IFRS 17 workshop

There are more than a few eye-catching headlines around about IFRS 17 – “a whole new perspective”, “a game changer”, "a light shining through darkness”, “the dawn of a new era”- all of which, of course, are true.

IFRS 17 is a big, new standard for a big, old industry. It changes fundamentally the way in which an insurance entity reports its financial dimensions and results for a given period and over time. After investing 20 or so years of development effort into IFRS 17, the IASB are highly confident in their expectation that it will bring greater transparency and comparability about the profitability of both new and existing insurance contract business. The requirement to report the insurance and financial results separately will not only help to achieve this expectation but will also provide analysts and others with better information about the overall quality of insurance entity earnings.

The impact on individual insurance entities will be highly variable depending on their previous policies and practices, and the nature of the insurance business they contract, especially whether it is short tailed or life. There will consequently be many and varied impacts on the reported numbers and metrics.

Preparing for and implementing IFRS 17 has been problematic and challenging, requiring considerable effort to gain an initial understanding of the impact on the reported numbers as well as the upgrades to process and systems to ensure they can provide IFRS 17 compliant data. This has required, from an early stage, coordination and dialogue between functions such as Actuarial, Finance and IT in executing an IFRS 17 implementation project. 

Our course is designed to help kick off these processes. It is aimed at not only preparers and users of accounts but also implementation team members and will help them get to grips with IFRS 17 by providing, at the very least, an initial working knowledge of the rules, how the numbers are constructed and presented and the story that they are telling.

Introductions, objectives and background

• Introductions 
• Course objectives 
• The journey from IFRS 4 to IFRS 17 
• IFRS 17 objectives 

Scope and definitions 

IFRS 17 accounting models 

• Outline the accounting models available 
• A simple numerical introduction to the general model 
• Explanation and illustration of the “building blocks” approach 

IFRS 17 measurement and presentation – the general model 

• The general model explained step by step with worked examples 
• Initial recognition 
• Subsequent measurement 
• Presentation in the statement of comprehensive income 

IFRS 17 measurement and presentation – the premium allocation approach 

• Eligibility
• The PAA - initial recognition and subsequent measurements explained step by step with worked examples 

IFRS 17 measurement and presentation – modifications to the general model 

• Accounting for reinsurance contracts held 
• Contracts with direct participation features 
• Contracts with discretionary participation features 

Other topics 

• Contract modifications 
• Derecognition of insurance contracts 

Transitional rules 

• • Explanation and illustration of the three possible IFRS 17 approaches: 
    1 Fully retrospective 
    2 Modified retrospective 
    3 Fair value 
    
  • Transition disclosures

IFRS 17 presentation and disclosure 

• Presentation in the primary financial statements and the footnotes 
• A detailed review of the disclosure regime applied by IFRS 17