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Posts Tagged ‘Life’

Thus there are a lot of insurance companies that offer various insurance policies and mutual funds for people to buy or invest to. In India, the most famous companies include Reliance Mutual Funds, Birla Sun Life, and Kotak Mutual Funds. The Reliance Mutual Fund further empowers the investments to fixed-income securities and equity markets of different sectors and companies. This leads to more generation of income for the investors of RMF. The best benefit that RMF offers is its exemption form income tax since RMF is it registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Thus, mutual funds Reliance company provides include Growth Fund, Visions Fund, Banking Fund, Pahrma Fund, Media & Entertainment Fund, NRI Equity Fund, Equity Opportunities Fund, Index Fund, Tax Saver Fund, Regular Saving Fund, Natural Resources Fund, Equity Fund, and more other plans and policies. On the other hand Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund India. venture between Aditya Birla Group and Sun Life Financial Services. Birla Sun Life Insurance is a leading private life insurance company in India.

BSLI has gained its customers’ trust through its complete transparency, corporate governance, and professional dealings. BSLI offers valuable and transparent transactions on mutual funds, dream plans, and international equity funds. Further products of Birla include protection Policies and Savings Based Policies like BSI Saral Jeevan, BSLI Gold-Plus, ClassicLife Premium, Supreme Life, Simply Life, and Dream Plan. Consequently, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Funds is another leader of life insurance and mutual funding in India. The firm is being supported by Kotak Mahindra Bank which is one of India’s top financial institutions. KMB offers a wide range of financial solutions from life insurance, stock broking, investment banking, and commercial banking. Kotak Mahindra Bank certainly is the quality and asset manager of Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund. KMMH is the first company in the country that devoted a gild scheme prioritizing on government securities. Mutual funds offered by Kotak include Funds & Equity Funds, Balance Funds, and Debt Funds.

Everyone likes to save money but it’s important to keep in mind lower premiums may not be the best way to save money in the long term when buying life insurance. The first consideration is there are two quite different types of life insurance – term life insurance and permanent life insurance — and multiple ways a policy can be purchased. This complexity basically demands the buyer to do some background research, and carefully compare life insurance quotes. Life insurance is not one-size-fits-all and when comparing your options make certain you are comparing apples-to-apples to get the best low cost life insurance.

Before you buy a life insurance policy you should decide what type of policy is best for you and focus your efforts on financially sound life insurance companies. Check each company out with independent insurance company rating agencies and eliminate any that don’t get high ratings. The obvious step in terms of saving money is to take your time and compare life insurance quotes from a number of companies to get an idea of the range in costs. These numbers can vary by hundreds of dollars.

You should find out if you qualify for group life insurance through an employer or other organization because group rates are often much less expensive than individual life insurance. Group life insurance also comes with the benefit of possibly not requiring a health check to qualify for the plan. Another benefit is your premiums may be deducted from your paycheck so you’re less likely to miss a payment.

Once you are ready to buy life insurance go ahead and check around one more time to compare life insurance quotes from a number of insurance providers your previous research determined are financially sound. Once again the same policy can cost hundreds of dollars more or less from different companies. Here is where the initial low premium can catch you. Some policies have low premiums that rapidly increase over time, and other life insurance policies have higher upfront premiums, but don’t rise as dramatically. Look into the big picture to see which policy actually costs more after five year or longer. You might find the more expensive policy initially is significantly cheaper over time.

Two more places to save money with life insurance is in discounts. Look for premium discounts that kick in at certain coverage levels, such as a discount that makes $250,000 in coverage actually less expensive than $200,000 in coverage due to a premium discount. The second place is how you pay your premium. Paying yearly is often less expensive than paying more frequently, such as paying a monthly life insurance premium.

The very reason why you continue to strive and earn a living is because of this: Love. When you love someone, be it your wife, husband or children you always think about what would be the best for them. You want to give them the best that life has to offer. Yet sometimes, things won’t happen the way you would want them to be. Especially if it would mean that you would leave them behind. If that time comes, you want to make sure that everything else would be okay for those that you’ll leave behind.

Have you ever asked yourself this question? If I die, what would happen to my family? Will they be able to cope up with life’s hardships? The answer, one thing is for sure. Life will still go on for them no matter how painful, no matter how bitter it may seem. Yet, you can make it easier and simpler for them. How? By having life insurance, your family and loved ones will be able to go through life’s financial difficulties with ease.

What exactly is life insurance? Life insurance is a type of insurance that pays money when the insured person in the policy dies. It is a contract between the person insured and the insurance company where the insurance provider would pay a certain amount of money to the beneficiaries of the insured person so long as the insured person’s premium are current and up to date.

