 10% = Low Risk 10% to under 25% = Medium Risk 25% to under 50% = High Risk 50% or more = Critical Risk The rating appears on the PDF report. It shows the size of the claim compared with the size of the business.

What assumptions does the tool make?

The tool makes these assumptions: (1) The pre-loss sales trend would have continued during the loss period if there had been no interruption. (2) The fixed costs you entered as continuing really did continue. (3) The extra expenses you entered were really incurred to reduce the interruption. (4) The rate calculated from your profit and loss statement represents the business's margin before the loss. (5) The loss period you entered is the period during which operations were interrupted. Review each assumption against your circumstances and change your inputs where needed.

What is the coinsurance penalty in a BI claim?

Coinsurance is a policy condition that expects you to carry cover equal to a stated percentage of the amount at risk. If the limit you carry is lower, the insurer pays only a share of the loss. In Claim Setup you choose the coinsurance percentage: Not in policy, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 or 125. A new claim starts at Not in policy. The tool compares your policy limit with the required amount, shows the ratio and applies it to the calculated loss, then applies the flat deductible and caps the result at the policy limit. If you leave the policy limit blank, the report says it was not entered, and neither coinsurance nor the limit is applied.

What is the master BI loss formula?

The order of the working is: 1. Lost sales = but-for sales minus actual sales for each loss period, after the waiting period days are removed. 2. Insured loss = lost sales x the rate for your coverage (Gross Profit, Gross Earnings or Standing Charges). Insured fixed costs are inside the rate and are never added again. 3. Add the recovery after reopening, where your cover pays it, and the insured extra expenses. 4. Under Gross Profit and Gross Earnings cover, subtract the saved costs: insured fixed costs that stopped or fell because of the loss. 5. Add the contingency buffer. 6. Apply coinsurance, then the flat deductible, then the policy limit. The headline figure is the recoverable amount. The calculated loss is always shown as well.

What is the difference between the calculated loss and the recoverable amount?

The calculated loss is the claim after the rate, extra expenses, recovery, saved costs and any buffer. The recoverable amount is what is left after coinsurance, the flat deductible and the policy limit. The headline on the Summary tab is the recoverable amount, and the calculated loss is always shown above it, with a line for each step that changed the figure.

How does the flat deductible work?

Enter the dollar deductible in Claim Setup as Flat Dollar Deductible. The tool takes it off after the coinsurance step and before the policy limit, and the Summary shows a Deductible line when it is more than 0. It is separate from the waiting period, which removes days rather than dollars. Enter 0 if there is none.

What does the policy limit do in the calculation?

If the recoverable amount is more than your policy limit, the tool caps it at the limit and says Recoverable, limited to the policy limit. If you leave the policy limit blank, the report says Policy limit not entered: coinsurance and limit not applied, and neither coinsurance nor the cap is used. A blank field is saved as blank, never as 0.

What are the lines on the Summary tab waterfall?

The waterfall for the Base Case reads from top to bottom: But-For Revenue (Projected), less the actual sales during the loss days, Gross Revenue Loss, the rate for your cover, and the loss line for that cover. With a payroll amount it shows Period 1 and Period 2. It then adds extra expenses, subtracts fixed cost savings if there are any, adds the recovery after reopening and the contingency buffer, and shows the Sub-Total Before Deductible. Less the deductible, if there is one, gives the Total calculated claim (estimate). A line is shown only when it applies.

What do the Notices & Warnings and Data Quality panels show?

Notices & Warnings is an amber card that lists the notes the calculation produced, such as the recovery check, the gap between the two forecast bases and any assumption the tool made on your behalf. The Data Quality panel shows how well the trend fits, as an R-squared figure. It says Average used: sales too volatile for a trend line, or not enough history for a trend line, when the trend could not be used. Read them before you rely on the figure.

What do the status badges in the period breakdown mean?

On a Gross Profit claim the period breakdown can show a badge for each period: Waiting period, Normalised, Near recovery or Loss. They are signals to help you read the table, and the judgment on when the business recovered stays with you and your accountant. Normalised means actual sales reached the projected level.

