Workers' comp audits
Pre-audit preparation
Before the auditor shows up, we organize payroll records, classifications, job descriptions, and subcontractor documentation. Most audit losses happen in disorganization, not in true reclassifications.
Workers' comp audits
Workers' comp audits, answered before the bill arrives.
Every employer with workers' comp insurance gets audited every year. The auditor's job is to find reasons your premium should be higher than it was. Our job is to make sure the audit reflects what you actually owe — not what the auditor's first pass assumes.
What this is
Reconciling what the insurer auditor found to what you actually owe.
Workers' compensation insurance premiums are estimated at the start of each policy year based on projected payroll. At year-end (or when the policy renews), the insurer audits actual payroll and classifications — and adjusts the premium up or down. The audit is sometimes a desk review, sometimes a remote interview, sometimes an on-site visit by an auditor reviewing payroll records and job descriptions. Most of the time the audit results in a premium increase, often because the auditor reclassified workers into higher-rate categories. Defending the original classification, organizing the payroll records, and challenging incorrect reclassifications is what this service covers.
What's involved
The pieces of a defended audit.
Each audit is different in size — a single-location small office vs. a multi-state contractor with subcontractors — but the playbook is similar.
Workers' comp audits
Class code analysis
Each employee is assigned a workers' comp class code. The auditor will look for reasons to move workers to higher-rate codes. We document the actual duties and defend the original code where appropriate.
Workers' comp audits
Subcontractor documentation
If you use 1099 subcontractors, the insurer will treat them as employees for premium purposes unless you have certificates of insurance proving their own coverage. We organize the COIs ahead of the audit.
Workers' comp audits
Overtime exclusion
In most states, the overtime portion of wages (the extra 50% on overtime hours) can be excluded from premium base. Auditors sometimes miss this; we reclaim it.
Workers' comp audits
Audit response + disputes
If the auditor reaches conclusions we disagree with, we respond in writing with documentation and request review. Escalation to the insurance commissioner's office is available if needed.
Workers' comp audits
Year-over-year trend tracking
Tracking your audit results across multiple years helps catch insurer drift — when the same situation gets classified differently across audits, that's worth questioning.
Why this is its own service
Workers' comp audits sit at the seam between payroll and insurance.
Workers' comp auditors are insurance company employees with an incentive to maximize premium — that doesn't make them adversaries, but it does mean they bring a default lens to classification questions. Most business owners aren't equipped to argue about NCCI class codes or to recognize when an overtime exclusion was missed. The auditor's first pass often increases premium by 10–30%; a defended audit often reduces or eliminates that increase. We've watched contractors get reclassified from a $5/hundred class code to a $15/hundred class code because the auditor didn't understand the actual job — a difference that on a $500K payroll is $50,000/year. Worth the audit response.
Common questions
What people ask us about this.
Often paired with
Related services on the menu.
Quarterly filings
Quarterly Payroll + Employment Tax Filings
If you have employees, you've got at least four recurring filings every quarter — federal 941, Minnesota withholding, Minnesota unemployment, and the year-end 940.
ExploreAnnual reports
Annual Reports and Corporate Maintenance
Every Minnesota LLC and corporation has to file an annual renewal with the Secretary of State.
ExploreEntity setup
Business Entity Setup and Formation
Most entity setup is templated and fine — until the first tax return reveals you elected the wrong structure for your income.
ExploreDon't hand the auditor a blank slate.
Workers' comp audits go better when someone walks in with the records organized and the classifications defensible — instead of scrambling after a premium increase letter.