The next question you might be asking next is, do I need insurance? Usually people with families and loved ones that they want to provide comfort when sudden situations or emergencies arise would say yes. Having life insurance is a form of relief from financial troubles when a major turn around in life takes place. You may think that life insurance is for old people who would have the tendency to use it more than the younger generation does. Unfortunately, accidents and sickness that eventually leads to death can happen at any point in life regardless of age.

The reason why people need life insurance is to care for your loved one when your partner or loved one dies. Life insurance is a way of continuing support and care for your loved ones left behind, making the financial difficulties of living without you a little easier to handle. Life insurance is not only for those people who have families to take care of. Even single people should have life insurance as it would ensure that all your expenses in connection with hospital and burial are well handled. Having beneficiaries doesn’t mean they have to be blood relatives. Beneficiaries can be your best friend or even a charitable institution. 

As well, there are certain types of life insurance that carry a cash value. This type provides you with a valuable asset that can be used as a bond on loans or even against the policy itself when the need arises. There will be times in your life that having a cash value in your life insurance would be a great help to tide you over during these hard times.

There are four basic types of life insurance. They are term life insurance, whole life insurance, universal life insurance and variable life insurance. Familiarizing yourself with these four types would let you choose the best type of policy for you.

Term life insurance is a direct or clear-cut type of policy. This type of coverage lets you pay for a specific period of time. During that particular period, any beneficiary you choose will receive the benefits of your policy when you die. There are subcategories that fall under term life insurance. An example is you have the option to renew your policy every year.

However, since the price of the policy and premiums may go up higher every year as you get older, you may want to choose the guaranteed level term life policy. As this type of policy would have the same price range from 5 to 30 years depending on what you choose. There is also another type of term life policy called return of premium life insurance or ROP. This type of policy would pay you at the end of the term, provided you are still alive. Upon your death, the term of the funds will go to your chosen beneficiary.

Whole life insurance is another type of insurance that you may want to check out. As the name suggests, it covers you for your whole life instead of a specific term only. Although a whole life insurance policy would cost more than term life policies, the investment power and coverage are more attractive to some insurance shoppers.

Universal life coverage is when an insured can add a preferred amount to the minimum price o the premium.  The insurance company in return would invest the money with returns that are put back into the premiums or can also be left to build up. A subcategory of universal life insurance is universal variable life that gives the insurer to choose what they want to invest in rather than the insurance company deciding for them.

Variable life insurance coverage gives you more opportunities to invest including stocks. This policy is similar to universal life coverage because the returns are either used towards your premium payments or allowed to add up in an account. Your beneficiary will either receive the value of the policy, or the value of the policy in addition to a portion of, or the full cash investment returns account.

Remember, life insurance policies should offer you protection and security to you and your family as well as provide ease of mind and comfort when you need it. To choose the best type for you, always speak with a reputable insurance agent or provider that would answer any queries you may have.

Accounting Schedules:

What is accounting management?

 

Normally the small and medium Project managers wont be involving in the Accounting schedules of their respective Organizations, but for a macro Projects of a company, do decide the fate of the company, and hence Project Managers involve in the accounting schedules, especially a Projects like International AirPort, large refineries and space programmes.

It also involves the Project Managers of the Business Implementation Projects, which starts with an opportunity, with a business concept. And concludes When the process is operational,  When the process has been running smoothly for a defined period, When the business benefits are starting to become visible( assessed through accounting) Which evaluates When the process has been running smoothly( sustained accounting figures) for a defined period and  When the business benefits are starting to become visible. Over the lifetime of the process. The project produces an operationally effective process, through the figures of accounting.

Though the small time managers does not involve in accounting schedule, but recommended to study the accounting schedule in this POME Chapter in order to know hoe we are directly or indirectly responsible to stake holders, how the Property of our organization is asses, how the financial statements denote, where the future of the organization to be.

Accounting information is generally used for three distinct purposes:

Internal reporting to project managers for day-to-day planning, monitoring and control.
Internal reporting to managers for aiding strategic planning.
External reporting to End Users, government, regulators and other outside parties.

To complete this introduction to accounting, some additional terms and concepts need explanation. The first of these is GAAP, generally accepted accounting principles.

From time to time you will hear people talk about GAAP (pronounced “gap”), perhaps asking if such and such has been handled according to GAAP. GAAP has been defined by the Accounting Principles Board as follows: “Generally accepted accounting principles encompass the conventions, rules, and procedures necessary to define accepted accounting practice at a particular time.”