Why does the tool ask me to recalculate?

If you change an input after a calculation, the result on screen is from the last calculation, and the tool says so. On the Scenarios tab the banner reads that the results need updating, and on the Summary tab the Recalculate button is there for the same reason. Recalculating makes the figures, the PDF and the Excel file agree with your latest inputs. The Dashboard also shows Recalculate beside a claim whose saved result is out of date.

Can you show me a worked example from sales to the final claim?

Here is a fictional motel. It has 16 months of sales history before a fire on 10 May 2026, is expected to stay closed to 31 December 2026, and has Gross Profit cover with a 3-day waiting period, no deductible, ordinary payroll fully covered, 50% coinsurance and a policy limit of $217,500. It entered $4,485.22 as the normal full-month sales for May. The tool notes that this figure is 23% of your normal month, so a figure like this needs checking, and the motel kept it as its own answer. Its P&L gives a Gross Profit rate of 95.26%, and its recovery period after reopening is 59 days. Step 1, May. Normal sales for the loss days = normal full-month sales × loss days ÷ days in month = $4,485.22 × 22 ÷ 31 = $3,183.06. Step 2, the waiting period. The first 3 days of the loss, 10 to 12 May, are taken out of May. Sales removed for the waiting period = normal sales for the loss days × waiting days ÷ loss days = $3,183.06 × 3 ÷ 22 = $434.05. Step 3, May lost sales. Lost sales = normal sales for the loss days - waiting period sales - actual sales = $3,183.06 - $434.05 - $0.00 = $2,749.01. Step 4, June to December. Each full month uses the average the claim used, $18,884.93, which is a 17-month average of the 16 history months plus the May figure counted once, and actual sales were $0.00, so each month's lost sales are $18,884.93. Step 5, all loss periods. Lost sales worked out period by period = $134,943.50. The tool works from unrounded figures, so adding the rounded rows can differ by a few cents. Step 6, the insured loss. Gross Profit loss = lost sales × Gross Profit rate = $134,943.50 × 95.26% = $128,552.58. The tool uses the unrounded rate, and 95.26% is the rate shown. Step 7, saved costs, extra expenses and recovery. Saved costs deducted = $17,733.57, extra expenses = $0.00, and the recovery after reopening for 59 days = $0.00, because no sales were entered for the recovery period (nothing is estimated, and the loss may continue). Step 8, the claim. Claim = Gross Profit loss - saved costs + extra expenses + recovery + contingency buffer = $128,552.58 - $17,733.57 + $0.00 + $0.00 + $0.00 = $110,819.01. The contingency buffer is set to 0% in this example. The limit carried covers the amount required, so the coinsurance ratio is 100% and coinsurance does not reduce the claim. There is no deductible, so the Base Case is $110,819.01. The Conservative figure is $99,249.27 and the Insurer View figure is $88,965.07.

What are the calculated claim, the range of estimates and the gap?

The headline Calculated Claim (Base Case), estimate is the Base Case after coinsurance, the deductible and the policy limit. Insurer View scenario (lower-end estimate) is the Insurer View figure, and the range of estimates runs from that figure to the Base Case. The gap is the Base Case minus the Insurer View figure. Quick Stats on the Reports panel repeats the Base Case, Conservative and Insurer View figures and the risk rating.

What does the Waiting Period Deduction box show?

The box shows the number of waiting days taken out of the claim, and a line naming the dates and the sales removed, so you can see that the first days of the loss were excluded. With no waiting period it says None and reminds you to enter one in Claim Setup if your policy has one, for example 72 hours, which is 3 days.

What does the Coinsurance box show?

The box is headed Coinsurance not in policy or Coinsurance with the percentage you chose. It shows the base the test used, the required amount (the percentage of that base), the policy limit carried and the resulting ratio. A ratio of 100% says that the limit carried covers the required amount, so coinsurance does not reduce the claim. A ratio below 100% shows a Reduces the claim badge, and with no policy limit entered the box says it was not applied.

What does the monthly breakdown table show, and why can it differ from the total by a few cents?

