Q9.Use the information provided in table 6 to calculate the cost to issue a life insurance policy, including receiving and processing applications for each product.

IMA EDUCATIONAL Case Journal Case Study The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business ISSN 1940-204X Product Costs: Application in an Insurance Company Scott McGrzgor Warm Cosmetics! State University INTRODUCTION Greg McAndrews has recently been hired as Vice President for Expense Management at a large insurance company. His responsibilities include the process for allocating expenses to products. Through discussions with his staff, he has learned that there is a great deal of discontent with the expense allocation process. He decided that one of his top priorities will be to analyze the product coating process and make necessary corrections. Greg is a CMA\"a (Certied Management Accountant) and CPA (Certied Public Accountant) with an undergraduate degree in accounting and a Master of Business Administration {MBA}. Although he has worked in various roles with progressing responsibilities throughout his 12year career, Greg has never been directly responsible for expense allocations. He has read numerous articles on the current applications of cost accounting techniques in service industries, including activitybased costing (ABC). He believes that he has a good understanding ofcost accounting techniques and is eager for his team to improve the expense allocation process. OOMPNY OVERVIEW AXE Life Insurance Company is among die leading life insurance companies in the United States. AXE Life employs more than 5,000 people and has assets in excess of $1? billion and annual premiums (\"revenue\") in excess of $10 billion. The company is well established with a long successful history. AXE Life sells individual life insurance products. individual annuities. and group annuities. The individual products, both life and annuity. are sold through insurance agents. The group annuity products are sold by banks and brokerage rms. The group business represents approximately 40% of total sales. and the individual business represents the remainder. The company continually develops new products. both life and annuity. typically bringing one or two new products to market each year. The company currently has 1? different life and annuity insurance products. AXE Life has a functional organization stmcture with Sales. Marketing. Finance, IT, and Service departments representing a Functional discipline. The Service department has ajoint management team but has separate functions to service annuity products and life insurance products. All other departments provide support to both life and annuity products. Because of die size of the functional departments and their annual expense budgets, there are nancial support roles in each department. The nancial support staffs provide budgeting and nancial analysis support to the departments. IJFE INSURANCE TERMS. PRODUCTS, AND PROCESSES The two primary types of products sold and serviced by life insurance companies are life insurance and annuities. These two products have different characteristics. In general, life insurance is used for nancial protection and annuities Ill EDIIOITIONAI. CARE JOURNAL n VOL. 1, NO. I, ART. I, SEPTEMBER ZEIIAI Table 2. Panel D: Cost Driver Information, Revised Allocations Department/Function Description of Activities Cost Driver Products Supported Allocation Marketing Marketing Management Manage Marketing dept. Marketing Campaigns All Sales Marketing Department Staff Marketing campaigns Marketing Campaigns All Sales Direct to Happy Happy Retirement Annuity Campaign Costs for media campaign Media campaign Happy Retirement Annuity Retirement Secure Life Insurance Campaign Media campaign for secure life product Media campaign Secure Life Direct to Secure Life Total Company Ad Campaign Media campaign for total company Media campaign All Sales Customer Service - Life New Business Management Manage new business New policy volume Life (all) # of new policies Applications Review applications Number of applications Life (all) # of applications Underwriting Underwriting applications Number of applications Life (all) # of applications Policy Issuance - Life Insurance Issuing new policies Number of policies issued Life (all) # of polices issued e-Issuance Tech support for e-applications Number of e-applications Life (all) # of e-applications Customer Service Management Manage customer service Number of policies Life and annuities (all) # of policies Call Center Receive incoming calls Number of phone calls Life and annuities (all) # of phone calls Life Insurance Inforce Maintenance Servicing life policies Number of policies Life (all) # of life policies Claims Management Manage staff for claims Number of claims Life (all) # of claims Life Insurance Claims Adjusters Adjudicate claims Number of claims Life (all) # of claims Life Insurance Claims Issue claim checks Number of claims Life (all) # of claims Customer Service - Annuity New Business Management Manage new business issuance New policies sold Annuities (all) # of new policies Applications Reviewing applications Number of applications Annuities (all) # of applications Policy Issuance Staff issuing new policies Number of policies issued Annuities (all) # of polices issued e-Issuance Tech support for electronic applications Number of e-applications Annuities (all) # of e-applications Annuity Inforce Maintenance Service all annuity products Number of inforce policies Annuities (all) # of policies Annuity Surrenders Issue surrenders Number of surrenders Annuities (all) # of surrenders Information Technology IT Management Manage staff for IT Number of systems/projects All Assets Financial Management Systems Managing financial systems Number of systems/projects All Assets Human Resource System Manage HR system Number of systems/projects All Assets Life Insurance Claims Systems Managing life claim system Number of systems/projects Life Life claims Life Policy Systems Managing life systems Number of systems/projects Life Life policies Annuity Systems Managing annuity systems Number of systems/projects Annuity Annuity policies