This definition is not particularly helpful, especially to the nonaccountant. However, because all public companies and most others prepare their financial statements and accounting information according to GAAP, what it means, and what GAAP really does, is assure that financial information is prepared consistently and may be understood in the same way as other financial information similarly prepared. Therefore, GAAP assures that analysts and other readers of financial statements should understand the same structures and descriptions the same way and can compare financial statements and arrive at reasonable and supportable conclusions.

Other accounting terms such as accrual accounting, materiality, and auditor’s opinion also create confusion. This is an appropriate place to define some of these terms as well.

Accruals and accrual accounting recognize that it is important to match revenues and expenses in the same time period. They also acknowledge that the recording of accounting transactions cannot always be completed quickly enough to produce timely, usable financial statements. Accruals, therefore, are accounting transactions that estimate revenues, or more probably, expenses so that the period’s financial reports will reflect that period’s results appropriately. Accruals also reflect transactions that were not really complete at the end of the accounting period but that should be reported. An example of such is Accrued Wages, wages earned during the period, but not due or payable at the end of that period. For example, assume that December 31 falls on a Wednesday and that payday is Friday. The wages earned in December should be reported as December transactions, but the amount so earned is not due or payable on December 31, the end of the accounting period. The wages earned through December 31 will, therefore, be accrued, charged into the December accounting period.

Materiality is another attempt to make the accounting process reasonable. Some transactions are really very small relative to the operations of the entire business, but to be perfectly accurate, need to be recognized. The concept of materiality acknowledges that if we try to account for all the transactions at the end of a period, we may spend far more time or energy than will be worthwhile when compared to the value of the transactions involved. Therefore, GAAP recognizes that if not accounting for such a transaction properly will not change the quality or usefulness of the overall financial information, the transaction may be deemed “not material.” Accountants have agreed that if a transaction is not material, it does not have to be completed or reported if such reporting will delay the completion of the reporting. Therefore, you may hear people talk about some information as not being material.

The auditor’s opinion is one place where GAAP and materiality come together. All public companies and many other companies employ outside auditors to review the accounting information to assess their accuracy and completeness. The auditor reviews the records and transactions of the company and provides an opinion as to whether or not they “present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the company as of December 31, XXXX.” Analysts, investors, management, and others use this opinion as an assurance that a competent outsider has reviewed the accounting information and found it sound. These people then feel they can rely on the information to make Project Managerial or investment decisions.

Sometimes, the auditors believe that there is a problem with the company or its records. They will, under those circumstances, issue a “qualified” opinion and explain the qualification they have identified. The users of the financial statements, thus informed, can make appropriate decisions. The management, after receiving a qualified opinion, will be under great pressure to correct whatever deficiency has been identified.

Similarly, auditors may decline to express an opinion, known as a “Disclaimer,” if they do not feel there is sufficient assurance of accuracy and completeness in the financial information provided by the company. In the most negative circumstances, the auditor may issue an “Adverse Opinion,” stating that in their opinion the financial statements presented by the company do not “present fairly” the financial condition as at the identified dates. Adverse opinions have all kinds of negative consequences and companies try to avoid them if at all possible.

 

External reports are constrained to particular forms and procedures by contractual reporting requirements or by generally accepted accounting practices. Preparation of such external reports is referred to as financial accounting. In contrast, cost or managerial accounting is intended to aid internal managers in their responsibilities of planning, monitoring and control.

Project costs are always included in the system of financial accounts associated with an organization. At the heart of this system, all expense transactions are recorded in a general ledger. The general ledger of accounts forms the basis for management reports on particular projects as well as the financial accounts for an entire organization. Other components of a financial accounting system include:

The accounts payable journal is intended to provide records of bills received from vendors, material suppliers, subcontractors and other outside parties. Invoices of charges are recorded in this system as are checks issued in payment. Charges to individual cost accounts are relayed or posted to the General Ledger.
Accounts receivable journals provide the opposite function to that of accounts payable. In this journal, billings to clients are recorded as well as receipts. Revenues received are relayed to the general ledger.
Job cost ledgers summarize the charges associated with particular projects, arranged in the various cost accounts used for the project budget.
Inventory records are maintained to identify the amount of materials available at any time.

We use some consistent and easily applied tools to provide a context and a framework for conducting the analysis. Keep these questions in mind throughout this POME Chapter and whenever you are looking at financial information.

Comparative Analysis

Financial analysis is generally cast as a comparative analysis, in a comparative analytical structure. The comparisons are based on the current company information and either industry or competitive information or historic company information. When the comparison is to other companies in the industry, whether identified as direct and specific competitors or as averages drawn from industry summaries, the analysis is described as cross-sectional or competitive analysis. It serves to benchmark a company against other members of its industry and gives management an idea of the company’s relative performance.

