Companies that offer pension plans must follow often-perplexing financial accounting standards and government accounting and presentation dictates. This course will help you sort through the major types of pension plans and understand specific terminologies related to these plans. This course also presents reporting by a trustee for the plan, including the requirements surrounding pension plan financial statements.

 Other topics covered include:

• Accounting for settlements, curtailments, and terminations
• Non-pension post-retirement benefit plans
• Accounting and reporting for post employment benefits
• Under-funded or over-funded pensions
• Reporting requirements for pension plans in financial statements

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Recognize the characteristics of and includible items in defined contribution and defined benefit pension plans.
• Recognize terminology used in pension plan accounting.
• Calculate pension expense costs in a defined benefit plan.
• Identify the accounting and reporting requirements for pension plans in financial statements.

Course outline

• Pension Plans
• Defined-Benefit Pension Plans
• Terminology
• Total Pension Expense
• Actuarial Gains and Losses/Prior Service Costs
• Gain or Loss
• Smoothing Unexpected Gains and Losses on Plan Assets
• Smoothing Unexpected Gains and Losses on the Pension Liability
• Pension Plan Benefit Formula
• Plan Assets
• Underfunding or Overfunding
• Retirement Benefit
• Summary of Accounting for Pension Plans
• Application Examples
• Employers Having More Than One Defined-Benefit Plan
• Annuity (Allocated) Contracts
• Pension Reform Acts
• Life Insurance
• Settlement, Curtailment, and Termination
• Settlement
• Curtailment
• Termination
• Postretirement Benefit Plans Other Than Pensions
• Accounting
• Components
• Plan Amendment
• Disclosures
• Employers' Disclosures about Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits
• Pension Plan Financial Statements
• Net Assets Available for Benefits
• Investments
• Contributions Receivable
• Insurance Contracts
• Statement of Changes in Net Assets Available for Benefits
• Actuarial Present Value of Plan Benefits
• Changes in Actuarial Present Value of Plan Benefits
• Required Disclosures

Who Should Attend

Open to all financial accountants, managers and directors.