Videos
Recognizing pension expense
The annual examination of Felton Company’s financial statements by its external public accounting firm (auditors) is nearing completion. The following conversation took place between the controller of Felton Company (Francie) and the audit manager from the public accounting firm (Sumana):
Sumana: You know, Francie, we are about to wrap up our audit for this fiscal year. Yet, there is one item still to be resolved.
Francie: What’s that?
Sumana: Well, as you know, at the beginning of the year, Felton began a defined benefit pension plan. This plan promises your employees an annual payment when they retire, using a formula based on their salaries at retirement and their years of service. I believe that a pension expense should be recognized this year, equal to the amount of pension earned by your employees.
Francie: Wait a minute. I think you have it all wrong. The company doesn’t have a pension expense until it actually pays the pension in cash when the employee retires. After all, some of these employees may not reach retirement, and if they don’t, the company doesn’t owe them anything.
Sumana: You’re not really seeing this the right way. The pension is earned by your employees during their working years. You actually make the payment much later—when they retire. It’s like one long accrual—much like incurring wages in one period and paying them in the next. Thus, I think you should recognize the expense in the period the pension is earned by the employees.
Francie: Let me see if I’ve got this straight. I should recognize an expense this period for something that may or may not be paid to the employees in 20 or 30 years, when they finally retire. How am I supposed to determine what the expense is for the current year? The amount of the final retirement depends on many uncertainties: salary levels, employee longevity, mortality rates, and interest earned on investments to fund the pension. I don’t think an amount can be determined even if I accepted your arguments.
Evaluate Sumana’s position. Is she right, or is Francie correct?
Trending nowThis is a popular solution!
Chapter 11 Solutions
Financial Accounting
- Duo Corporation is evaluating a project with the following cash flows: Year 0 1 2 3 Cash Flow -$ 30,000 12,200 14,900 16,800 4 5 13,900 -10,400 The company uses an interest rate of 8 percent on all of its projects. a. Calculate the MIRR of the project using the discounting approach. Note: Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16. b. Calculate the MIRR of the project using the reinvestment approach. Note: Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16. c. Calculate the MIRR of the project using the combination approach. Note: Do not round intermediate calculations and enter your answer as a percent rounded to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16. a. Discounting approach MIRR b. Reinvestment approach MIRR c. Combination approach MIRR % % %arrow_forwardHello tutor please provide this question solution general accountingarrow_forwardGet correct answer accounting questionsarrow_forward
- Consider a four-year project with the following information: Initial fixed asset investment = $555,000; straight-line depreciation to zero over the four-year life; zero salvage value; price = $37; variable costs = $25; fixed costs = $230,000; quantity sold = 79,000 units; tax rate = 24 percent. How sensitive is OCF to changes in quantity sold?arrow_forwardLight emitting diodes (LED) light bulbs have become required in recent years, but do they make financial sense? Suppose a typical 60-watt incandescent light bulb costs $.39 and lasts 1,000 hours. A 15-watt LED, which provides the same light, costs $3.10 and lasts for 12,000 hours. A kilowatt-hour of electricity costs $.115. A kilowatt-hour is 1,000 watts for 1 hour. If you require a return of 11 percent and use a light fixture 500 hours per year, what is the equivalent annual cost of each light bulb? Note: A negative answer should be indicated by a minus sign. Do not round intermediate calculations and round your answers to 2 decimal places, e.g., 32.16.arrow_forwardRecently, Abercrombie & Fitch has been implementing a turnaround strategy since its sales had been falling for the past few years (11% decrease in 2014, 8% in 2015, and just 3% in 2016.) One part of Abercrombie's new strategy has been to abandon its logo-adorned merchandise, replacing it with a subtler look. Abercrombie wrote down $20.6 million of inventory, including logo-adorned merchandise, during the year ending January 30, 2016. Some of this inventory dated back to late 2013. The write-down was net of the amount it would be able to recover selling the inventory at a discount. The write-down is significant; Abercrombie's reported net income after this write-down was $35.6 million. Interestingly, Abercrombie excluded the inventory write-down from its non-GAAP income measures presented to investors; GAAP earnings were also included in the same report. Question: From an investor standpoint, do you think that the effect of the inventory write-down should be considered when…arrow_forward
Financial AccountingAccountingISBN:9781337272124Author:Carl Warren, James M. Reeve, Jonathan DuchacPublisher:Cengage Learning
Intermediate Accounting: Reporting And AnalysisAccountingISBN:9781337788281Author:James M. Wahlen, Jefferson P. Jones, Donald PagachPublisher:Cengage Learning
Auditing: A Risk Based-Approach (MindTap Course L...AccountingISBN:9781337619455Author:Karla M Johnstone, Audrey A. Gramling, Larry E. RittenbergPublisher:Cengage Learning
Auditing: A Risk Based-Approach to Conducting a Q...AccountingISBN:9781305080577Author:Karla M Johnstone, Audrey A. Gramling, Larry E. RittenbergPublisher:South-Western College Pub
Individual Income TaxesAccountingISBN:9780357109731Author:HoffmanPublisher:CENGAGE LEARNING - CONSIGNMENT