This kind of analysis, however, is often of limited Project Managerial use because the companies in an industry are frequently not comparable, particularly if the company is relatively small. In addition, companies often define their data differently, making comparisons difficult. Also, management philosophies differ, resulting in different practices and choices of financing and operations, again making comparisons difficult.

If you choose to undertake an industry or competitive analysis, it is important to have reliable source data and to understand their limitations. There are a number of published sources for industry data and they are presented in a number of ways. Here are a few industry data sources:

Dun & Bradstreet (D&B)

Drawn from corporate filings and company-provided information, D&B statistics provide information by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, which in 2002 officially replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code system, which had been in place for many years as a classification system used by the United States Census Bureau to categorize companies by the type of business they do. NAICS, first adopted in 1997, was updated in 2002 and will be updated again in 2007. It was developed to “provide new comparability in statistics about business activity across North America,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s web-site. However, whereas company-provided data are summarized and presented by D&B, they are not independently validated or confirmed.

Risk Management Association (RMA), formerly Robert Morris Associates (RMA)

Drawn from information provided by the bank members of RMA, industry data are presented in quartile form. (There is some belief that, because they come from filings made with their banks, the company-provided data may be more reliable than data from some other sources. RMA also segregates its quartile data into company-size quartiles as well.

 

Trade Associations

Trade association data may be more specific than D&B or RMA data by general NAICS code, but it may be of limited value because of reporting rules. For example, the trade association, mindful of the confidential nature of proprietary information, may restrict data that would identify a specific company. This renders the comparisons of limited value.

Investment Analysts

Investment analysts publish industry data as part of the investment research function. Here, too, the particular opinions and biases of the analysts may influence the presentation of data. Investment analysts are frequently employed by investment advisory firms and their use of ratios and other performance data may be chosen to bolster their analysis and the opinions they are expressing.

Financial ratios are frequently presented as quartile data. The quartiles represent the average ratios for companies falling at the respective quartiles, in terms of annual sales volume, within their industry, usually determined by NAICS.

Trend Analysis

By contrast to industry comparison, comparing a company to itself over time, called historic or trend analysis, permits the analyst to track progress. In most cases, whether financial or not, an analyst looking at historic analysis knows whether the company is improving. If a company is improving year after year, that is good. Even if it trails the industry averages, continuous improvement is a predictor that it won’t be behind for long.

The chart in Exhibit below highlights the limitations of an industry comparison and the clarity of historic analysis at the same time. For this reason, many analysts try to incorporate elements of both types of analysis into their assessment.

 

Assumptions in  the below Accounting Schedules for better understanding:

GG ORG(“the POME assumed Company”) financial statements, assumed the year ended 31 March 2006, taken to illustrate the methodology in normal Operations in big corporates.
‘Accounting Standards’ issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India have been implemented in the presentation of these financial statements.
Work in progress (WIP) to be valued at material cost.
Finished goods are always to be valued at the lower of cost or net realisable value.  Cost is determined on the basis of first in first out method and includes labour cost absorbed on a pre-determined basis.
Traded goods are to be valued at lower of cost and net realisable value.  Cost is determined on the basis of first in first out method and includes expenses incurred in bringing the same to its current location.
Raw Materials and components are to be valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value.  Cost is determined on the basis first in first out method and includes all costs in bringing the inventories up to its present location and condition.
‘Cost’ is defined as being all expenditure which has been incurred in bringing the product or service to its present location and condition
Consumables and stores as and when purchased are expensed as consumption.  The value of such items at the period end is not significant.
The manufacturing overheads are not absorbed for the purpose of inventory valuation as the same is not material.
Stocks do not include:goods purchased for which liabilities have not been provided; and
Goods returned by customers without credit to their accounts.

Provision, when material, has been made for :loss to be sustained in the fulfilment of, or inability to fulfil, any sales commitments.
loss to be sustained as a result of purchase commitments for inventory or other assets at quantities in excess of normal requirements or at prices in excess of prevailing market prices.
loss resulting from defaults in principal, interest, sinking fund or redemption provisions with respect to any issue of share or loan capital or credit arrangement, or any breach of covenant of an agreement.

1.   Significant accounting Schedule policies

Basis of preparation of financial statements

The financial statements must have been prepared and presented under the historical cost convention on the accrual basis of accounting and comply with the Accounting Standards issued by the Chartered Accountants of respective regions and the relevant provisions of the  respective regions Companies Acts and norms, to the extent applicable.

Assumptions:

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent liabilities on the date of the financial statements.  Actual results could differ from those estimates.  Any revision to accounting estimates is recognised prospectively in current and future periods.

The financial statements in this POME Chapter are presented in thousands of Indian rupees.