Annuity Projects Project for new annuity product Project hours Happy Retirement Annuity Annuity policies Life insurance Life Insurance Projects Project for new life product Project hours Secure Life Insurance policies Financial Systems Update Project for upgrading financial system Project hours All Assets Controller Accounting dept Number of reports All Assets Actuarial Actuarial staff Number of reports All Assets Financial Planning and Analysis Financial analysts and budget analysts Number of analysis and reports All Assets Expense Management Cost Accounting staff Number of reports All Assets IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 10 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Table 2. Panel D: Cost Driver Information, Revised Allocations (continued) Department/Function Description of Activities Cost Driver Products Supported Allocation Human Resources Human Resource Management Manage staff for HR Employees All Assets Compensation and Payroll Executive and employee compensation Employees All Assets Staffing and Recruiting Recruit for all company positions Open positions ALL Assets Sales Sales Management Manage sales function for company Sales Life and annuity (all) Sales East Region East coast sales staff and management Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales Midwest Region Midwest sales staff and management Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales South Region South sales staff and management Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales West Region West coast sales staff and management Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales Facilities Facilities Management Manage staff for facilities Number of employees/sq. ft. All Assets Facilities Staff Maintenance and other facility staff Number of employees/sq. ft. All Assets Corporate Unallocated Rent Rent for entire corporate office Number of employees/sq. ft. All Asset Treasurers Treasurer Manage staff for Treasurer's dept. Assets All Assets Cash Management and Banking Manage cash & banking relationships Number of bank accounts All Asset All Investments Manage investments Invested assets Assets Executive & Corporate Office of the CEO CEO and support staff All Assets Expenses not chargeable to any area All Corporate Assets Table 3: Actual Cost Driver Volumes for July 2012 in millions Policies Inforce Phone Claims Surrenders Annuity Assets Annual Apps Sales Product e-Apps Issued Policies Calls Checks Premium Whole Life Series 1 1.025 1,425 332,500 125 1,520 1,240 $1,850 $507 720 785 280,250 525 816 2.050 726 13 Whole Life Series 2 1,517 Variable Life Series 1 1,475 1,752 225,000 710 910 ,258 678 36 75,000 1,215 1,175 4,225 158 61 Variable Life Series 2 2,125 3,150 Term Life 2000 650 720 331,250 625 915 2,885 1,258 207 123 525 650 91,501 65 362 575 1,895 118 178 Term New Horizons Flexible Life 715 755 147,250 70 1.665 615 753 469 23 Secure Life 2,150 2,252 252.500 775 5,517 2,410 1258 1,309 108 1,150 1,175 88, 125 4,175 1.415 12,125 16,250 1,823 53 Brokerage Annuity Fixed Annuity, Broker 1,125 1,150 72,500 250 3,215 715 14,141 3,575 521 52 Happy Life Annuity 3,850 4,005 115,050 350 6,152 875 11,250 15,525 1,229 176 Bankers Choice Annuity 725 755 62,500 3,150 2,102 15,010 1,276 668 45 625 650 25,250 120 1.650 5,500 :,526 270 25 Fixed Annuity, Bank 1,185 Individual Fixed Annuity 1 525 550 42,500 1,275 125 10,101 11,251 475 21 Individual Fixed Annuity 2 375 415 85,750 415 2,282 450 19,252 11,425 891 18 Individual Fixed Annuity 3 10 10 3,520 115 10 1,010 2 628 91 0.1 Life Style Annuity 1,105 1,215 40.248 615 145 5,250 12,000 50 175 Total 18,875 21,412 2,275,694 3,330 34,884 11,327 7,787 93,639 $100,000 $10,690 $850 IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 11 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014ASSIGNMENT PHASE II: ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING 1. Discuss some of the alternatives and factors that Greg Greg charges the project team to begin work on the second should consider when developing the expense allocation phase of the project, which is to use the expense allocation system. What are some of the costs and benefits of process to begin to develop activity-based costs. As an the alternatives? initial step, the team reviews the information provided on 2. As shown in Table 1, Panel C, AXE Life is allocating the activities performed by each of the functions as shown all expenses of all departments to products. Are there in Table 2, Panel D, and categorizes the activities as unit, any potential problems caused by allocating all expenses batch, product, and facility. to products? 3. Review the basis for the expense allocations under the 7. Activities can be categorized as unit, batch, product, and facility. Provide the definitions of each of these categories current system (Table 1, Panel D) and identify functional and then use the information in Table 2, Panel D, to centers that are using expense allocation bases that may categorize the activities as unit, batch, product, or facility. be inconsistent with the activities that drive costs for that function. Using the information provided, suggest 8. As its next step, the team gathers information in Table 5 and calculates a rate for each of the functions based on changes to the expense allocations for each function. 