The table lists each loss period with its but-for revenue, actual revenue, revenue loss, loss at your rate, the fixed expenses already inside the rate, extra expenses, total loss and a status. The fixed expenses column is for reference only and is not added again. Each row is rounded to the cent while the totals are worked out from unrounded figures, so the rows can differ from the total by a few cents, and a note says so when they do.

What is How each loss period is worked out?

Under the breakdown, the tool prints a short working for every loss period: the normal sales, the waiting period days taken out, the actual sales, the lost sales claimed and the saved costs. A part month also shows how many of its days are loss days. The same working appears on the Revenue tab, in the PDF and in the Excel file, so you can follow each figure.

How are these estimates calculated on the Summary tab?

The Calculation steps list the steps in order: But-For Revenue, Gross Revenue Loss, Gross Profit Loss, Insured Fixed Expenses, Extra Expenses, Recovery after reopening, Contingency Buffer and Total calculated claim (estimate). Each step shows its formula in words and the figures behind it. The Insured Fixed Expenses step says they are inside the rate and not added separately.

What does the Documentation Checklist on the Summary tab list?

The Summary tab ends with a plain list of records to keep: 24 months of records recommended with 12 as the minimum, tax returns, bank statements, sales records or point-of-sale data, payroll records, lease or mortgage documents, the insurance policy copy, loss event documentation, repair or restoration invoices and expert reports. It has no ticks and is separate from the Document Checklist on the Setup tab. Keep the records, because they may be needed to support the claim.

How do I use the Excel template correctly to avoid formula artifacts?

The Excel workbook that BIClaimPro exports includes these sheets: Summary Pre-Loss Revenue Post-Loss Actuals Expenses Monthly Breakdown Loss Period Workings (when the claim has loss period rows) Revenue checks (when there is something to report) Assumptions & Notes Manufacturing Cross-Check (manufacturing claims only) When you prepare data to import into BIClaimPro: Revenue values: Always type or paste values directly from your accounting records. Do not drag-fill revenue cells in a spreadsheet. Dragging creates sequential values that look like real data but give wrong claim calculations.

What is in the PDF report?

The PDF has these sections: Executive Summary, Revenue checks (when there is something to report), Policy Coverage Summary, Three-Scenario Analysis, Pre-Loss Revenue & But-For Analysis, Expense Classification & Analysis, the projection basis table, Month-by-Month Loss Breakdown, Methodology & Calculation Basis, Documentation Checklist, Adjuster & Broker Talking Points, and Legal Disclaimer & Important Notices. The figures match the Summary tab. Every page carries the report fingerprint in its footer.

What is the report fingerprint?

The fingerprint is a line at the foot of every PDF page, and on the Assumptions & Notes sheet of the Excel file. It gives the time of the calculation in UTC, the engine build that did it, and a short code made from your inputs. Two reports with the same code were calculated from identical inputs. If the engine build on the report is older than the current one, the line adds a note that it was calculated on an earlier build and that you should recalculate.

How do I find my earlier reports?

Report History lists the reports saved by your firm. It is part of the Solo, Firm and Enterprise plans and of any firm that has paid for a claim, including by buying a pay-per-claim credit. A team member sees their own claims and every report of those claims, and an administrator sees every claim and report in the firm. For every plan a report is kept for 12 months from its latest export and shows its deletion date when it has one; exporting again without changes keeps it for another 12 months, a changed export is saved as a new report, and reports saved before this change keep the date they were given, if they had one. You can delete a report, and the PDF and Excel files are removed before its record.

How do I download my reports?

When a result is current, the Reports Ready panel on the Summary tab has Download PDF Report, Download Excel Workbook and Export Claim Data. If you changed something after the last calculation, the panel says reports need a recalculation, and you click Recalculate first. Downloaded reports are saved to your firm account and can be opened again from Report History on the plans that include it.

Are my claims saved if I log out?

Yes. Your claim data is saved to our servers automatically as you work. Log back in on any device to access your claims.

Can I use BIClaimPro on multiple computers?

Yes. Your claims sync automatically across all devices when you are logged in.

What do my 2 free trial calculations include?