Fixed assets and depreciation

Fixed assets are to be carried at cost of acquisition or construction less accumulated depreciation. The cost of fixed assets also includes the exchange differences (favorable as well as unfavorable) arising in respect of foreign currency liabilities incurred for the purpose of their acquisition or construction from a country.

Borrowing costs related to the acquisition or construction of the qualifying fixed assets for the period up to the completion of their acquisition or construction are capitalized. Acquired intangible assets are recorded at the consideration paid for acquisition.

Leases under which the Company assumes substantially all the risks and rewards of ownership are classified as finance leases.

Depreciation is provided on the straight-line method from the beginning of the month in which the asset is ready for use.  If the management’s estimate of the useful life of a fixed asset at the time of acquisition of the asset or of the remaining useful life on a subsequent review is shorter than that envisaged in the aforesaid schedule, depreciation is provided at a higher rate based on the management’s estimate of the useful life/remaining useful life. Pursuant to this policy, depreciation on assets has been provided at the rates based on the following POME estimated useful lives of fixed assets:

 

Asset Category

Useful life

(Years)

 

Buildings

30

 

Plant and machinery

12

 

Office equipment

16

 

Air conditioner

8

 

Data processing equipment

5

 

Computer software

3

 

Furniture and fixtures

10

 

Vehicles

5

 

Licenses and technical knowhow

5 to 6

 

Equipment leased to others

12

 

Freehold land is not depreciated. Assets individually costing certain specified amount, are depreciated fully in the year of purchase.  Depreciation is charged on a proportionate basis for all assets purchased and sold during the year.

 

Leased assets to be depreciated over the lease term or the useful life, whichever is shorter.

 

Advances paid towards acquisition of fixed assets and the cost of assets acquired but not ready for use as at the balance sheet date are disclosed under capital work-in-progress.

 

Investments

Long-term investments to be carried at cost less any other-than-temporary diminution in value, determined separately for each individual investment.

Inventories

(i)           Inventories to be carried at the lower of cost and net realizable value.

(ii)          Cost comprising purchase price and all incidental expenses incurred in bringing the inventory to its present location and condition. The method of determination of cost is as follows:

Raw materials and components – on a first in first out method.
Work-in-progress – includes cost of conversion.
Stores and spares – on a first in first out method.
Manufactured finished goods – includes costs of conversion.
Traded finished goods – at landed cost on a first in first out method.

(iii)         The comparison of cost and net realizable value is made on an item-by-item basis.

(iv)         The net realizable value of work-in-progress is determined with reference to the net realizable value of related finished goods. Raw materials and other supplies held for use in production of inventories are not written down below cost except in cases where material prices have declined, and it is estimated that the cost of the finished products will exceed their net realizable value.

(v)          The provision for inventory obsolescence is assessed on a quarterly basis and is provided as considered necessary.

 

Retirement benefits

Contributions to superannuation fund, which is a defined contribution scheme, are to be made at pre-determined rates to the Life Insurance Corporations of the respective regions, on a monthly basis.

Gratuity and leave encashment costs, which are defined benefit schemes, are accrued based on actuarial valuation at the balance sheet date, carried out by an independent actuary.

Contributions payable to the recognized provident fund, which is a defined contribution scheme, are charged to the profit and loss account.

 

Revenue recognition

Revenue from sale of both manufactured and traded goods, including scrap, is to be recognized on transfer of all significant risks and rewards of ownership to the buyer. The amount recognized as sale is exclusive of sales tax and trade and quantity discounts. The Company must provide for probable sales returns on an estimated basis based on past trends as a reduction from revenue.  Revenue from sale of goods has been presented both gross and net of excise duty, if applicable.

 

 

Software services comprise income from time and material contracts.  Revenue from time and material contracts is recognized on the basis of software developed and billable in accordance with the terms of the contract with the clients.

Income from annual maintenance contracts is recognized on a pro-rata basis over the period of the contract, over which the service is delivered.

Commission on sales comprises income earned on sales orders procured on behalf of its group companies and is recognized on shipment of goods by such group company.

Lease rental income is recognized when billable in accordance with the terms of the contract with the clients.

Interest on deployment of surplus funds is recognised using the time proportionate method based on underlying interest rates.

Foreign exchange transactions

Foreign currency transactions are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing on the dates of the respective transaction.  Exchange differences arising on foreign exchange transactions settled during the year are recognized in the profit and loss account of the year, except that exchange differences related to acquisition of fixed assets from a country outside India are adjusted in the carrying amount of the related fixed assets.

Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies as at the balance sheet date are translated at the closing exchange rates on that date; the resultant exchange differences are recognized in the profit and loss account except those related to acquisition of fixed assets from a country outside India which are adjusted in the carrying amount of the related fixed assets.