4. Table 2 shows the results of the test month of the first the associated volumes. Use the information in Table 5 to calculate cost rates for the functions identified. Is this iteration for the system. Greg has confirmed that all information sufficient for decision making? Why or why not? expenses were allocated. Review the expense allocations used in the first test and discuss the functional centers in Referring back to his discussion with the chief actuary, which the expense allocation bases have been improved Greg identifies two activities to begin developing activity- based costs: the cost to issue life insurance products and and those that still may need improvement. Table 4 shows the cost centers for the Life Insurance the cost to service them. The project team defines the activities encompassing the cost to issue a policy as the cost Projects functional center and a description of the activities in each cost center that make up that functional to receive and process applications, underwrite policies and print, and collate and mail policies (termed "issuance"). center. Based on this information, is the proposed basis for allocating expenses for these cost centers accurate? The cost to maintain policies is defined as the cost of storing Why? How could it be improved? policy information, updating policy information as needed, 6. Discuss the steps Greg should take to complete the responding to requests for service on insurance policies, project and then maintain the expense allocation the payment of claims and benefits, and the associated computer costs. process going forward. Based on the data provided, what additional steps can be taken to improve the product expense allocation process at AXE Life? Table 4: Cost Level Data for Life Insurance Projects Function 19008 Life Insurance Projects Cost Center Number Cost Center Products Supported Activity Expense 19008-001 Whole Life Series 2 Update Whole Life Series 2 Update system to reflect 2012 changes in policy conditions $ 12,425 19008-002 Variable Life Series 2 Update Variable Life Series 2 Update system to reflect 2012 changes in policy conditions 11,429 19008-003 Term Life New Horizon Update Term Life New Horizon Update system to reflect 2012 changes in policy conditions 13,152 19008-004 Secure Life Project Secure Life Project System modifications for new secure life product 101,444 Total $ 138,450 IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 12 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Table 5: Cost and Volume Data Department/Function Driver Volume Expense New Business Life New life policies 9,345 $ 191,525 New Applications Number of life applications 11,489 815,251 Policy Underwriting Number of life applications 11.489 1,610,825 Policy Issuance - Life Number of life policies issued 9,385 1,155,424 e-Policy Issuance - Life Number of electronic life policies 2.185 172,515 New Business Annuity New annuity policies 9,490 397.125 New Applications Number of annuity applications 9,925 1,215,241 Policy Issued New annuity policies 9.490 1,192.500 e-Policy Issuance - Annuity Number of electronic annuities 1,145 173,525 Customer Service Management Number of policies (all) 2,275,694 1,156,250 Call Center Number of calls 34,884 910,257 Life Inforce Management Number of life policies 1,735,251 1,115,497 Annuity Inforce Management Number of annuities 540,443 1,485,273 Annuity Surrenders/Payments Number of annuities 101,426 415,125 Claims Management Number of life claims 11,327 1,101,010 Life Claims Adjusters Number of life claims 11.327 1,415,000 Life Claims Support Number of life claims 11,327 1,227,904 Life Claims System Number of life claims 11,327 1,215,250 Life Insurance System Number of life policies 1,735,251 1,229,850 Annuity System Number of annuities 540,443 $1,201,525 As its first step, the team is going to focus on 11. An activity-based costing system would provide AXE developing the costs to receive life insurance applications Life with an understanding of the costs to develop, manually and issue a life insurance policy. During July sell, and service their products. How can AXE Life 2012, the company received 11,489 applications and issued use this information to improve the efficiency and cost 9,385 life insurance policies. Not all applications are issued effectiveness of their operations? policies, thus the team must calculate the cost to receive and 12. Greg also read an article that stated that using time-driven process the applications and adjust those costs to reflect that activity-based costing reduces the time and complexity approximately one out of five applications does not result in associated with implementing an activity-based costing a policy being issued. system. Based on his understanding, Greg believes that 9. Use the information provided in Table 6 to calculate the using a time-driven system may be an efficient way of cost to issue a life insurance policy, including receiving implementing activity-based costing. Describe how Greg and processing applications for each product. can create an activity-based costing system and include 10. Use the information from Table 7 to calculate the the steps necessary if the team follows (a) the traditional costs to service and maintain a policy for each product. approach to activity-based costing and (b) a time-driven Assume that AXE Life has defined the cost to service activity-based costing approach. and maintain a policy as the customer service costs, call center costs, and costs to adjudicate and pay claims. What do you notice about the costs per policy? Is there other information that would make this analysis more useful? IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 13 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Table 6: Cost to Receive and Process Life Insurance Application - July 2012 Volumes for Cost Drivers Applications 11,489 New Life Policies 9,385 Function Variable Fixed Total Characteristics of Costs New Business - Life (Management): Manage new policy underwriting and issuance Salaries & Benefits 112,522 12,522 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Supplies 4,252 4.252 Fixed within range of +/-20% of current levels Depreciation - Furniture 10,200 10,200 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Leased PCs 14,650 14,650 Fixed within range of +/-20% of current levels Allocated Rent 15,250 15,250 Fixed within range of +/-20% of current levels All Other 34,651 34,651 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Total $191,525 $191,525 New Applications: Receive and review new life policy applications Salaries & Benefits 225, 125 252,500 477,625 Hourly, part time considered variable; others are within a range of +/- 20% of current levels Supplies 62,150 62,150 Vary with applications Depreciation - Furniture 32,500 32,500 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Leased PCs 52,500 52,500 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Allocated Rent 65,250 65,250 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels