IFRS 17: Key lessons learned from training

With the effective date fast approaching we see that the urgency to get the finance, actuarial and risk department(s) up to speed on IFRS 17 is increasing and the need for training is rising. Is your staff ready for IFRS 17? Or is knowledge still concentrated with a small number of individuals?

Key lessons learned from training

Within PwC the Netherlands we have been involved in providing training and developing training on IFRS 17 early on. With experience on IFRS 17 training with insurance companies globally, supporting different PwC offices as well as having developed digital training in the form of e-learnings, we have had great successes helping companies and PwC teams internally to get ready for IFRS 17. We have also learned some important lessons in how to make training for the new insurance standard most effective:

Do not underestimate the importance

It takes time to roll out a good training programme. Although it is not always regarded as a key priority, having a detailed understanding of IFRS 17 will go a long way to ensure individuals know how to deal with the many issues they come across when implementing the standard transfers to business as usual.

Practice and repetition is key

Practice, make mistakes, correct and repeat. This almost becomes a mantra when dealing with IFRS 17. Having a theoretical understanding is a good starting point. However, to really get to grips with the new standard it is of utmost importance to practice and keep revisiting items learned to make sure knowledge sticks.

Tailor to your audience

The demands for training on IFRS 17 changes now that we are nearing the effective date. Where initially accounting and actuarial specialists were being educated, training now needs to be provided to a broader audience. Which will include finance employees, underwriting and sometimes also pricing, to get the knowledge into the business as usual processes, as well as board of directors, focusing on IFRS’s impact on strategic decisions. Or, based on the audience, tailor the content to specific examples or topics instead of all the elements of the standard.

Create variety in training

A combination of e-learnings and classroom learning helps to give participants different ways to learn and to help significantly in bringing across the content. Interactive sessions, with a mix of trainers with a technical accounting and actuarial perspective, help to keep the audience engaged and interested in the topic. Creating variety in the ways of training increases the effectiveness.

The implementation of IFRS 17 should be in its final stages and we expect that the need for training on IFRS 17 will increase over the next months. For insurers, especially, the training on IFRS 17 will have to become embedded in the organisation and part of their normal activities to upskill current and new employees in dealing with the new accounting framework.

E-learns available on webshop

We are still seeing requests coming in to assist with training and our e-learnings remain in demand. We are very happy to announce that our e-learnings can now also be purchased directly by individuals from the PwC-webshop.1

If you have any questions on our experience with training, or if there are areas where we can help you in rolling out a training programme, please reach out to any of us or access one of the resources below.

IFRS 17: e-learnings

¹The webshop is currently available in the following countries;Bulgaria; Croatia; Czechia; Estonia; Germany; Latvia; Lithuania; Namibia; Netherlands; Poland; Romania; Slovakia; Slovenia; United Kingdom; South Africa. If your country is not listed please reach out to your local PwC contact or to Leslie Vermaak.