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ACC 541 Week 5 Reporting Paper
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Sample content
Reporting Paper
ACC/541
MEMORANDUM

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TO: Chief Executive Officer
FROM: Financial Controller
DATE:
SUBJECT: Required Reporting for Pensions and Other Postretirement Plans
Several issues have to be considered in the wake of the firm’s recent acquisition of
a new company. First, the acquired company has two different pension plans
whose reporting requirements are unfamiliar to the firm. Second, the acquired
company has two segments that do not fit the firm’s requirements, and should be
targeted for closure. Hence, this memo describes the reporting requirements of
pension plans, namely, defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans and Other
Postretirement Plans or OPEBs. In addition, this memo describes how to close an
unwanted segment.
Defined contribution plans are plans in which the employer agrees to pay a fixed
amount to the employee’s pension fund each year while the employee works for
the company. In comparison, defined benefit plans are plans in which the employer
guarantees to pay the employee a fixed monthly income for life at retirement. The
fixed monthly income to be paid to the employee is calculated using a pre-
determined formula that usually takes into account the employee’s years of service,
annual salary, and in some instances, age (Ruppel, 2010). Both pension plans
guarantee the employee will receive monetary compensations, either directly or
indirectly, from the employer at retirement.
The financial reporting of defined contribution plans is straightforward. The
employer only records the pension expense that equals the cash contribution to the
employee. For instance, when the company agrees to pay the equivalent of five
percent (5%) of the annual salary of the employee to the pension plan, the
company’s financial reports would have to reflect this pension expense. On the
other hand, in reporting defined benefit plans, the financial reports of the company
would record the fixed retirement benefit and the designated formula used to
calculate it (Epstein, 2009).
The pension plan assets of the company are not recorded on the balance sheet.
However, these should be include
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