All Other 125,226 125,226 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Total $287,275 $527,976 $815,251 Policy Underwriting: Review and underwrite new life policies Salaries & Benefits 375,125 512,500 887,625 Hourly, part time considered variable others are within a range of +/- 20% of current levels Medical reports 215,047 215,047 Vary with applications Supplies 61,250 61,250 Vary with applications Depreciation - Furniture 51,500 51,500 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Leased PCs 62,500 62,500 Fixed within range of +/-20% of current levels Allocated Rent 125,250 125,250 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels All Other 207,653 207,653 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Total $651,422 $959,403 $1,610,825 Policy Issuance: Process and issue new life policies Postage & Mail Costs 37,540 37,540 Vary with applications Salaries & Benefits 412,525 125,862 538,387 Hourly, part time considered variable; others are within a range of +/-20% of current levels Supplies 72,175 72,175 Vary with applications Depreciation - Furniture 56,750 56,750 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Leased PCs 82,500 82,500 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels Allocated Rent 145,250 145,250 Fixed within range of +/- 20% of current levels All Other 260,362 260,362 Fixed within range of +/-20% of current levels Total $484,700 $670,724 $1,155,424 IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 14 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014ADDITIONAL READING ABOUT IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) Robert S. Kaplan and Steven R. Anderson, "Time-Driven IMA", the association of accountants and financial professionals Activity-Based Costing," Harvard Business Review, in business, is one of the largest and most respected associations November 2004. focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession. Globally, IMA supports the profession through research, the CMA" (Certified Management Accountant) Mohan Nair, "Activity-Based Costing: Who's Using It and program, continuing education, networking and advocacy of the Why?" Management Accounting Quarterly, Spring 2000, pp. 29-33. highest ethical business practices. IMA has a global network of more than 70,000 members in 120 countries and 300 professional Anna Szychta, "Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing in Service and student chapters. Headquartered in Montvale, N.J., USA, Industries," Social Sciences/Socialiniai Mokslai, 2010, pp. 49-60. IMA provides localized services through its four global regions: The Americas, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Middle East/Africa. For more information about IMA, please visit www.imanet.org. IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 17 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014for retirement savings. A life insurance policy provides a separate Service departments performing functions for payment to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured. annuities products since there are activities associated with An annuity provides a stream of periodic payments to the the products that differ. For example, when an annuity customer upon attaining a specified age policy is canceled, or surrendered, the customer receives a A life insurance policy is usually sold to customers to payment that represents the premiums they have paid in provide financial protection for their families in the event addition to investment returns less a surrender fee. Most life of the insured's death. If the policy provides coverage for insurance companies have a separate unit within its Service the full life of the insured, it is called whole life insurance. department that performs the surrender function. Once a If the insurance coverage is only for a specified period, it is customer reaches the age specified in the annuity contract, called term life insurance. For life insurance, customers most the company begins making a series of periodic payments, often pay the cost of the policy ("premiums") over a long which is performed by the annuity Service department. period of time. During the period of time that the policy's coverage is active, the policy is considered to be "inforce." CURRENT COSTING SYSTEM The process involved with life insurance begins with the sale of the policy, often through a life insurance agent. The The vast majority of AXE Life's financial reporting is prepared life insurance agent meets with the potential customer at a company level, although there are periodic reports on and gathers personal information, which is collected using product results. AXE Life allocates all expenses to products. an application for insurance. Potential customers also will All expense allocations are prepared within the expense provide medical information and are often subjected to a management function in the Finance department with little medical examination. The application containing personal input from the finance staff in the functional departments. information and medical information is submitted to the AXE Life has a cost center structure with approximately Underwriting department, which is responsible for deciding 1,000 cost centers. In its hierarchy, multiple cost centers make whether a policy should be issued and the appropriate up a functional center (see Figure 1). Each of these functional premium for the policy. centers is part of a department. A manager may be responsible After the company and the customer agree on the policy's for one or more cost centers, a higher-level manager for terms and conditions, the company issues the physical policy. a functional center, and an executive-level manager for Most life insurance companies have service departments departments. One of the performance measurement factors that have an "issuance" function that performs this activity. for cost center managers is how effectively they manage the After the policy has been issued, the company collects expenses of the cost center against the budget. For managers the premiums, answers ongoing customer questions, and of functions, their performance measurement