...From: Calie Lukenbill Date: November 21, 2011 Subject: Pensions As you may know there are two types of pension plans that are most commonly used: a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit plan. “A defined contribution plan sets forth a certain amount that the employer is to contribute to the plan each period (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, "Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits," 2011). “A defined benefit plan specifies the amount of pension benefits to be paid out to plan recipients in the future. Companies that use this plan must make sufficient contributions to the funding agency in order to meet benefit requirements when they come due” (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, "Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits," 2011). The defined contribution plan makes no promises on what the ultimate benefits are to be paid. “The benefits received by the recipients are determined by the return earned on the invested pension funds during the investment period” (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, "Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits," 2011). When you account for this plan the risk for future benefit is the employee and the employer’s only cash outflow is the annual contribution to the pension plan fund. “The pension expense is equal to the amount of promised annual contribution”(Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, "Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits," 2011). The financial statements should disclose the plan, what groups are covered, the basis for determining...
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...CHAPTER 20 ACCOUNTING FOR PENSIONS AND POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS IFRS questions are available at the end of this chapter. TRUE-FALSE—Conceptual Answer F T F T T F F T F T F F T F T F T F F T No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Description Funded pension plan. Qualified pension plans. Defined-contribution plan liability. Defined-benefit plans. Vested benefit obligation. Accumulated benefit obligation. Definition of service cost. Definition of interest cost. Recognizing accumulated benefit obligation. Pension Asset /Liability balance. Plan amendment and projected benefit obligation increase. Years-of-service amortization method. Expected return and actual return. Unexpected gains and losses. Accumulated OCI (G/L) account and the corridor. Amortization of net gains and losses. Recording prior service cost. Reporting accumulated OCI (PSC) on the balance sheet. Other comprehensive income (PSC) and net income. Reconciliation of PBO and fair value of plan assets. MULTIPLE CHOICE—Conceptual Answer d c d c b b a c a a d d d a c b No. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. Description Factors considered by actuaries. Process of funding a pension plan. Accounting problems in pension plans. Nature of a defined-contribution plan. Nature of a defined-benefit plan. Defined-contribution plan characteristics. Accounting for a defined-benefit plan. Pension obligation measurement using future salaries. Definition...
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...reporting for defined contribution, defined benefit, and other postretirement plans. It will also discuss what should happen when trying to eliminate two segments. Once a company acquires another business the operations, policies, and practices will have to change. When looking at pensions they are special in the category of liabilities. This expense for periodic costs isn’t tied to changes in the balance sheet. When a pension plan is established a company must make estimates of future obligations, and it must reflect in the financials as long term liabilities. There are some obstacles that the company may face while trying accurately to forecast such as not knowing future employee salary levels, which the future benefits are based on, vesting events, and investment active of fund assets. The company must apply the proper discount rate that should be selected to discount the estimated obligations of the future to a present value. There are reporting requirements that should be considered for a business with multiple business segments that has separate postretirement plans and plans to eliminate them. The reporting for defined contribution, defined benefits, and other postretirement plans should be researched and the proper procedures on eliminating the two segments have to be explained or understood. According to Schroeder, Clark and Cathey (2005), organizations that are offering defined contribution pension plans must disclose the following information in the financial...
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...Pensions and Retirement Pla ACC/541 May 7, 2012 Pensions and Retirement Plans Memo To: Kimberly Taylor, CEO, Kim’s Tasty Kookies From: Donna Robinson, CFO, Kim’s Tasty Kookies Date: May 7, 2012 ------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pensions and Retirement Plans Kim’s Tasty Kookies had begun operation in 1895 with Kimberly great-grand mother making her famous chocolate chips for children. Although the recipes were handed down through three generation of Taylors, Kimberly Taylor felt it was her duty to share her great-grand mother Kookies recipes with the world in 1995. Just 10 year later, the company has made it on the cover of Fortune 500 this past December. After buying out the local cookie company, Kim’s Tasty Kookies (KTK) opened new branches in England, Mexico and Canada. The acquired company included two segments with two different pension plans. This memo will discuss Defined Contribution, Defined Benefit, and Other Postretirement Plans as well as an explanation of the possible effects of eliminating the two segments. Defined Contribution Plan With a defined-contribution plan, Kim’s Tasty Kookies would agree to contribute to the pension trust an certain amount each period, based on a formula. This formula would take into consideration such factors as age, length of employee service, KTK’s profits, and compensation level (Kieso, Weygandt, & Warfield, 2007). This plan makes no projection regarding the ultimate benefits...
