SBS updates the Chart of Accounts for insurance companies regarding deferred costs

The Superintendency of Banking, Insurance and AFP (SBS) modified the Chart of Accounts for Companies of the Insurance System, approved by SBS Resolution No. 348-95 and its amending regulations, through SBS Resolution No. 02244-2026, signed in Lima on September 10, 2026, and published in the Legal Norms supplement of El Peruano on Monday, September 14, 2026. The measure seeks to achieve uniform recording and better identification of deferred acquisition costs, as well as to establish guidelines for their accounting treatment.

The regulation is issued in exercise of the authority conferred by numeral 13 of article 349 of the General Law of the Financial System and the Insurance System and Organic Law of the Superintendency of Banking and Insurance (Law No. 26702). Previously, through SBS Resolution No. 1692-2026, the SBS published the draft resolution on its digital platform to gather public opinions, under the Thirty-Second Final and Complementary Provision of the General Law and Supreme Decree No. 009-2024-JUS. The resolution was signed by the superintendent Sergio Javier Espinosa Chiroque.

Scope of the modifications

The resolution introduces changes to the Conceptual Accounting Framework and to the Catalog and Account Description and Dynamics chapters of the Chart of Accounts:

• Replaces literal k) “Policy acquisition expenses” of the “IFRS 4 - Insurance Contracts” section with the designation “Deferred acquisition costs”.
• Modifies item 19 “Other assets” and account 1902 “Deferred acquisition costs”, which records the deferred costs of long-term policies (greater than one year) for the life and accident and health branches with coverage over biometric risks.
• Modifies item 43 “Remuneration on insurance and accepted reinsurance premiums” and account 4305, incorporating the analytical accounts 4305.00.01 “Commissions to company personnel” and 4305.00.02 “Promoters”.
• Adjusts the designation of accounts 4303 and 4304 for remuneration on accepted reinsurance, and the description of account 4701.

Accounting treatment of deferred costs

The new treatment specifies that deferred acquisition costs comprise the costs directly attributable to the acquisition of insured parties, linked to the issuance of policies and derived from remuneration on insurance premiums, which are systematically amortized during the term of the contracts. The amortization period must be related to the term of the policies, with the maximum term being the validity of these policies.

The accounting policy of each company must include, at a minimum, deferred concepts, the amortization method, the procedure for the reversal of the deferred balance in cases of policy cancellation, and the insurance products associated with the deferral. In the notes to the annual and interim financial statements, the accounting policy, the balance constituted as acquisition cost, and the average remaining deferral period, weighted by the amount of the deferred commission, expressed in years and months, must be disclosed.

Validity and Effects

SBS Resolution No. 02244-2026 enters into force starting from the financial information corresponding to the month of January 2027. The modifications do not affect the deferred acquisition cost balances recognized prior to its entry into force, which will continue to be recorded in accordance with the provisions applicable at the time of their recognition.

The update impacts the accounting of all insurance companies in the country, which must adapt their accounting policies and recording systems before the regulation enters into force, in order to improve the comparability of financial information and ensure its consistency with current regulatory provisions.

Source: El Peruano, No. 19518, Monday, September 14, 2026, Legal Norms, p. 18 (official reference: SBS Resolution No. 02244-2026).