includes how terminates the policy if the insured decides to cancel the effectively they manage the expenses of all of the cost centers policy or fails to pay the premium. These functions also within their function. For the executives managing the are performed in their service departments. Then, when business departments, their cost effectiveness is measured on the insured dies, the insurance company pays the benefits all of the cost centers and functions within their department. specified in the insurance policy to the beneficiary-this Responsibility and accountability for expenses is process is performed by the Claims department. based on responsibility center. There is no accountability Premiums under an annuity product may be paid in for the expenses at the product level nor is there direct a lump sum or periodically over a number of years. The measurement or accountability for the cost effectiveness insurance company invests these funds and provides either of any activities associated with the sale or service of the a set return ("fixed annuity" ) or a return that varies with company's products. investment performance ("variable annuity"). For individual Figure 1. Illustration of the Hierarchy of Departments, annuity sales, the issuance and premium collection processes Functions, and Cost Centers are very similar to the processes for life insurance policies. For group annuity products, the sales process is completed Department by a licensed representative of a bank or brokerage firm Expense instead of an insurance agent. But the other activities are Function 1 Function 2 Function 3 allocations set at function consistent with individual annuity sales. level Although many of the processes are similar for life Cost Cost Center Center Center and annuity products, insurance companies often have IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 2 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Expense data is captured at the cost center level, and related to supporting and terminating customers and the the basis for allocating expenses is set at a functional center costs for the claims function. level. Because of the large number of cost centers and the After the costs are allocated to products, the process is lack of attention on cost allocations, Greg finds that cost considered complete. There are no rates per policy or per driver information often is not used or is unavailable at the function calculated as part of the process. Additionally, cost center level. The current system makes use of more there is no study of the time or cost required for activities. generalized expense allocation bases, such as assets or sales, Table 1 shows the outcome of the expense allocations for and uses that basis to allocate expenses of all cost centers the most recent month (July 2012) using the current cost within the functional center. These allocation bases may allocation process. differ from the cost driver (the activities that actually drive expenses). For example, the expenses of the underwriting Table 1. Panel A: Monthly Expense Results Expenses July 2012 function within the Service department are allocated to products based on life insurance sales, even though the cost Expenses by Department driver is the number of life insurance applications. Sales $ 30,700, 125 Even when cost driver information is available at a cost Marketing 5,524,850 center level it can vary with the allocation basis for expense Finance 8,624,567 since the same basis is used for all cost centers within Customer Service 15,750,225 the functional center. Due to the limited time available Information Technology 11,424,525 to analyze the inputs and results of the process, the basis Human Resources 3,942,563 of expense allocations to products is only reviewed on Executive 2,512,235 an annual basis. Greg finds that much of the cost center Corporate & Other 4,046,032 Total information has not been updated in years. $82,525,122 During Greg's first month, he reviews AXE Life's process of allocating costs and finds that the current process takes Table 1. Panel B: up to three business days to complete during each monthly Expenses July 2012 under Current Cost Allocations close, with significant manual intervention required. The Product Product Expense expense allocation process is performed using a spreadsheet Whole Life Series 1 $ 2,212,742 that was developed eight years ago, and the process requires Whole Life Series 2 2,598,048 a series of iterations. Under the current process, the staff Variable Life Series 1 3,718,892 accountant receives a downloaded file of cost center Variable Life Series 2 3,983,063 expenses on the day after the monthly expense accounting Term Life 2000 1,315,393 close is complete. She also receives information on the Term Life New Horizon 1,627,201 sales volume (in U.S. dollars) during the month, the annual Flexible Life 1,719,782 premium for the policies inforce, and the amount of assets Secure Life 7,018,232 under management. These measures serve as the bases to Brokerage Annuity 10,457,380 allocate expenses to products. Fixed Annuity, Brokerage 3,298, 115 The staff accountant enters the volume information for Happy Life Annuity 12,849,825 the allocation bases (sales, assets, premium) for the month Bankers Choice 1,958,313 into the spreadsheet. She imports the cost center expenses Fixed Annuity, Bank 4,161,012 into the spreadsheet to populate the cost centers with the Individual Fixed Annuity 1 6,646,289 expenses for the month. She runs a series of Microsoft Individual Fixed Annuity 2 6,775,007 Excel macros to allocate the expenses to product. The staff Individual Fixed Annuity 3 1,431,363 accountant then reconciles the allocations to ensure that all Life Style Annuity 10.754.464 expenses have been allocated. Total Allocated $ 82,525,122 The costs for the Sales department, Marketing department, and Service department related to issuing new policies (new customers) are allocated to product based on sales volume. The total annual premium per product is used to allocate the costs for the service functions including those IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 3 