 

Warranties

Warranty costs are estimated by the management on the basis of a technical evaluation and past experience. Provision is made for estimated liability in respect of warranty costs in the year of sale of goods.

 

Provisions and contingent liabilities

The Company must recognize, a provision when there is a present obligation as a result of a past event that probably requires an outflow of resources and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation.  A disclosure for a contingent liability is made when there is a possible obligation or a present obligation that may, but probably will not, require an outflow of resources.  Where there is a possible obligation or a present obligation that the likelihood of outflow of resources is remote, no provision or disclosure is made.

 

Ø     Income taxes

Income-tax expense comprises current tax (i.e. amount of tax for the period determined in accordance with the income-tax law) and deferred tax charge or credit (reflecting the tax effects of timing differences between accounting income and taxable income for the year).  The deferred tax charge or credit and the corresponding deferred tax liabilities or assets are recognized using the tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date.

Deferred tax assets are recognised only to the extent there is reasonable certainty that the assets can be realized in future; however, where there is unabsorbed depreciation or carried forward loss under taxation laws, deferred tax assets are recognised only if there is a virtual certainty of realization of such assets.

Deferred tax assets are reviewed as at each balance sheet date and written down or written-up to reflect the amount that is reasonably/virtually certain (as the case may be) to be realized.  The Company offsets, on a year on year basis, the current tax assets and liabilities, where it has a legally enforceable right and where it intends to settle such assets and liabilities on a net basis.

 

Impairment of assets

The Company must assess at each balance sheet date whether there is any indication that an asset including goodwill may be impaired.  If any such indication exists, the Company estimates the recoverable amount of the asset.  If such recoverable amount of the asset or the recoverable amount of the cash generating unit to which the asset belongs is less than its carrying amount, the carrying amount is reduced to its recoverable amount.  The reduction is treated as an impairment loss and is recognised in the profit and loss account.  If at the balance sheet date there is an indication that if a previously assessed impairment loss no longer exists, the recoverable amount is reassessed and the asset is reflected at the recoverable amount.  In respect of goodwill the impairment loss will be reversed only when it was caused by specific external events and its effect has been reversed by subsequent external events.

 

 

 

Earnings/loss per share

The basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share are computed by dividing the net profit/(loss) attributable to equity shareholders for the year by the weighted average number of equity shares outstanding during the year.  The Company did not have any potentially dilutive equity shares outstanding during the year.

 

In traditional bookkeeping systems or PMIS, day to day transactions are first recorded in journals. With double-entry bookkeeping, each transaction is recorded as both a debit and a credit to particular accounts in the ledger. For example, payment of a supplier’s bill represents a debit or increase to a project cost account and a credit or reduction to the company’s cash account. Periodically, the transaction information is summarized and transferred to ledger accounts. This process is called posting, and may be done instantaneously or daily in computerized systems.

In reviewing accounting information, the concepts of flows and stocks should be kept in mind. Daily transactions typically reflect flows of dollar amounts entering or leaving the organization. Similarly, use or receipt of particular materials represents flows from or to inventory. An account balance represents the stock or cumulative amount of funds resulting from these daily flows. Information on both flows and stocks are needed to give an accurate view of an organization’s state. In addition, forecasts of future changes are needed for effective management.

Information from the general ledger is assembled for the organization’s financial reports, including balance sheets and income statements for each period. These reports are the basic products of the financial accounting process and are often used to assess the performance of an organization. Table below shows a typical income statement for a small construction firm, indicating a net profit of $ 330,000 after taxes. This statement summarizes the flows of transactions within a year.

TABLE Illustration of an Accounting Statement of Income

Income Statement
for the year ended December 31, 20xx

Gross project revenues

Direct project costs on contracts
Depreciation of equipment
Estimating
Administrative and other expenses
Subtotal of cost and expenses

Operating Income
Interest Expense, net
Income before taxes
Income tax
Net income after tax
Cash dividends
Retained earnings, current year
Retention at beginning of year
Retained earnings at end of year

$7,200,000

5,500,000
200,000
150,000
650,000
6,500,000

700,000
150,000
550,000
220,000
330,000
100,000
230,000
650,000
$880,000.</< td>

Table below shows the comparable balance sheet, indicated a net increase in retained earnings equal to the net profit. The balance sheet reflects the effects of income flows during the year on the overall worth of the organization.

