How New EU Rules Will Affect Your Annuity Rates

The Solvency II Rule

This new rule, due to be implemented early in 2014, will require insurers to keep a larger sum of money close to home, just in case it is needed as security. This will ultimately mean that insurers have to change the way that they invest money and it is thought they will initially do this by opting for the relatively safe vehicle of government bonds rather than the higher paying corporate bonds.

Unfortunately lower bond yields also mean lower annuity rates and according to top business advisory firm Deloitte, the lower potential for growth could equate to an average drop in annuity rates of 5%, and if the worst happens this could increase up to 20%.

Why Accounting Firms Are Needed

Most businesses maintain their own accounting departments to prepare financial statements for executives and stockholders. Most individuals keep track of their own money using one or more accounting firms, even if it is simply keeping receipts in a shoe box. Yet, accountant firms continue to be among the most profitable and most widely used types of service providers. There are several reasons for this.

While a business may maintain its own books and perform internal audits on a regular basis, there are times when it is required by law that an outside agency audit the books and ensure that all financial reports are accurate. This is especially true with non-profit agencies and those receiving government funds. At times like this, only a professional firm that is completely independent from the business in question may legally perform such audits.

What Are the Roles of Bookkeeping in a Business?

Bookkeeping is mistakenly considered to be the same thing with accounting. This confusion is quite understandable as the accounting process includes the bookkeeping function, but is just one part of the accounting process.

Bookkeeping, commonly referred to as keeping the books, is actually the day to day process of keeping full, accurate, up-to-date business records of the financial transactions of a company. These transactions include sales, purchases, income, receipts and payments by an individual or organization. And the value of these transactions is expressed in certain currency, defined by laws of particular country. Bookkeeping is usually performed by a bookkeeper.

In small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), a bookkeeper may be the only sole financial member of staff.

Financial Records That Limited Liability Companies Must Maintain in Florida

According to Florida statutes, a LLC is a kind of business entity which is carrying a character of both a corporation as well as of sole proprietorship. As per chapter 608 of Florida statutes, there are certain laws with respect to a Limited Liability Company that makes it mandatory for them to maintain certain financial records as follows.

Department Of State Filing: All Florida LLCs are required to maintain a copy of filings that they do with Florida Department of State. This may include articles of organization, certificates regarding conversions, power of attorney and all other documents that a LLC has filed with the Department Of State. The LLC should also maintain an annual report which is to be submitted yearly to the Department Of State. This annual report should contain the formal name and address of the LLC, date of formation, and date of getting business licence. Full address of registered business and name of registered agent must be mentioned in the annual report.

IFRS Vs GAAP Accounting Standards

There has been a growing demand over the past twenty years to unite the business world under one conceptual framework for reporting financial statements. Currently, there are two types of frameworks used throughout the accounting world. They are the General Accepted Accounting Principles ( GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Presently more than seven thousand companies within one hundred countries worldwide use IFRS instead of GAAP. In order to harmonize these foreign capital markets, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have been working together to converge GAAP with IFRS. The main purpose of this conversion is to have one general global financial reporting standard that allows financial statements to become more relevant and reliable. This would also allow for both United States and foreign companies to become more consistent and comparable within their financial statements. The overall objective of this conversion is to provide better financial information for capital providers, lenders, and stockholders.