Each trial calculation runs the full GP or GE methodology and produces Base Case, Conservative and Insurer View scenarios with a downloadable PDF and Excel report. No credit card required. The 2 free claims are valid for 30 days.

What happens when my free trial ends?

Free claims are valid for 30 days, and unused free claims expire when the trial ends. Your claim data is never deleted. Buy a pay-per-claim credit for $259, or choose Solo or Firm, to keep calculating on your saved claims.

Does importing a JSON backup use my quota?

Importing is free. A claim imported from a single claim file is always a new claim: calculating it uses 1 claim, even if it is the same business as a claim you already calculated. Restoring a full backup brings claims back as the same claims if they are still in your firm, or were deleted from it: recalculating them is free, and a changed business name or date of loss counts as a correction. A claim from another firm's file is a new claim in your firm.

Can I re-run a calculation I have already run?

Yes. Re-running a calculation on a claim you have previously calculated does not use your quota on any device.

What is the difference between Solo and Firm?

Solo is for individual practitioners: 1 user, 5 new claims per month at $899 per month. Firm adds up to 3 users and 10 new claims per month at $1,699 per month, plus firm settings, where an administrator sets the firm logo and colours that appear on reports.

Is client data secure in BIClaimPro?

Each firm can see only its own claims.

Can I export my claims from BIClaimPro?

Yes. Open a claim and use Export Claim Data to download a JSON backup of that claim.

Which plans does BIClaimPro offer?

There is a free trial of 2 claims, valid for 30 days, with no card needed. After that you can buy pay-per-claim credits at $259 each, or choose a monthly plan: Solo or Firm. Solo is for one user, and Firm adds up to 3 users and firm settings, including your logo and colours on reports. Enterprise has no per-claim charge. See the Pricing page for the current prices.

What is a pay-per-claim credit?

A pay-per-claim credit is one claim you buy on its own for $259.

When does a claim use one of my credits or my monthly allowance?

Only your click on Calculate on a claim that has not been paid for uses one. The background refresh never charges. Recalculating a paid claim is free, and so is changing figures. Only the business name and the date of loss count: each claim has 2 free corrections, and after that you start a new claim. A new claim uses free trial claims first, then plan claims, then pay-per-claim credits. Enterprise spends nothing and has no correction limit.

What happens when I run out of claims?

When your free trial claims, plan claims or pay-per-claim credits are used up, the tool explains why and shows no result for that calculation. Saved claims are never deleted. A trial or pay-per-claim account can buy a pay-per-claim credit for $259, or choose Solo or Firm. A plan whose claims are used shows when they reset. A subscriber whose renewal failed sees this message: "Your renewal payment hasn't gone through. Update your card in Billing details. Your claims come back as soon as it's paid."

Which plans include Report History, firm settings and team members?

Report History is included in Solo, Firm and Enterprise, and in any firm that has bought a pay-per-claim credit. Firm settings, including your logo and colours on reports, are for the administrator of a Firm or Enterprise plan. Team members are included in Firm, up to 3 users, and in Enterprise. Solo is for one user, and pay-per-claim and free trial accounts have no team members. Only an administrator can add or remove members.

Do unused claims carry over?

No. Plan claims do not carry over. They reset when your next payment goes through. Pay-per-claim credits are used once the claims included with your plan or trial are used up. What counts as a claim, and when a change needs a new one, is explained in the questions that follow, starting with "What counts as a claim?".

Do pay-per-claim credits expire?

Credits bought from Oct 10, 2026 expire 12 months after purchase, and an unused credit is lost on that date. Credits bought earlier never expire. Your account menu tells you the date from 30 days before.

What counts as a claim?

A claim is one business and one date of loss. It is used the first time you click Calculate on it. Opening, editing, saving and downloading reports never use a claim. After that, recalculating the same claim is free, as often as you like and on any device, and the automatic refresh never uses a claim.

If I change an existing claim, does it use another claim?