TABLE Illustration of an Accounting Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet
December 31, 20xx

Assets

Amount

Cash
Payments Receivable
Work in progress, not claimed
Work in progress, retention
Equipment at cost less accumulated depreciation
Total assets

$150,000
750,000
700,000
200,000
1,400,000
$3,200,000

Liabilities and Equity

Liabilities
Accounts payable
Other items payable (taxes, wages, etc.)
Long term debts
Subtotal
Shareholders’ funds
40,000 shares of common stock
(Including paid-in capital)
Retained Earnings
Subtotal
Total Liabilities and Equity

$950,000
50,000
500,000
1,500,000

820,000
880,000
1,700,000
$3,200,000

Notes to the accounts

As a result, complementary procedures to those used in traditional financial accounting are required to accomplish effective project control, as described in the preceding and following sections. While financial statements provide consistent and essential information on the condition of an entire organization, they need considerable interpretation and supplementation to be useful for project management. This POME Chapter is designed to identify and define the key standard Financial Reports and Metrics required by Company Corporate Leadership to consistently and systematically measure financial results and key performance indicators across all the Strategic Business Groups (SBGs), where an SBG is defined as an operating business unit

 

The first main section of this POME Chapter, General Guidelines and Definitions, is intended to address the overarching concepts found throughout this POME Chapter.  The second section, Financial Reports and Metrics, addresses the standard reports required by Corporate including account names and metric calculation detail.  The Key Concepts section provides links to term definitions used throughout the POME Chapter.

 

The Corporate Business Analysis and Planning organization owns the content of this POME Chapter.  Any questions or suggestions should be directed through the SBG Controller/FP&A Leader.

Company has an existing Corporate Controllers’ Policy that may help clarify some of the points made within this document.

Any exceptions or deviations to these policies and procedures require prior, written consent by the Corporate Controllers and Corporate Business Analysis and Planning (BAP) departments.  General Guidelines and Definitions

 

Financial reports and metrics are compiled by the Company Finance function and reported to Corporate leadership and operating business unit management; however, at the discretion of the Strategic Business Group (SBG) or Strategic Business Unit (SBU), additional reports and metrics may be used for their own internal management reporting purposes.

 

Operating business units may not alter metric calculations or report to Company Corporate metrics using definitions other than those described in this POME Chapter.  Operating business units are encouraged to minimize the proliferation of financial reports and metrics that differ in format and content than those described in this POME Chapter.

Financial Management

Financial Management (FM) is Company’s standard financial reporting system.  It is the source of all financial data used for external reporting and internal management reporting purposes.  The FM account code structure is based on Company’s common Chart of Accounts (COA) and uses the convention of parent and child accounts.

“External” View

SBG financial information contained in these reports and the basis for the metric calculations captures revenues and margins based on an “external” view in which inter-company (between SBGs) transactions are excluded.  Even though internally driven revenues are reported separately by each SBG, externally generated revenues and margins are the key measures for evaluating each SBG’s contribution to Company’s Net Income.  SBG external sales and corresponding margins are used for external reporting purposes and for internally measuring operating results.

“Measurement Basis”

The term “Measurement Basis” is used to identify key SBG Income Statement financial data such as Operating Income Measurement Basis or Net Income Measurement Basis.  This term simply indicates that standard General Ledger Income Statement components have been adjusted to reflect adjustments approved by the Corporate Controller’s department (i.e. Corporate assessments).  Company’s Corporate Financial Management (FM) system facilitates the adjustments and reporting of “Measurement Basis” financial data which is used for measuring the SBG’s operating results.

Comparative Analysis Formats

Comparison data shown in dollar amounts or percentages uses the convention of positive numbers or percentages equating to favorable variances, and negative numbers or percentages equating to negative variances versus the comparison period(s).

Gautam Koppala,

POME Author

 

A relative has just died. He had a life insurance policy with you listed as the beneficiary. There’s just one problem: the life insurance policy is missing. You have no idea which insurance company wrote it.

If you find the missing life insurance policy in the future, are you still eligible to receive the death benefit?

Hope they paid their insurance bills

If you’re a beneficiary and you find the lost life insurance policy shortly after the insured dies (within six months to a year, for example), claiming the death benefit should be trouble-free.

First, determine if the insured had term or permanent life insurance. If the insured held a term policy, you’ll receive the death benefit if he died before the end of the policy term. If he died after the policy expiration date, you would get nothing.

If the insured had a permanent life policy, you’ll receive the money if the death occurred while the policy was “in force,” meaning all premium payments were made up until the time of death. If the death was a while ago, you’ll receive the benefit with interest from the date of death.

If the life insurance policy lapsed — meaning the insured stopped making premium payments before he died — there’s a chance you might get nothing. When a permanent life insurance policy lapses, most insurance companies switch its status from permanent insurance to one of two options:

“Extended term” — The insurance company uses the cash value of the policy to buy a term life insurance policy for the same death benefit using the cash value of the policy. The death benefit will continue for the longest period the cash value will purchase.

