The transition to IFRS 17 represents a fundamental shift in the accounting of insurance companies, replacing legacy practices with a consistent, principles-based framework for measuring insurance contracts. The transformation affects all aspects of the organization because it changes financial reporting and actuarial modelling and data architecture and systems integration and governance structures. Our IFRS 17 Advisory services assist insurers throughout their implementation process and their post-implementation stabilization period. Our team helps clients to conduct thorough gap assessments while they build effective Contractual Service Margin CSM frameworks and create data systems that connect actuarial and finance functions and develop their governance systems and prepare for audits and regulatory compliance. In parallel, we also support convergence considerations with IFRS 18 Reporting Advisory to ensure consistency in financial statement presentation and performance reporting.
We focus on delivering technically sound, auditable, and regulator-ready solutions tailored to the operational realities of insurance accounting and evolving regulatory expectations in insurance in accounting.
Service Coverage
Gap Assessment and Implementation Support
We conduct a detailed diagnostic assessment of the current accounting framework against IFRS 17 requirements, focusing on recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure gaps. This includes a granular review of existing actuarial models, policy administration systems, chart of accounts, and financial close processes.
Our implementation support extends to defining the transition approach Full Retrospective, Modified Retrospective, or Fair Value), designing measurement models such as GMM, PAA, and VFA, and configuring calculation engines for fulfilment cash flows and risk adjustment. We assist in establishing accounting policies aligned with accounting for insurance companies while ensuring that implementation outputs are traceable, auditable, and consistent across reporting periods.
Financial Reporting and Disclosure Advisory
We support insurers in designing IFRS 17-compliant financial statements, including primary statements, notes, and reconciliations. This involves structuring disclosures related to CSM movement, insurance revenue, insurance service expenses, and risk adjustment reconciliation.
Our approach ensures that reporting aligns with both IFRS 17 and broader reporting frameworks such as IFRS 18 Reporting Advisory, enabling consistency in performance metrics and presentation formats. We also assist in developing disclosure templates, mapping trial balances to IFRS 17-line items, and embedding controls within the reporting process to ensure completeness and accuracy in insurance accounting.
CSM Framework Review and Validation
We perform an in-depth review of the Contractual Service Margin (CSM) framework, focusing on initial recognition, subsequent measurement, and release patterns. This includes validation of coverage units, allocation methodologies, and adjustments for changes in estimates.
Our validation procedures assess the integrity of actuarial assumptions, discounting approaches, and risk adjustment methodologies. We also evaluate system-generated CSM outputs against independent recalculations to ensure consistency and compliance with IFRS 17 requirements in the accounting of insurance companies.
Data, Systems and Process Alignment
We assist in aligning actuarial, finance and IT systems to support IFRS 17 reporting requirements. This includes defining data models, establishing data lineage, and ensuring integration between actuarial engines, sub-ledgers, and general ledger systems.
Our work focuses on resolving data granularity issues, implementing data validation controls, and automating data flows to reduce manual intervention. We also design end-to-end processes covering data extraction, transformation, calculation, and reporting, ensuring that outputs are reliable and aligned with accounting for insurance companies.
Governance and Documentation Support
We create governance frameworks which enable organizations to implement IFRS 17 and maintain compliance. The process involves establishing responsibilities for finance and actuarial and risk management teams while creating mechanisms to review and approve processes and building control systems. Our team creates detailed documents which contain accounting policies and methods and assumptions and model logic. This ensures audit readiness and supports transparency in insurance in accounting practices, enabling stakeholders to understand key judgements and estimates applied in IFRS 17 calculations.
Audit and Regulatory Assistance
We provide complete support throughout the entire audit process which includes our preparation of audit-ready documents and our response to auditor inquiries and our assistance with model and process walkthroughs.
Our team maintains complete control over all calculations and assumptions and disclosures through the collection of strong evidence which helps to decrease both audit adjustments and delays. Our team provides support for regulatory submissions while ensuring our work meets supervisory requirements about insurance company accounting under IFRS 17.
Independent Review of IFRS 17 Frameworks
Our team conducts separate assessments of IFRS 17 frameworks which insurance companies have put into practice to evaluate their compliance with regulations and their accuracy and operational effectiveness. Our examination process includes assessing actuarial models and accounting policies and system configurations and reporting outputs.
How We Can Help You
We provide a structured, execution-focused approach to IFRS 17 implementation and enhancement:
- Align actuarial, finance, and IT functions under a unified IFRS 17 framework
- Ensure accurate and auditable financial reporting outputs
- Strengthen governance, controls, and documentation
- Enable smooth audit and regulatory interactions
- Support ongoing optimization and integration with broader reporting frameworks
For a mid-sized life insurer, we identified inconsistencies in CSM release patterns due to incorrect coverage unit calculations. By redesigning the allocation logic and aligning actuarial outputs with finance systems, we reduced reporting variances by over 18% and ensured audit acceptance without adjustments.