In insurance, deferred acquisition costs (DAC) is an asset on the balance sheet representing the deferral of the cost of acquiring new insurance contracts, thereby amortising the costs over their duration. Insurance companies face large upfront costs incurred in issuing new business, such as commissions to sales agents, underwriting, bonus interest and other acquisition expenses. DAC under U.S. GAAP, MSSB (Modified Statutory Solvency Basis) and IAS 39 are all very similar, except that IAS 39 only allows direct, incremental costs to be deferred rather than all acquisition costs. Background Insurance companies incur large expenses when acquiring new business, but to ensure that they comply with GAAP's matching principle they need to spread out these costs over the period in which revenues are earned. The DAC is treated as an asset on the balance sheet and amortized over the life of the insurance contract. Accrual accounting Accrual accounting and deferring implies timewise-matching (synchronization) of income and expenses: an incurred cost is capitalized and does not become an expense until it is recognized in the financial statements of the company. In an accounting sense, it is the amortization of that cost, and not the original cost itself, that becomes the expense. Hence, certain costs which are incurred to acquire insurance contracts should not be recognized as an expense in the accounting period in which they are incurred but should be capitalized as an asset on the balance sheet and gradually amortized over the lifetime of the insurance contracts. Such costs are called deferred acquisition expenses (DAE) and capitalization of DAE results in setting up of an asset called deferred acquisition costs (DAC). Establishment of the DAC asset tends to reduce the policy’s first year strain and generally produces a smoother pattern of earnings. To meet the capitalization criteria, these expenses must vary with and be primarily related to the acquisition of new business. Examples of DAE: Commissions in excess of ultimate commissions Underwriting costs Policy issuance costs All other expenses associated with the new business that do not vary with and are not primarily related to new policies are classified as non-deferrable acquisition expenses. Amortization DAC represents the "un-recovered investment" in the policies issued and are therefore capitalized as an intangible asset to match costs with related revenues. Over time the acquisition costs are recognized as an expense that reduces the DAC asset. The process of recognizing the costs in the income