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Table 1. Panel C: Product Allocations by Department, Current System Product Sales Service Marketing IT Finance All Other Total Whole Life Series 1 $568,673 $972,669 $104,376 $211,240 $160,037 $195,746 $2,212,742 Whole Life Series 2 614.643 1,306,637 81,388 234,203 168,655 192,523 2,598,048 Variable Life Series 1 1,024,239 1,416,358 232,353 372,157 294,340 379,445 3,718,892 Variable Life Series 2 1,373,039 761,773 397,999 482,686 406,466 561,101 3,983,063 Term Life 2000 391,680 446,071 81.663 143,664 111,570 140,745 1,315,393 Term Life New Horizon 586,255 338,417 114,267 216,523 165,901 205,837 1,627,201 Flexible Life 279,446 962,249 146,498 85,970 91,727 153,893 1,719,782 Secure Life 1,520,900 3,049,065 698,525 486,402 185,649 777.691 7,018,232 Brokerage Annuity 4,731,929 959,177 341,303 1,856,485 1,259,212 1,309,274 10,457,380 Fixed Annuity, Broker 1,161,666 573,359 336,322 408,455 343,836 474,476 3,298,115 Happy Life Annuity 4,897,700 1,790,417 1,142,659 1,773,658 1,411,813 1,833,579 12,849,825 Bankers Choice 494,749 563,186 294,031 145,714 167,162 293,470 1,958,313 Fixed Annuity, Bank 1,912,221 283,261 163,261 745,479 512,342 544,447 4,161,012 Ind. Fixed Annuity 1 3,230,604 310,625 137.274 1,285,402 846,537 835,846 6,646,289 Ind. Fixed Annuity 2 3,268,866 402,744 114,201 1,305,252 853, 169 830,776 6,775,007 Ind. Fixed Annuity 3 740,165 27,522 783 300,243 189,736 172,914 1,431,363 Life Style Annuity 3,903,351 1,586,694 1,137,947 1,370,992 1,156,416 1,599,065 10,754,464 Total Allocated $30,700,125 $15,750,225 $5,524,850 $11,424,525 $8,624,567 $10,500,830 $82,525,122 IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 4 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Table 1. Panel D: Cost Driver Information, Current Allocations Department/Function Description of Activities Cost Driver Products Supported Allocation Marketing Manage marketing dept. Marketing Campaigns All Sales Marketing Management Marketing Department Staff Marketing campaigns Marketing Campaigns All Sales Costs for media campaign Media campaign Sales Happy Retirement Annuity Campaign Happy Retirement Annuity Secure Life Insurance Campaign Media campaign for secure life product Media campaign Secure Life Sales Total Company Ad Campaign Media campaign for company Media campaign All Sales Customer Service - Life New Business Management Manage new business New policy volume Life (all) Sales Applications Review applications Number of applications Life (all) Sales Life (all) Sales Underwriting Underwriting applications Number of applications Policy Issuance Issuing new policies Number of policies issued Life (all) Sales Number of e-applications Life (all) Sales e-Issuance Tech support for e-applications Customer Service Management Manage customer service Number of policies All Premium Call Center Staff in call center Number of phone calls All Premium Life Insurance Inforce Maintenance Servicing life policies Number of policies Life (all) Premium, life Claims Management Manage staff for claims Number of claims Life (all) Premium, life Life Insurance Claims Adjusters Adjudicate claims Number of claims Life (all) Premium, life Life Insurance Claims Issue claim checks Number of claims Life (all) Premium, life Customer Service - Annuity New Business Management Manage new business issuance New policies sold Annuities (all) Sales Reviewing applications Number of applications Annuities (all) Sales Applications Policy Issuance Staff issuing new policies Number of policies issued Annuities (all) Sales Tech support for e-applications Number of e-applications Annuities (all) Sales e-Issuance Annuity Inforce Maintenance Service all annuity products Number of policies Annuities (all) Premium, annuity Annuity Surrenders Issue surrenders Number of surrenders Annuities (all) Premium, annuity Information Technology IT Management Manage staff for IT Number of systems/projects All Assets Financial Management Systems Managing financial systems Number of systems/projects All Assets Human Resource Systems Manage HR systems Number of systems/projects All Assets Life Insurance Claims Systems Managing life claim system Number of systems/projects Life Assets Life Policy Systems Managing life systems Number of systems/projects Life Assets Annuity Systems Managing annuity systems Number of systems/projects Annuity Assets Annuity Projects Projects for annuity products Project hours Annuity Assets Life Insurance Projects Projects for life products Project hours Life Assets Financial Systems Update Project for upgrading financial system Project hours All Assets Accounting staff Number of reports All Assets Controller Actuarial Actuarial staff Number of reports All Assets Financial Planning and Analysis Financial analysts and budget analysts Number of analysis and reports All Assets All Assets Expense Management Cost accounting staff Number of reports IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 5 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Table 1. Panel D: Cost Driver Information, Current Allocations (continued) Department/Function Description of Activities Cost Driver Products Supported Allocation Human Resources HR Management Manage staff Employees All Assets Compensation and Payroll Executive and employee compensation Employees All Assets All Staffing and Recruiting Recruit for all company positions Open positions Assets Sales Sales Management Manage sales function for company Sales Life and annuity (all) Sales East Region East coast sales staff and management Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales Midwest Region Midwest sales staff and management Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales South Region Sales staff and management for south Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales Sales staff and management West Region Sales for region Life and annuity (all) Sales for west coast Facilities Facilities Management Manage staff for Facilities Number of employees/sq. ft. All Assets Facilities Staff Maintenance and other Facility staff Number of employees/sq. ft. All Assets Rent for entire corporate office Number of employees/sq. ft. All Corporate