Insurance Accounting & Advisory Saudi Arabia

Insurance Sector

Insurance Financial Compliance in Saudi Arabia

Our Insurance sector clients include SAMA-regulated insurance companies, Takaful operators, reinsurance companies, and insurance brokerage firms. These businesses require financial advisors who understand not just general accounting standards, but the specific ZATCA treatment, sector regulatory requirements, and Vision 2030 compliance obligations that apply to their industry.

Saudi Arabia's insurance sector is regulated by SAMA with some of the most demanding financial reporting requirements in the Kingdom. The recent mandatory adoption of IFRS 17 has added significant complexity:

• IFRS 17 insurance contract accounting: IFRS 17 replaced IFRS 4 for insurance contracts — requiring a completely different measurement approach (General Measurement Model, Premium Allocation Approach, or Variable Fee Approach depending on contract type). Saudi insurers needed to rebuild their accounting systems and restate prior years. The transition created significant one-off accounting adjustments and ongoing complexity.
• Actuarial reserve adequacy: SAMA requires insurers to maintain adequate claims reserves, validated by an approved actuary. The accounting team must correctly implement actuarial output into the financial statements — present value of outstanding claims, IBNR reserves, and deferred acquisition costs.
• Reinsurance WHT: Reinsurance premiums paid to overseas reinsurers are subject to Saudi WHT at 5%. Many insurers underestimate this obligation — particularly for facultative reinsurance arrangements that may not be captured in the standard accounts payable process.