| In recent years,the insurance industry has been relatively rapid development.However,due to the particularity of the nature of the industry,the accounting recognition and measurement methods of insurance companies in accounting are very different from those of other industries.The horizontal comparability is not strong,and the lack of detailed public disclosure information also makes the real performance level of insurance companies difficult to be understood by investors.The current accounting standards(hereinafter referred to as "2006 Insurance Contract Standards")cannot effectively solve these problems.Therefore,it is particularly important to improve the 2006 version of the insurance standard.In addition,the International Accounting Standards Board has continuously improved the accounting standards for insurance contracts over the past decade and has solicited suggestions from various sectors of the community for improvement.IASB officially released International Financial Reporting Standards No.17--Insurance Contracts in May 2017.The provisions of this standard enable users of financial statements to obtain more information about the financial status and financial performance of insurance companies,strengthen the comparability of insurance accounting information,and enhance the transparency and relevance of insurance accounting information.Many insurance companies in China have started transnational operations,and listed in domestic and foreign markets successively.Therefore,China’s insurance contract standards also speed up the pace of convergence with international insurance contract standards.The accounting standards for insurance contract(hereinafter referred to as the "2020 edition insurance Contract Accounting standards")were issued in December 2020.In terms of content,there are major adjustments and differences between the 2020 edition and the 2006 edition of the guidelines.The 2020 edition of the guidelines improves the merger and split of contracts,introduces the concept of insurance contract group,modifies the measurement model of insurance contracts,adjusts the principle of income recognition,increases the measurement method of insurance contracts with the characteristics of direct participation in dividends,and optimizes the presentation of financial statements.This obviously brings great challenges for insurance companies to change their accounting policies and make a good transition.Therefore,this paper uses the case study method to discuss the impact of the 2020 version of insurance contract standards on the accounting of Ping An Life Insurance business as an example,and deeply analyzes the impact of the 2020 version of standards on the accounting recognition,measurement,financial presentation and disclosure of life insurance business.This paper first explains the relevant concepts in the guidelines by using the literature research method,then compares the changes between the 2020 edition and the 2006 edition of the insurance contract guidelines based on the information asymmetry theory and the comprehensive asset and liability management theory,and applies the theory to Ping An Life insurance business.The following conclusions are drawn by taking a single insurance contract of Ping An insurance as an example:(1)In terms of accounting recognition,it can be concluded from the measurement of Ping An Century Winner life insurance contract that timely evaluation and recognition of loss contracts will better solve the problem that the insurance contracts signed at different times will affect the profit and loss of each period due to inappropriate balance of profit and loss.From the perspective of the splitting rules of Ping An Jufu’s annual investment linked insurance contract,it enhances the comprehensiveness and rigor of the splitting,which will certainly make the overall layout and performance of each insurance company develop towards a good situation.In the process of application,Ping An should pay attention to recruiting more professionals and make timely assessment on whether loss occurs in the insurance contract on each reporting day,because the identification of loss contract not only affects the amount listed in the balance sheet,but also reduces the total profit;In addition,different recognition time points will also affect the discount rate and contract service margin and other information,thus affecting its liability measurement.(2)In terms of accounting measurement,the traditional small Anding insurance is taken as an example to explain the changes in the measurement of traditional life insurance under the general model,which makes the insurance income,insurance service cost,performance and insurance contract liabilities of each contract group clearly displayed in the income statement,so that the data information is reasonable and closely linked.It greatly reduces the possibility of insurance companies abusing actuarial assumptions to manipulate profits and effectively enhances the quality of accounting information.Of course,Ping An needs to focus on sorting out and optimizing the evaluation process,because it needs to reveal in detail the changes of insurance contract liabilities and contract service margins,which significantly increases the financial content and the daily workload of actuaries.(3)In terms of accounting statements,the presentation of financial statements is optimized,which simplifies the balance sheet and income statement items and provides accounting information more clearly.The disclosure requirements are strengthened,so that the users of accounting information can more comprehensively grasp the proportion of insurance service income,risk level and profitability of insurance enterprises,and then make the relevant management,investment,financial management,supervision and other decisions more accurately.Of course,Ping An should start from the guidelines to find the right balance point of information disclosure,so as not to disclose insufficient or too much.The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of the 2020 edition of insurance contract standards on the accounting of life insurance business and put forward countermeasures and suggestions,which has a certain guiding role for other stakeholders in the insurance industry to actively carry out the relevant work to cope with the implementation of the 2020 edition of insurance contract accounting standards,and help them make timely adjustments and make up for the existing problems.To better respond to opportunities and challenges. |