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...------------------------------------------------- Subject: Pension Plans and Eliminating Segments This memo is to provide a response to the new CEO who is requesting information regarding the following areas. The first discussion is and explanation of the required reporting on retirement plans that includes defined contribution, defined benefit, and other postretirement plans. The memo will also include what may happen when two segments are to be eliminated. Defined Contribution Plan A defined contribution plan is when an employer puts aside a certain percentage periodically to the employees benefit plan. There are two types of defined contribution plan: Defined contribution health and welfare plans— This plan is an account for the employee that calculates the amount by using the participating employee’s account instead of his or her benefits. “The benefits a plan participant will receive are limited to the amount contributed to the participant's account, investment experience, expenses, and any forfeitures allocated to the participant's account. These plans also include flexible spending arrangements. (FASB ASC 715-70-20)” Defined contribution postretirement plan— A participant that uses this plan is provided an individual plan that is determined by the amount of services he or she has rendered. “Under a defined contribution postretirement plan, the benefits a plan participant will receive depend solely on the amount contributed to the plan participant's account, the returns earned...
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...Liabilities Capital (Stockholders’ Equity) Off balance sheet transactions 3-5 Liabilities Liabilities Alternative Classification Important Features in Analyzing Liabilities • Terms of indebtedness (such as maturity, interest rate, payment pattern, and amount). • Restrictions on deploying resources and pursuing business activities. • Ability and flexibility in pursuing further financing. • Obligations for working capital, debt to equity, and other financial figures. • Dilutive conversion features that liabilities are subject to. • Prohibitions on disbursements such as dividends. Obligations that arise from operating activities--examples are accounts payable, unearned revenue, advance payments, taxes payable, postretirement liabilities, and other accruals of operating expenses Operating Liabilities Obligations that arise from financing activities--examples are short- and long-term debt, bonds, notes, leases, and the current portion of long-term debt Financing Liabilities 3-6 3-7 Liabilities Classification Current (short-term) Liabilities Obligations whose settlement requires use of current assets or the incurrence of another current liability within one year or the...
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...employees with a pension plan for many years. Through the use of a funding agency, payments are invested so that periodic payments can be made to the employee during retirement. Defined contribution and defined benefit are the two most common type of pension plans. However, employers offer additional retirement benefits such as tuition assistance, healthcare, life insurance, and housing subsidies (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, 2011, p. 470) as guided by SFAS No. 106, “Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions.” Each plan caries different risk and benefits for employer and employee. A brief summary is hereby provided to aid in deciding the appropriate plan for the company. Defined Contribution Defined contributions plans are rapidly becoming the preferred plan for most firms. The plan offers less risk to employers because employees make contribution towards retirement funds. Employees contribute a set percentage, taken from the salary, to the plan. Funds are invested into a plan such as a 401K or Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for Federal employees. The amount the retiree receives is based on the return on investment at the receipt. That is, the benefits the recipients earn are based on the stability of the investment and the return earned on funds during the time of investment. The risk of the investment is borne by the employee as the market changes in value. The employer’s responsibility is the “annual contribution to the pension plan fund” (Schroeder...
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... DATE: January 29, 2015 SUBJECT: Required Reporting for Pensions and Other Postretirement Plans Several issues have to be considered in the wake of the firm’s recent acquisition of a new company. First, the acquired company has two different pension plans whose reporting requirements are unfamiliar to the firm. Second, the acquired company has two segments that do not fit the firm’s requirements, and should be targeted for closure. This memo describes the reporting requirements of pension plans, namely, defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans and Other Postretirement Plans or OPEBs. In addition, this memo describes how to close an unwanted segment. A defined contribution plan sets forth a certain amount that the employer is to contribute to the plan each period. In the other hand, defined benefit plans specify the amount of pension to be paid out to plan recipients in the future (Cathey, Clark & Schroeder, 2011). The fixed monthly income to be paid to the employee is calculated using a pre-determined formula that usually takes into account the employee’s years of service, annual salary, and in some instances, age (Ruppel, 2010). Both pension plans guarantee the employee will receive monetary compensations, either directly or indirectly, from the employer at retirement. The financial reporting of defined contribution plans is straightforward. The employer only records the pension expense that equals the cash contribution to the employee. For instance...