Unallocated Rent Assets Treasurers Treasure Manage staff for Treasurer's dept. Assets All Assets Manage cash & banking relationships Number of bank accounts All Cash Management and Banking Assets All Investment Manage investments Invested assets Assets Executive & Corporate Office of the CEO CEO and support staff All Assets Expenses not chargeable to All Corporate Assets any business areaIn discussions with his team, Greg finds that the team Sal further explains that the product expenses are a critical does not fully understand how the information is used and component in determining the appropriate pricing for each its importance. Also, he learns that they are frustrated with of AXE Life's existing products. Additionally, when new the time required to complete the expense allocation process products are developed, the actuaries rely on the historical and complain that they do not have adequate time to review unit costs for similar products. Thus, if the product expenses results or maintain the inputs for the expense allocation are inaccurate, they could over-price or under-price a product, process. Greg believes that the expense allocation process which would hurt AXE Life's long-term profitability. could be accomplished in one business day instead of three. Sal believes that the cost information is inadequate in If processing time can be reduced, Greg anticipates the meeting the needs of his department and AXE Life. Sal staff would be afforded more time to analyze the results and expresses concern that the cost system is inaccurate, and maintain the cost allocation information used in the process. the information is not available in a timely fashion. As a result, Sal's staff spends hours analyzing the data and making OBJECTIVES OF THE PRODUCT COST adjustments, all within a compressed time frame. He outlines ALLOCATIONS the format the actuaries would prefer the cost information to be organized, with the following broad categories of expenses In his discussion with the staff, Greg learned that they receive organized along the major activities associated with a product: limited information after recording the monthly product expenses. Cost to develop the product Their understanding is that the product expense allocation Cost to market the product is coupled with claims information and premium revenue information to determine the profitability of each product. This Cost to sell the product Cost to issue the product process of reporting on product profitability is completed within Cost to service the product the Actuarial department. To better learn what the objectives of Overhead expenses (other administrative expenses) the expense allocation process should be, Greg meets with the actuaries to find how the product expense information is used One-time expenses (such as special projects) and nonrecurring expenses and gathers their concerns with the current process. Sal Enrich, the company's chief actuary, discusses how After the meeting, Greg decides that the expense his department uses the expense allocation information. allocation system needs immediate attention. He assembles Sal explains that the product-based expenses are critical for a small project team and, during the first meeting, outlines determining product profitability and for setting the pricing the features of a useful cost system: for products, both of which are vital to the company's success. The Actuarial department is the sole provider of product Timely, accurate information profitability information for the company. Sal explains that Ability to use the information for product pricing, product no individual manager is directly responsible for individual profitability, and management decision making product profitability and that his department is in charge of Greg also lists the shortfalls of the current system: monitoring product profitability, and the results are shared with executive management. Sal emphasizes that executive Requires significant manual intervention using spreadsheets management looks to his department to ensure that products' profitability information is correct. Executive management uses Long processing time Expense allocations based on general factors the information to determine which products to emphasize (e.g., sales at the functional level) in the sales process and the insurance agents receive larger Outdated or nonexistent cost driver information commissions on the sale of more profitable products. for cost centers Sal details how the actuaries take the product expense information, revenue, mortality results (death benefits), sales Lack of reporting (limited monthly information, no comparison of budget to actual results) commissions, and other nonoperating expenses to determine Lack of cost information based on activity the profitability of each product. Since the product expense information is a significant component in determining the Lack of information on the time to complete each activity profitability of each product, misstating it could lead the No identification of direct costs vs. indirect costs company to cease selling a profitable product or to oversell an No identification of expenses as variable or fixed unprofitable product. IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 7 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014PROJECT OVERVIEW Greg explains the importance of the information to the company and the value of the involvement of the financial Greg and two staff members make up the primary project support staff. He also seeks management's input as how team. The team decides that the first two shortfalls to best implement a process to ensure the information is (significant manual intervention and long processing time) consistently updated on an ongoing basis. can be improved by eliminating the current spreadsheet The group is receptive and agrees to the following actions: approach and replacing it with cost allocation software. Complete an update of the cost center information within After the team has selected software to support their the next 30 calendar days. process, the next step is the most critical aspect of the Provide activity and driver information