Core pensions actuarial support

Our Pensions Advisory team of qualified and experienced actuaries uses best-in-class tools to support our clients in preparing the pensions accounting entries for their annual financial reporting process. We do this both by acting as the local actuarial advisor and by supporting Group Finance in coordinating and streamlining the work of local actuaries.

As a large audit firm Deloitte can leverage our broad view of market practice and technical accountants to ensure that we always follow current best practices. This differentiates us from the more traditional actuarial firms.

Local actuarial valuations

Any Swiss listed company or Swiss subsidiary of a European or US-listed company must perform an actuarial valuation of the pension obligations relating to its Swiss employees under IAS 19 (IFRS) or ASC 715 (US GAAP), and potentially other local GAAPs.

While in principle companies do not need to outsource these calculations, very few have the in-house expertise needed to carry out the necessary calculations. This means that the use of an external actuary is effectively necessary.

We support our clients by performing the necessary calculations, preparing pensions disclosures and participating in discussions with external auditors as needed. We operate our engagements on an “accurate, timely, no-surprises” model to ensure a smooth year-end process for our clients.

Global Actuary/consolidation support

Consolidating global pensions values is a complex project management process involving tight deadlines and requiring consistent approaches, coordination with auditors, and more. The challenge is all the greater for the many companies that do not have in-house technical pensions teams and instead rely on Group Finance, Treasury or HR, which can create capacity constraints.

Partnering with an external Global Actuary to act as the single point of contact on pensions accounting has a number of advantages:

• Group Finance saves time by not having to interact with local teams on pensions topics;
• the Global Actuary speaks “actuary to actuary” to resolve matters efficiently;
• the final results receive a “pre-audit,” identifying and resolving any problems before they are shared with the external auditor, reducing the risk of last-minute adjustments or misstatements;
• consistent methodologies across the Group, which is often not the case when different actuarial firms are employed in different countries;
• close liaison with the pensions specialists of the external auditor to resolve issues in a timely and constructive manner.