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...Accounting SUBJECT: Reporting of Pension Plan in acquisition of Company ABC DATE: June 11, 2013 In the acquisition of Company ABC, many factors must be considered, including the acquisition of the company’s pension plans and the addition of two segments. After careful analysis, the two operating segments have caused a loss to the company and must be eliminated. This memo will outline the reporting procedures for the pension plans and the necessary steps that must be taken to eliminate the segments. Defined Contribution Plan One of the most frequently encountered and widely used pension plans is the defined benefit plan. Under this plan, the employer is required to contribute a pre-determined amount of the employee’s salary to this pension plan. The amount of benefits paid out at the onset of retirement are not guaranteed and “are determined by the return earned on the invested pension funds during the investment period” (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, 2011). Employees also have the option of designating where their funds are invested, whether it be in stocks or in fixed-income securities. The defined contribution plan has become popular among employers due to no risk on behalf of the employer and the ease of reporting. Variations of the plan include: thrift plans, savings plans, 401(k) plans, profit-sharing plans, and incentive savings plans. Because of its simplicity in reporting, the defined contribution plan periodic pension expense is equal to the amount...
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...Alcoa offers pension plans as a benefit for most US employees and certain employees in foreign locations. The pension benefit amounts depend of the length of service, job difficulty and salary. Alcoa provides a defined contribution plan to their US employees. In a defined contribution plan a company makes a contribution, but does not promise the future benefit to the employees. In this type of pension benefit the employees take on the risk instead of the company. U.S. employees hired before March 1, 2016 participate in a defined benefit plan. In a defined benefit pension plan employees know the terms of the benefit that they will earn when they retire and the company is liable to provide the employees with that benefit. Alcoa also maintains health care and life insurance postretirement benefit plans....
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...Company and PepsiCo Pension Plans Intermediate Accounting III – ACC 305 Strayer University November 20, 2011 Abstract The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo are both very large manufacturing corporations that operate worldwide. Over the years, each corporation has had a very longevity of business success. The expansion of business and brands through subsidiaries, partnerships and franchises in beverage and food products has been a consistent growth in retail sales for both corporations. With such growth, they employ thousands of employees worldwide and offer competitive benefits to include medical, life, and retirement. In 2006, both corporations adopted SFAS 158, Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans — an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 132(R) (SFAS 158). For this particular paper, the goal will be to complete a comparative analysis of the pension plans that each corporation make available to their employees and retirees. Analysis A pension plan is an employer contributory or noncontributory saving plan which can also be qualified and nonqualified that businesses offer to their employees to assist with their retirement. With contributory plans, the employer and the employee make contributions into the savings. Whereas, with noncontributory plans, only the employer is required to make the contributions while the employee’s participation is optional. Under a qualified plan, tax deduction benefits...
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...Reporting Paper INTERNAL MEMORANDOM To: CEO From: Papa Rydoo Date: October 25, 2010 Reference: Postretirement Plans Introduction Acquisition of a company leads to many changes in the company and especially in the area of the retirement benefit plans for our company. It is complicated adjusting to benefits plans but with the required reporting, the transition will be smooth. The different types of pension plans we will focus on are; defined contribution, defined benefit, and other postretirement plans. Defined Contribution Plan (DCP) Defined contribution plan is a retirement plan that an employer promises to contribute toward an employee’s retirement funds periodically. Most companies will match whatever an employee contributes towards the fund. However, there would be no promise as to the ultimate benefits that would be paid into the funds because the retirement benefits are determined by the returned earned on the contributions to the funds during the investment period (Schroeder, Clark, & Cathey, 2005, p. 445). DCP is recorded on the financial statements as a pension expense, it is a straightforward transaction and it carries no risk for the employer because all the risks go to the employee. Defined Benefit Plan (DBP) Defined benefit plan is the amount of retirement benefits an employee would receive in the future but the terms are defined by the company. Most companies would have terms that would require employees to have at least 30 years of service, and...
