Technology & digitalization

AI, automation, blockchain, and digital distribution are reshaping how insurers assess risk, personalize offerings, streamline operations, and serve customers.

Profitability focus

Non-life profitability is improving through easing inflation, higher premium rates, and stronger investment returns, while claims severity and natural catastrophe losses remain significant risks.

Regulatory & compliance pressure

Stricter consumer protection laws, statutory reporting needs, state insurance department requirements, and NAIC expectations are increasing compliance complexity.

Mergers & acquisitions

Insurance M&A is being driven by digital transformation needs, capital optimization, scale, product diversification, and geographic expansion.

Technical & Operational Accounting

Support for insurance accounting standards, GAAP conversions, STAT reporting, premium revenue recognition, claims liabilities, policyholder benefits, reserves, and monthly close execution.

Audit Readiness & Risk Compliance

Support for audit preparation, claims reviews, regulatory filings, control remediation, internal audit, enterprise risk management, and state insurance department and NAIC requirements.

Transformation & Technology

Finance process design, operating model improvement, EPM implementation, automation, Clearwater implementation, data architecture, and scalable reporting workflows.

Strategic Finance & Analytics

Long-range planning, premium growth and claims trend analysis, loss ratio sensitivity, catastrophic event modeling, reinsurance cost analysis, dashboards, and performance management.

Transactions, Capital Markets & Interim Support

Buy-side and sell-side diligence, quality of earnings, net working capital and net debt negotiations, IPO readiness, public-company readiness, and interim CFO, controller, director, and manager resources.

Insurance Accounting & Reporting

• FAS 97, ASC 944, and STAT support
• GAAP conversions and accounting policy documentation
• Premiums, reserves, claims liabilities, and policyholder benefits
• Statutory and GAAP financial statements
• Management reporting and close enhancement

Finance & Analytics Modernization

• Rolling forecasts and driver-based models
• Scenario and risk modeling
• Unified dashboards and self-service analytics
• Automated commentary and narrative insights
• Performance management integration

Technology & Data Strategy

• Modern EPM platform adoption
• Data integration and governance frameworks
• AI and machine learning enablement
• Compliance and security alignment
• ERP, source system, investment system, and STAT reporting support

Risk, Compliance & Public Readiness

• SOX and internal controls readiness
• IPO and public-company reporting support
• Cyber IPO readiness
• SEC Cybersecurity Rules alignment
• Regulatory and audit remediation

Operations Transformation

CFGI helps assess organizational maturity across people, applications, data, supply chain, and regulatory focus areas, then supports accounting process improvement, technology enhancement, dashboards, FP&A, and PMO execution.

Typical work includes automated insurance source system processes and reconciliations, financial modeling, analytics, and strategic roadmap monitoring.

Co-Sourcing

CFGI helps insurance teams retain firm ownership and focus on strategic goals while accessing deep expertise across finance, accounting, operational, and administrative needs.

The model flexes in coordination with the strategic moves of the company or department and can include upskilling, retaining, and scalable infrastructure support.

Outsourcing & Managed Services

CFGI can scale an operating solution based on the client’s timeline and strategic priorities, reducing the burden of training, managing, leading, and retaining resources.

The service model is designed around business needs, with recurring review points to refine scope and make adjustments as needed.

Built to operate as an extension of your team.

• Insurance experienceProfessionals with financial institution and insurance expertise, including former industry CFO experience.
• Big 4 and industry depthTeams with technical, operational, and transactional experience across complex insurance finance needs.
• Low ramp-upProfessionals who understand insurance expectations, statutory reporting, regulatory demands, and finance operating environments.
• Flexible deliveryResource flexibility across experience levels and engagement models, from rapid assessment to co-sourcing and managed services.
• No audit restrictionsIndependent support that can help insurance leaders move quickly without auditor independence constraints.

Fragmented data ecosystems

Disconnected systems across geographies, business units, and products limit real-time insights and drill-down capabilities. CFGI helps consolidate, cleanse, and structure data so teams can produce better dashboards, reporting, and decision support.

Manual, infrequent reporting processes

Planning and reporting cycles are often manual and reactive, with slow feedback loops and limited stakeholder engagement. CFGI helps redesign processes, implement tools, and automate recurring work to accelerate reporting.

Non-standardized definitions

Inconsistent client hierarchies, naming conventions, and data definitions across platforms can undermine performance analysis. CFGI helps establish governance, master data practices, and reporting structures that support comparability.

Forecasting driver misalignment

Forecasts often overlook key business drivers like claims volume, pricing type, and loss ratios. CFGI helps build driver-based models that connect forecasting to the economics of the insurance business.

