Pension Accounting (Portfolio 340)

Description

Bloomberg Tax Portfolio, Pension Accounting, No. 340, comprehensively analyzes various authoritative pronouncements on accounting by pension plans for their holdings, and on employers accounting for pensions and other postretirement benefits. Although accounting requirements for pensions and other postretirement benefits parallel one another, important distinctions exist. The Portfolio identifies significant points on which the parallel rules diverge.

The Portfolio focuses on the recognition, measurement, and disclosure of defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans for publicly traded corporations. Related topics, such as accounting for pension plans of non-profit organizations, are examined in other Portfolios.

This Portfolio explains how U.S. tax laws regarding pension and other postretirement benefits influence and intersect with U.S. GAAP. The passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) prompted the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to re-examine then-current reporting practices for pensions and other postretirement benefit plans. The discussion in the Portfolio focuses on the standards designed to better align U.S. GAAP with federal regulations and to improve the financial reporting of pensions and other postretirement benefits. The Portfolio explains how financial analysts assess the implication of a firm’s pension-related obligations on profitability, risk, and cash flow.

This Portfolio may be cited as Williams, Cairns and Bowers, 340 T.M., Pension Accounting.

Table of Contents

I. Objectives and Scope of Portfolio
II. Federal Regulations and Reporting Requirements
III. General Background on Pension Accounting
IV. Accounting and Reporting by Defined Benefit Pension Plans
V. Employers’ Accounting for Pensions
VI. Settlements, Curtailments, and Terminations of Defined Benefit Pension Plans
VII. Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions
VIII. Employers’ Accounting for Postemployment Benefits
IX. Employers’ Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits
X. Trends and Open Issues
XI. IFRS and Pension Costs
XII. Accounting and Reporting by Retirement Benefit Plans Under International Accounting Standards
XIII. Employers Accounting for Pensions Under International Financial Reporting Standards