OMA 361 provides a broad exposure to financial and managerial accounting in life insurance companies, including the corporate and regulatory environment in which accounting functions occur
Identify the main sources of revenue for life insurance companies, and explain why the accounting function is critical to a company’s profitability and continued solvency.
Recognize the components and purposes of an insurer’s key financial statements – balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and statement of owners’ equity – and understand the relationships among various financial statements.
Describe the major capital and surplus accounts of life insurers and their sources, and explain how changes in assets, liabilities, and the market value of invested assets affect surplus.
Understand accounting principles that guide recording and reporting of accounting information, as well as basic accounting concepts – audits, capital, surplus, entries, gross/net income, expenses, taxation, financial ratios, assessments, valuations, liquidity, and scenario analysis – and how they apply to insurance companies.
Recognize the function of IRIS ratios, the FAST system, scenario analysis, and onsite regulatory examinations with respect to insurer solvency in the United States, and distinguish among risk-based capital requirements (United States) /Minimum Continuing Capital and Surplus Requirements (Canada) in monitoring insurance company solvency.
Describe common reserve valuation methods – gross reserve valuation, net reserve valuation, prospective reserve valuation, retrospective reserve valuation, and modified reserve valuation – as well as the effect of reserve strengthening and reserve de-strengthening on an insurer’s surplus.
Describe how insurers account for various policyholder benefits and supplemental options, as well as typical liabilities relating to premiums, expenses due and accrued, debt obligations, and claims incurred but not paid.