Limited scenario planning

Many organizations lack dynamic simulation capabilities to model volatility, regulatory shifts, profitability changes, and high-variance events. CFGI supports scenario and risk modeling tied to real insurance decision-making needs.

Legacy tech and acquisition sprawl

Years of growth through M&A often create fragmented architectures and manual data handling. CFGI helps align ERP, source systems, investment systems, and STAT reporting tools into more scalable finance and reporting processes.

Life Insurance Accounting Framework

Startup life insurance company

Scenario

A startup life insurance company had minimal industry experience and lacked STAT reporting, investment accounting, regulatory compliance expertise, formal accounting infrastructure, reporting processes, accounting policy documentation, and life-specific policies for reserves, premiums, and deferred acquisition costs.

Action taken

CFGI built a full-scale life insurance accounting framework from the ground up, implemented a general ledger tailored to insurance reporting needs, developed a chart of accounts aligned to NAIC statutory requirements, GAAP reporting, and management reporting, coordinated with the investment accounting vendor, established journal entry processes, created internal controls, authored investment accounting policy memos, and owned the GAAP financial statement drafting process.

Outcomes

• Fully operational investment accounting function from day one.
• Accurate, on-time first-year NAIC statutory annual and quarterly statement filings.
• Scalable general ledger and chart of accounts supporting growth and flexibility.
• Faster month-end close with repeatable workflows and audit-ready financial statements.

P&C Insurance Company and Agency Controllership

Four entities across GAAP and STAT reporting

Scenario

The company had two material weaknesses and 24 control findings across four entities, was undergoing a first-year audit, and was implementing a new ledger system. High volumes of reconciliations were not performed timely, key regulatory filings were not being completed, the legacy ERP lacked segregation of duties capabilities, and Clearwater Analytics was not operating effectively.

Action taken

CFGI led four financial statement audits, including financial statement and footnote preparation, consolidation and GAAP adjustments, and remediation of previous audit findings. CFGI worked with IT to improve reporting functionality from the policy administration system, implemented reconciliation processes with preparer and reviewer sign-off, and led monthly and quarterly close for the entities.

Outcomes

• New ERP system implemented, including beginning balance validation, outstanding check uploads, and training for key finance personnel.
• Improved monthly close procedures, controls, and accrual processes.
• Regulatory filings performed timely and accurately.

MGA & Reinsurer Public Company Readiness

Agency, reinsurance, and SPAC readiness support

Scenario

The client had acquired insurance agencies to complement its managing insurance agency and reinsurance entities. It needed an investment accounting process, controls, and accounting policy memos, while also preparing to SPAC and de-SPAC and uplift private-company financial statements to public-company standards.

Action taken

CFGI completed the investment accounting policy memo, implemented investment accounting and ERP processes, revamped ASC 606 revenue recognition for insurance commission revenue, worked with the controller on Clearwater Analytics implementation, owned the uplifted financial statement process, and migrated policy, billing, and data exports to support external insurance company reporting and internal financial reporting and FP&A needs.

Outcomes

• Purchase accounting, revenue recognition accounting, and deferred cost positions were completed and defended with the external audit firm.
• Uplifted financial statements were completed with a clean audit opinion.
• Data was housed accurately within a singular agency management system, improving external and internal reporting.

IPO Readiness & Transformation Support

Enterprise IPO and T+1 readiness

Scenario

A client wanted to stabilize operations and align with public-company standards in preparation for a future IPO. CFGI was engaged to lead the Project Management Office across IPO and T+1 regulatory readiness, while also supporting cybersecurity, internal audit, and accounting public-company reporting workstreams.

Action taken

CFGI assumed leadership of the IPO process and managed 13 transformation workstreams, including accounting public-company reporting, internal audit, cybersecurity, tax, capital markets and equity, month-end close optimization, HR, ESG metrics, FP&A, legal and compliance, corporate governance, investor relations, and communications. CFGI also led Form S-1 drafting and served as a liaison across the client, counsel, underwriters, and auditors, while separately providing interim controllership support for 12 acquired entities.

Outcomes

• Centralized PMO and governance structure established for IPO and T+1 readiness.
• Transformation advanced across 13 enterprise workstreams.
• Continuity of accounting operations maintained across 12 acquired entities during restructuring.
• ERP integration and cultural alignment supported across historically independent organizations.

KPI Development & Benchmarking

Large multinational insurer approaching IPO

Scenario

A large multinational insurance company approaching its IPO needed to determine which non-GAAP KPIs to disclose in its S-1 filing and understand how comparable insurance and fintech firms defined and calculated key performance metrics.