Changing figures does not. You can edit revenue, expenses, the loss end date, the coverage type, the gross profit rate or any other input and recalculate for free. Only two details make it a different claim: the business name and the date of loss. You can correct those 2 times per claim for free, for example to fix a typo. Changing only capital letters or extra spaces in the business name does not count. After 2 corrections, a different business name or date of loss needs a new claim. Enterprise has no correction limit.

Can you show an example?

You calculate Maple Bakery with a date of loss of May 29, 2025: 1 claim used. You add June sales and recalculate 5 times: free. You change the name to Maple Bakery Ltd: correction 1 of 2, free. You change the date of loss to May 28, 2025: correction 2 of 2, free. You then want to use the same claim for Pine Motors: start a new claim, which uses 1 claim. Deleting a claim does not give the claim back.

Does deleting a claim give the claim back?

No. A deleted claim stays used. If you create the same business again, it is a new claim and uses 1 claim. If you restore a deleted claim from a full backup in your firm, it comes back as the same claim, which is already paid for, so it does not use another one. Export a backup before deleting if you may need it again.

Which claims are used first?

A new claim uses free trial claims first, then the claims included with your plan, then your pay-per-claim credits. Plan claims reset when your next payment goes through and do not carry over. Pay-per-claim credits are valid for 12 months from purchase.

What data does BIClaimPro store about me?

BIClaimPro stores two categories of data: Account data (stored by BIClaimPro): Your name, email address, firm name, and account role. This is required to give you access to your firm account and saved reports. Report files (stored by BIClaimPro): When you download a report, the final PDF and Excel files are stored linked to your firm account so your team can access them later. Claim data (stored by BIClaimPro): The financial data you enter, including revenue figures, expense amounts, period data, GP rates, and other calculation inputs, is saved to your account so you can access your claims from any device. It is isolated to your firm. You can export any claim as a JSON backup and delete claims at any time. Anonymised benchmarks: When a report is saved, a small set of anonymised aggregate metrics (industry, claim size as a percentage of revenue, indemnity period length) is stored for platform benchmarking. No personal or business-identifying information is included.

Can other users or firms see my reports?

No. Reports are scoped to your firm account only. Users from other firms cannot access your reports. Within your firm, a team member sees their own claims and every report of those claims. An administrator sees every claim and report in the firm. Individual user roles (admin vs standard user) control what actions each person can take.

Is my financial data transmitted to your servers during calculation?

Yes. Calculations run on our servers, and the claim data you enter is saved to your account so you can access it across devices. Each firm can see only its own claims. Generated report files are accessible only to your firm.

What happens to my data if I do not save a report?

Your claims are saved to your account automatically as you work, so closing the tab does not lose your progress. You can reopen any claim from the Dashboard on any device. You can also export a claim as a portable JSON backup, and you can delete your claim data at any time.

Where is my data handled, and which laws apply?

BIClaimPro is operated from Ontario, Canada, and is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario. Each firm can see only its own claims. For specific legal questions relevant to your jurisdiction, consult your legal advisor.

How long does the tool keep me signed in?

A session ends after 30 minutes without activity, and you sign in again. A session also has a fixed life of 7 days. Signing out ends the session on the server.

How are passwords stored?

Passwords are stored as a bcrypt hash and never as readable text. Session and invitation tokens are stored as hashes as well. Team members are invited with a link and set their own password.

What happens when I delete a claim?

Deleting a claim removes it from your Dashboard list. The claim is marked as deleted on the server and does not appear again. An administrator can delete any claim of the firm, and a team member can delete their own. Reports you already downloaded stay in Report History for 12 months from the latest export, or until you delete them there. Export a backup first if you might want the claim again. A deleted claim stays used: see "Does deleting a claim give the claim back?".

What can an administrator do that a team member cannot?

An administrator can invite and deactivate team members and reset a member's password, and sees every claim and report in the firm. Firm settings are open to administrators on the Firm and Enterprise plans. A team member sees their own claims and every report of those claims. The last administrator of a firm cannot be removed. Deactivating a member ends their sessions.

What happens when I delete a report?

Deleting a report removes its PDF and Excel files from storage first, and then removes the report record. A team member can delete the reports of their own claims, and an administrator can delete any report of the firm.