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...CHAPTER 20 Accounting for Pensions and Postretirement Benefits ASSIGNMENT CLASSIFICATION TABLE (BY TOPIC) Topics 1. Questions Brief Exercises Exercises 16 Problems Concepts for Analysis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 4, 5 Basic definitions and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, concepts related to pension 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, plans. 14, 24 Worksheet preparation. Income statement recognition, computation of pension expense. Balance sheet recognition, computation of pension expense. Minimum liability computation. Corridor calculation. Reconciliation schedule. Prior service cost. 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18 3 1, 4 2. 3. 3, 4, 7, 10, 15 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21 4. 16, 20, 21, 22, 23 20, 22 2 3, 9, 11, 13, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 2, 5, 7 14, 15, 17, 6, 7, 8, 9 18, 19 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 8, 14, 20, 21 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 2, 4, 5 5. 8, 9, 10 6. 7. 8. 19 25 13, 14, 21, 23 7 6 5, 8, 9, 10 3, 4, 5, 6 3, 9, 10, 14, 1, 2, 3, 15, 19 6, 8, 9 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 1, 4 9. 10. Unrecognized net gain or loss. Disclosure issues. 15 25 26 27, 28, 29, 30 7 8, 9, 14, 15, 1, 2, 3, 5, 19, 20, 21 6, 7, 8, 9 9, 12, 13 4, 5, 6 3, 4 *11. Special Issues. *12. Postretirement benefits. 11, 12 22, 23, 24, 25 10 *This material is dealt with in an Appendix to the chapter. 20-1 ASSIGNMENT CLASSIFICATION TABLE (BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE) Learning Objectives...
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...Is the Difference in Accounting Treatment of Post-Retirement Benefits under IFRS Beneficial or Detrimental to the Financial Position of a Company Currently Reporting Under US GAAP? Megan N. Cook, CPA, CFE Accountancy 521 Professor Lawrence March 9, 2009 The first pension plan offered by an American employer was that of American Express in the year 1875. Amex’s plan did not resemble the plans that we see in today’s time; the first “modern” defined benefit plan was created in 1940 by the automotive behemoth General Motors. These plans of the past still do not resemble plans that we are familiar with today. In the past, employers could exercise a “pension put” option and, in essence, close the plan down at the current level of funding and turn the assets over to the retirees. This is not an optimal situation, as many plans at the time were severely under funded and retirees would be left with pennies on the dollar of what they were counting on for retirement. (Fortune, 2005) Post-retirement benefits are volatile on a couple of different fronts; up until the reforms in 1974 which created ERISA and the PBGC, employees had to put blind faith in their employers to secure their futures after their working years were over. (Fortune, 2005) On another front, these benefits pose a significant accounting problem – how should a company account for the costs and liabilities associated with these benefits they had to give their employees at a later and relatively indeterminable...
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...MEMO Our company has recently acquired another company which has two segments and two different pension plans. These segments could create reporting issues which we would want to eliminate. To fulfill this objective, we should first understand what the different postretirement plans are and what their reporting requirements are after which we would identify steps to eliminate the two segments. * Defined Benefit Pension Plan In a defined benefit pension plan, employee gets a specified monthly benefit at retirement. The amount of benefit may be decided by the company based on the salary and service level of the employee. The reporting requirement for this pension plan is to include information in two categories. Category 1: The plan should include information in two financial statements: (a) A statement of plan net assets that provides information about the fair value and composition of plan assets, plan liabilities, and plan net assets (b) A statement of changes in plan net assets that provides information about the year-to-year changes in plan net assets The notes requirement should address the following: * Brief plan description * Summary of significant accounting policies * Information about contributions, legally required reserves, and investment concentrations Category 2: Information should be presented in two schedules: (a) A schedule of funding progress that reports the actuarial value of assets, the actuarial accrued liability, and the relationship...
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