“Reduced paid up” — The insurance company will keep the policy in force permanently, but will reduce the death benefit.

Gerry Brogla, an actuary for State Farm, says in the majority of the cases at his company, the permanent policy continues as extended term if it lapses. At State Farm, extended term is the default option for most permanent policies.

If the policy lapses, and the extended-term period expires before the insured dies, the policy is worthless and the life insurance beneficiary will get nothing. If the insured dies before the extended-term period is up, the beneficiary will receive the death benefit. If the policy lapsed because the insured died (thus ending premium payments and causing the insurance to be placed in extended-term status), the beneficiary will still collect the full death benefit, regardless of when the extended term was up. The beneficiary always needs to supply the insurance company with a death certificate to verify the date of death.

There is no time limit during which a life insurance beneficiary must step forward to collect the money, according to Jack Dolan, spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurers. “If a person shows up 30 years after [the insured's] death, the company still makes good on it,” Dolan assures.

What happens if no one ever reports the death?

If the insured dies and the insurance company does not learn of the death, the policy lapses. Insurance companies will take steps to find out why a policyholder stopped making payments.

When an insurance company stops getting payments, it sends letters to the insured informing him the policy may lapse as a result of unpaid premiums. If the letters go unanswered, the company might initiate a search to find the insured. If that comes up empty, the company will then lapse the policy.

If a beneficiary to a policy never steps forward, it unfortunately means the insured paid money to a policy throughout his life and his beneficiaries never see a penny. This is why its a good idea to make sure beneficiaries are aware of any life insurance policies you have.

If you’re lucky, the state may have your money

In some cases when a beneficiary fails to claim a death benefit for several years, the money is transferred to the state where the insurance policy was purchased under the escheat laws.

If a company knows an insured died and it cannot find the beneficiary, it must turn the full death benefit over to the state comptroller’s department within three to five years of the insured’s death. The money is transferred to the state where the insured bought the policy. The money is considered “unclaimed property” and gets lumped in with dormant bank accounts and uncollected rent deposits. The comptroller’s department maintains a database that lists the names and addresses of lost life insurance beneficiaries.

Many states will try to contact life insurance beneficiaries in an effort to pay the death benefits. In Texas, for example, the names and addresses of the beneficiaries are published annually in each county in the state. In New York, the Web site of the New York State Comptroller’s Office of Unclaimed Funds has an online search to find any unclaimed death benefits owed to you. You can find out the procedures in your state by contacting the office of your state comptroller or treasurer.

Keep in mind your chances of finding the policy with the state are slim. The insurance company has no obligation to hand the money over to the state if it’s unaware the insured died. In most cases, it’s the beneficiary who contacts the insurance company.

Also, the insurer only transfers the money to the state three to five years after it cannot find the beneficiary but knows the insured died. If the state doesn’t have the death benefit, it’s likely the insurer is still looking for the beneficiary or doesn’t know the policyholder has died.

Unclaimed death benefits are rarely transferred to the state. Dave Potter, a spokesman for Hartford Life, says less than 1 percent of his company’s death benefits go unclaimed.

Del Chance, a life insurance claims manager at State Farm, says, “Turning over life policy benefits to an individual state after the death of an insured is extremely rare. State Farm utilizes their own search techniques as well as outside vendors to locate lost beneficiaries in the event of the death of one of our insureds. By and large these procedures have always located the beneficiary.

Tips for making sure your life insurance beneficiaries get your death benefit:

1. Give your beneficiaries your policy information. It can be a difficult and awkward conversation, but an important one.

2. Keep all your financial records (especially your life insurance policies) in one place. Don’t force your beneficiaries to search your house from top to bottom after you die.

Tips for looking for lost life insurance policies:

1. Go through canceled checks or contact your relative’s bank for copies of old checks. Look for checks made out to insurance companies.

2. Ask those who may have known about your relative’s finances. Speak with the relative’s lawyer, banker or accountant. Also contact the relative’s insurance agent.

3. Contact your relative’s past employers. They might know of possible group life insurance. The insured might have also purchased supplemental life insurance through work.

4. Check the mail for a year. Premium bills and policy-status notices are usually sent annually.

5. Look at income tax returns for the past two years. Check for interest income from policies or expenses paid to life insurance companies.

6. Contact the Medical Information Bureau. If your relative bought life insurance fairly recently, there might be a trail of the companies to which he applied. The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) maintains a database that might show if insurers requested your relative’s medical information within the past seven years. Record searches can be requested through the MIB’s Policy Locator Service and cost $75. The MIB says that nearly 30 percent of searches turn up leads.