Under accrual accounting, how are worker comp premiums handled?
Worker comp insurance premiums should be charged to the areas where the related wages and salaries are charged.
Let's assume that the net cost of worker comp insurance after discounts and dividends is 5% of the wages and salaries of direct and indirect manufacturing employees. If for the month of January the direct labor is $40,000, then $2,000 of the worker comp cost should be included as direct labor. If indirect labor for January is $60,000 then $3,000 of worker comp cost should be included as the cost of the indirect labor.
If the general office worker comp rates are 0.2% of the general office wages and salaries, then 0.2% of January's general office wages and salaries will be expensed as worker comp insurance expense.
If the employer remits each month's worker comp cost to its insurance company each accounting period, there will be no prepaid insurance nor will there be a liability for accrued worker comp expense.
If the employer remits worker comp premiums to the insurance company in advance of the cost associated with wages and salaries, the amount that is prepaid as of the balance sheet date should be reported as Prepaid Insurance, a current asset. If the employer has remitted less than the worker comp cost associated with the wages and salaries, the amount owed to the insurance company as of the balance sheet date is reported as a current liability such as Accrued Worker Comp Payable.
