INCURRED BUT NOT REPORTED Definition

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INCURRED BUT NOT REPORTED (IBNR), in insurance, losses occurring over a specified period that have not been reported to the insurer. IBNR losses are often calculated as a percentage of claims paid and claims outstanding and are reported in an insurers annual report. Reinsurers establish IBNR reserves as a part of their rating plans under a facultative reinsurance treaty, lest an overly optimistic view of treaty results lead to further under-rating on a book of business. Example: Product liability losses are seldom reported during a policy year. This "tail" of claims will upset any rating plan, unless an IBNR reserve is established and factored into the profit picture.

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AVERAGE COST METHOD is using a weighted average cost for items in inventory rather than actual cost for each specific item.

PUSH-DOWN ACCOUNTING, in acquisitions, is an exception to the general rule that the acquiree's carrying values are unaffected by the purchase may arise when substantially all of the acquiree's shares are purchased by the acquirer. In that case, the acquirer may direct the acquiree to revalue its assets in accordance with the fair values attributed to those assets by the acquirer. This practice is known as push-down accounting, because the fair values are 'pushed down' to the acquiree's books. The net effect is the same as if the acquirer had formed a new subsidiary, which then purchased all of the assets and liabilities of the acquiree. There are two advantages to push-down accounting: a. The first is that the financial position and results of operations of the acquiree will be reported on the same economic basis in both the consolidated statements and its own separate entity statements. Without push-down accounting, for example, it would be possible for the subsidiary to report a profit on its own and yet contribute an operating loss to the parent's consolidated results, if the consolidation adjustments are sufficient to tip the balance between profit and loss; and, b. The second advantage is that the process of consolidation will be greatly simplified for the parent. Since the carrying values will be the same as the acquisition fair values, there will be no need for many of the consolidation adjustments that otherwise will be required every time consolidated statements are prepared.

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