AC302 Unit 5 Discussion

Vickie Plato, accounting clerk in the personnel office of Streisand Corp., has begun to compute pension expense for 2016 but is not sure whether or not she should include the amortization of unrecognized gains/losses. She is currently working with the following beginning-of-the-year present values for the projected benefit obligation and market-related values for the pension plan:

               Projected           Plan
               Benefit               Assets
               Obligation           Value

2013        $2,200,000        $1,900,000    
2014        2,400,000        2,500,000    
2015        2,900,000        2,600,000    
2016        3,900,000        3,000,000

The average remaining service life per employee in 2013 and 2014 is 10 years and in 2015 and 2016 is 12 years. The net gain or loss that occurred during each year is as follows.

2013        $280,000    loss
2014        85,000       loss
2015        12,000       loss
2016        25,000       gain

Answer the following questions in the Discussion Board:

You are the manager in charge of accounting. Write a memo to Vickie Plato, explaining why in some years she must amortize some of the net gains and losses and in other years she does not need to. In order to explain this situation fully, you must compute the amount of net gain or loss that is amortized and charged to pension expense in each of the 4 years listed above. Include an appropriate amortization schedule, referring to it whenever necessary.