for each new cost project: solve the lack of sufficient and updated information center that is added. to allocate expenses to products. To assist in improving and Annually update all of the cost center information as part updating the cost driver information, the team decides to of the annual budget cycle. involve the financial support staff in the various functional departments since they have a better understanding of the The financial support staffs are given a grid to use while activities in the respective departments they support and can collecting data on each cost center, which includes: easily meet with employees performing the activities. They Function center number, put in place a project plan that includes the following actions Functional center, for the initial phase of the project: Cost center number, Review available cost accounting software packages. Cost center name, Prepare a project proposal including estimates of cost and Activity, benefits. Cost driver, and Submit the project plan and receive approval. Products supported. Engage finance support staff to update all cost center/cost ABC Software, Inc. completes the installation of the cost driver information. allocation software during week three of the four-month Purchase and install software. project. During week four, the project team loads all of the Load cost center data. cost centers into the ABC software. By the end of the first Test it. month of the project, all of the finance support staff submits Implement it. the updated cost center/cost driver information. For the The team sets a four-month time frame for the project next month, the project team loads all of the cost center with the goal to have the new process in place for the next information, including activities and cost drivers. For the first calendar year. They also include as deliverables using the test of the system, the team loads the expense information new process for the preparation of the current year's annual for July 2012. product expenses and the annual budgeted product expenses for the next calendar year. RESULTS OF THE FIRST TEST OF REVISED PROCESS During the first month of the project, Greg and his team review software products. After narrowing their choices, the The team collects the volumes of activity (Table 3) and team conducts an in-depth review of four potential software expenses for July 2012. Using the new process, the product products. The team chooses a package from ABC Software, allocations are completed with a summary of the results from Inc. as its preferred software product. This product will not Table 2. Panels A and B show the total expenses and the only support the department's ability to allocate the expenses product expenses after allocation. Table 2, Panel C, shows quickly and accurately, but it also can support activity-based a table with the grid completed for each of the functional costing, which will be the second phase of the project. The centers within each department. The expense details for team prepares a project proposal and receives approval from those functional centers for July 2012 allocated to product executive management to undertake the project. are provided in Table 2, Panel D. Greg and his staff meet with the finance support staff from the various departments to put in place a process to update the information associated with the expense allocation process, including the cost driver information. IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 8 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014Table 2. Panel A: First Test of Revised Cost Allocation Process Table 2. Panel B: Expenses by Product July 2012 under Revised Expenses by Department July 2012 Cost Allocations Expenses by Department Product Product Expense Sales $30,700,125 Whole Life Series 1 $ 3,186,824 Marketing 5,524,850 Whole Life Series 2 2,945,549 Finance 8,624,567 Variable Life Series 1 4,105,859 Customer Service 15,750,225 Variable Life Series 2 5,571,684 Information Technology 11,424,525 Term Life 2000 3,245,164 Human Resources 3,942,563 Term Life New Horizon 2,432,906 Executive 2,512,235 Flexible Life 2,611,487 Corporate & Other 4,046,032 Secure Life 8,255,685 Total $82,525,122 Brokerage Annuity 6,523,542 Fixed Annuity, Brokerage 4,239,529 Happy Life Annuity 12,511,268 Bankers Choice 3,539,366 Fixed Annuity, Bank 3,407,226 Individual Fixed Annuity 1 3,969,907 Individual Fixed Annuity 2 4,068,980 Individual Fixed Annuity 3 1,336,349 Life Style Annuity 10,573,797 Total Allocated $ 82,525,122 Table 2. Panel C: Product Allocations by Department, Revised Allocations Product Sales Service Marketing IT Finance All Other Total Whole Life Series 1 $584,062 $1,290,124 $157.635 $660,831 $300,011 $194,161 $3, 186,824 Whole Life Series 2 458.626 1.155,822 141.994 661,092 312,748 215,267 2.945.549 Variable Life Series 1 1,307,471 1,159,683 244,710 662,657 389,270 342,067 4,105,859 Variable Life Series 2 2,238,117 1,476,626 357,415 663,911 391,954 443,660 5,571,684 Term Life 2000 453,580 1.653,389 142,181 660,064 203,902 132,048 3,245,164 Term Life New Horizon 641,752 522,565 164,365 660,891 244,317 199,017 2,432,906 Flexible Life 831,076 683,788 186,295 659,410 171,900 79,019 2,611,487 Secure Life 3,835,669 2,076,504 700,018 802,403 394,015 447,075 8,255,685 Brokerage Annuity 1,880,550 804,511 318,840 659,270 1,153,987 1,706,385 6,523,542 Fixed Annuity, Broker 1,832,987 722,040 315,451 642,840 350,779 375,431 4,239,529 Happy Life Annuity 6,182,754 1,767,557 1,019,206 803,455 1,108,043 1,630,254 12,511,268 Bankers Choice 1,662,587 611,271 286,676 639,859 205,039 133,933 3,539,366 Fixed Annuity, Bank 936,802 403,131 197,700 646,664 537,723 685,205 3,407,226 Ind. Fixed Annuity 1 784,688 333,724 180,019 652,790 837,212 1,181,475 3,969,907 Ind. Fixed Annuity 2 661,673 542,029 164,320 653,015 848,223 1,199,720 4,068,980 Ind. Fixed Annuity 3 5.226 35,638 87,150 641,612 290,755 275,968 1,336,349 Life Style Annuity 6,402,505 611,823 860,875 653,761 884,688 1,260,144 10,573,797 Total Allocated $30,700,125 $15,750,225 $5,524,850 $11,424,525 $8,624,567 $10,500,830 $82,525,122 IMA EDUCATIONAL CASE JOURNAL 9 VOL. 7, NO. 3, ART. 1, SEPTEMBER 2014