What is service cost, and what is the basis of its measurement?

Short Answer

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Service cost is used to calculate the total pension expense during the accounting year. The total service cost is added to the pension expense.

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01

Service cost

Service cost is the component of the organization's pension expense that measures the actual present value of the pension benefits. It can be calculated using the pension benefit formula by considering the total service years of an employee.

02

The basis of measurement of service cost

The primary basis of measuring the service cost is to ascertain the amount of benefit earned during the accounting period and the cost incurred. According to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the future amount of compensation paid to the employee must be considered in evaluating the current obligation of an organization and the total pension expense; if the organization uses the plan benefit formula, its ascertainment.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

On January 1, 2017, Harrington Company has the following defined benefit pension plan balances. Projected benefi t obligation \(4,500,000 Fair value of plan assets 4,200,000 The interest (settlement) rate applicable to the plan is 10%. On January 1, 2018, the company amends its pension agreement so that prior service costs of \)500,000 are created. Other data related to the pension plan are as follows. Insert Page Layout Formulas Data Review View A P18 fx BCD E F G Postretirement Benefit Worksheet—Holder Inc.xls Home 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Postretirement Asset/Liability Other Comprehensive Income—PSC APBO Memo Record Items Plan Assets General Journal Entries Annual Expense Cash (1) (2) (3) 3,000 (6) 410,000 56,000 36,900 5,000 497,900 Cr. 120,000 2,000 (4) 5,000 183,000 Dr. Balance, Jan. 1, 2017 Service cost Interest cost Actual/Expected return Contributions Benefits Amortization of PSC Journal entry for 2017 Accumulated OCI, Dec. 31, 2016 Balance, Dec. 31, 2017 66,000 (7) (5) (8) 30,000 Dr. 27,000 Dr. 290,000 (9) 314,900 Cr. 2017 2018 Service cost \(150,000 \)180,000 Prior service cost amortization –0– 90,000 Contributions (funding) to the plan 240,000 285,000 Benefi ts paid 200,000 280,000 Actual return on plan assets 252,000 260,000 Expected rate of return on assets 6% 8% Instructions (a) Prepare a pension worksheet for the pension plan for 2017 and 2018. (b) For 2018, prepare the journal entry to record pension-related amounts.

Veldre Company provides the following information about its defined benefit pension plan for the year 2017. Service cost $ 90,000 Contribution to the plan 105,000 Prior service cost amortization 10,000 Actual and expected return on plan assets 64,000 Benefits paid 40,000 Plan assets at January 1, 2017 640,000 Projected benefi t obligation at January 1, 2017 700,000 Accumulated OCI (PSC) at January 1, 2017 150,000 Interest/discount (settlement) rate 10% Instructions Compute the pension expense for the year 2017.

If pension expense recognized in a period exceeds the current amount funded by the employer, what kind of account arises, and how should it be reported in the financial statements? If the reverse occurs—that is, current funding by the employer exceeds the amount recognized as pension expense—what kind of account arises, and how should it be reported?

Taveras Enterprises provides the following information relative to its defined benefit pension plan. Balances or Values at December 31, 2017 Projected benefit obligation \(2,737,000 Accumulated benefit obligation 1,980,000 Fair value of plan assets 2,278,329 Accumulated OCI (PSC) 210,000 Accumulated OCI—Net loss (1/1/17 balance, –0–) 45,680 Pension liability 458,671 Other pension plan data for 2017: Service cost 94,000 Prior service cost amortization 42,000 Actual return on plan assets 130,000 Expected return on plan assets 175,680 Interest on January 1, 2017, projected benefi t obligation 253,000 Contributions to plan 93,329 Benefi ts paid 140,000

Instructions (a) Prepare the note disclosing the components of pension expense for the year 2017. (b) Determine the amounts of other comprehensive income and comprehensive income for 2017. Net income for 2017 is \)35,000. (c) Compute the amount of accumulated other comprehensive income reported at December 31, 2017.

Latoya Company provides the following selected information related to its defined benefit pension plan for 2017. Pension asset/liability (January 1) \( 25,000 Cr. Accumulated benefit obligation (December 31) 400,000 Actual and expected return on plan assets 10,000 Contributions (funding) in 2017 150,000 Fair value of plan assets (December 31) 800,000 Settlement rate 10% Projected benefit obligation (January 1) 700,000 Service cost 80,000 Instructions (a) Compute pension expense and prepare the journal entry to record pension expense and the employer’s contribution to the pension plan in 2017. Preparation of a pension worksheet is not required. Benefits paid in 2017 were \)35,000. (b) Indicate the pension-related amounts that would be reported in the company’s income statement and balance sheet for 2017.

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