Why spreadsheets and generic BI tools fall short
Spreadsheets can technically reconcile anything, because you do the work. That is also the problem: every statement is keyed in by hand, every match is checked by eye, and the quality of the reconciliation depends on how much time someone has that month. Across a dozen carriers with different formats, full line-by-line checking rarely happens, so shortfalls slip through. The spreadsheet is flexible but it does not actually find anything for you.
Generic BI and reporting tools — AgencyAnalytics, Whatagraph, DashThis and similar — solve a different problem. They are excellent at pulling from platforms that have APIs and turning them into dashboards. But they connect to the API or nothing. A carrier portal with no usable interface is invisible to them. You cannot point Whatagraph at a login-gated commission statement and have it read the numbers off the screen. So for the specific job of carrier commission reconciliation, these tools cover the sources you did not need help with and miss the ones you did.
Why reading the portal you are logged into is the key capability
reportr inverts the usual model. Instead of requiring an API, it reads the data from the carrier portal tab you have already opened and authenticated. Where a carrier does offer a good API, it uses it; where there is no API, it reads the statement already rendered on the page. Either way the extraction is client-side, scoped to narrow host permissions with per-source consent, and reportr never logs in for you or bypasses any access control. It works inside the access you already have.
That is what lets it cover the no-API, export-only, and bad-API sources that defeat dashboard tools. You load your book of business as a roster CSV, reportr reconciles expected against paid commission line by line, and flags short-paid, unpaid, and uncatalogued entries. A capture health signal distinguishes a clean read from a layout drift, so a portal redesign warns you instead of producing a blank report. The output is a white-label PDF carrying your own logo and colors.
Reconciliation approaches for carrier commissions
| Spreadsheets | Generic BI / reporting tools | reportr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reaches sources with no API | Yes, by hand | No | Yes |
| Reads a carrier portal you're logged into | You copy it manually | No | Yes |
| Reconciles line by line | Only if you do it | Not built for it | Automatic |
| Flags short-paid / unpaid / uncatalogued | Manual | No | Yes |
| Branded client-facing report | You build it | Yes | Yes (white-label PDF) |
| Warns on broken capture | No | N/A | Capture health signal |
frequently asked
- Why can't I just use AgencyAnalytics or Whatagraph for carrier commissions?
- Those tools connect to platforms that publish APIs, like Google Ads, Meta, and GA4. Carrier commission portals generally do not have a usable API, so there is nothing for those tools to connect to. reportr reads the portal you are logged into instead, which is why it can cover sources they cannot.
- Is reportr scraping data I'm not allowed to access?
- No. It only reads what is already on the screen of a portal you have logged into yourself, within your own session and access rights. It uses official APIs where they exist, requests per-source consent, uses narrow host permissions, and never logs in for you or bypasses access controls.
- What if a carrier changes its portal layout?
- reportr's capture health signal distinguishes a clean read from an empty page or a layout that has drifted. If the adapter can no longer read a portal cleanly, you get a warning rather than a silently blank or incomplete report.
- Is the reconciliation engine specific to insurance?
- The engine is vertical-agnostic; insurance commission reconciliation is the first vertical it ships with. The same client-side capture and reconciliation approach is designed to extend to other portal-locked sources through additional adapter packs.
Last updated June 8, 2026