Action taken

CFGI partnered with FP&A, investor relations, and technical accounting leaders to define peer company criteria, review SEC filings, annual reports, and investor presentations, evaluate non-GAAP KPIs across peers, build matrices and calculation grids, identify prevalent KPIs, draft client-specific calculation templates, and create non-GAAP KPI reporting from historical client data.

Outcomes

• Peer benchmarking framework created to support non-GAAP KPI selection.
• User-friendly tools developed to assess acquisition and growth or decline scenarios.
• PowerPoint and Excel backup created for calculation components and peer comparison insights.
• Robust process documentation prepared with data sources and file indexes.

Interim FP&A Support

Major insurance broker reorganization

Scenario

A major insurance broker underwent a substantial reorganization that affected most finance team roles. The resulting uncertainty led to attrition and created critical gaps in month-end close procedures and forecasting capabilities.

Action taken

CFGI partnered with the client’s Senior Director of FP&A, deployed experienced consultants with insurance industry knowledge and familiarity with the client’s tools, and had selected professionals travel onsite to train alongside outgoing employees, assume core responsibilities, and maintain ownership of deliverables while the client backfilled key roles.

Outcomes

• Continuity of month-end close and forecast updates maintained despite significant turnover.
• Month-end financial packages delivered on time.
• Enhanced forecasting models, advanced Power BI dashboarding, and recurring reporting automation introduced.
• Responsiveness to ad hoc business requests maintained.

Establishing SOX Compliance for IPO Readiness

Insurance brokerage IPO readiness

Scenario

An insurance brokerage firm preparing for an IPO needed to establish Sarbanes-Oxley compliance across its operations. The organization lacked a formal internal control environment and required guidance to meet regulatory expectations and investor scrutiny.

Action taken

CFGI developed a SOX compliance strategy tailored to IPO readiness, conducted a gap assessment and entity-level SOX scoping across multiple business units, trained key stakeholders, supported remediation of control gaps, executed design and operating effectiveness testing, and established the initial internal control framework.

Outcomes

• Critical control gaps identified and remediated before IPO filing.
• Organizational awareness and capability improved through targeted training.
• SOX testing completed, positioning the company for IPO readiness and regulatory compliance.

SOX Compliance: Targeted Remediation

Insurance carrier material weakness remediation

Scenario

An insurance carrier was flagged by external auditors for multiple material weaknesses in its internal control environment, jeopardizing SOX compliance status and creating a need for urgent remediation.

Action taken

CFGI partnered with internal stakeholders to develop targeted remediation plans, executed control testing to validate remediation, strengthened the SOX audit program through improved documentation, testing protocols, and oversight, and recommended enhancements for long-term control performance.

Outcomes

• Material weaknesses remediated and SOX compliance restored.
• SOX program maturity improved through more consistent control execution.
• Risk exposure reduced through sustainable control enhancements.
• Trust with external auditors and stakeholders rebuilt through disciplined remediation.

Cyber IPO Readiness

Global fintech organization preparing for public offering

Scenario

A rapidly growing global fintech organization preparing for a public offering in eight months identified gaps in cybersecurity governance, regulatory compliance, and enterprise visibility caused by decentralized operations and acquisition-driven growth.

Action taken

CFGI conducted a cybersecurity maturity assessment aligned to SOX, SEC Cybersecurity Rules, and NYDFS, developed a remediation roadmap, refined governance, built executive-ready reporting, designed a cybersecurity risk management function, enhanced incident response, transformed third-party risk management, modernized business continuity and disaster recovery capabilities, and provided ongoing virtual CISO oversight.

Outcomes

• Scalable cybersecurity program established and aligned to SEC, SOX, and NYDFS requirements.
• Executive leadership gained real-time visibility into cyber risk and compliance through dashboards and board-aligned reporting.
• Governance structure, tooling, and program maturity improved to support public-company expectations.

Commission Expense Model Support

Leading insurance broker expense analysis

Scenario

A leading insurance broker observed a two-point year-over-year increase in commission expense. Internal teams could explain roughly half the variance and needed support identifying the remaining drivers and building a model to evaluate strategies for reducing commission costs.

Action taken

CFGI partnered with the Senior Director of FP&A, mobilized FP&A consultants with data analytics expertise, collaborated with the internal data team to identify accurate sources, and owned key deliverables including below-the-line expense analysis, a commission expense simulator, automated reporting and monitoring tools, and budget and forecast integration.

Outcomes

• Functional model created for ongoing commission expense analysis.
• Clear insight developed into a top expense category.
• Best practices shared in data visualization and automation.

Matthew Pantera

Partner, Accounting Advisory | National Financial Services and Insurance Practice

Charlotte, NC
mpantera@cfgi.com
508-625-0172
Connect with Matthew →