Project Pages

Implementation Guide−Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting

Primary Description: The objective of this project is to update the Comprehensive Implementation Guide for the effects of new pronouncements and for additional issues that have come to the attention of the staff.

Status: 2012–2013 Comprehensive Implementation Guide was issued in October 2012.

Implementation Guide−Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting—Project Plan

Project Description: The objective of this project is to publish guidance to assist pension plans, employers, and governmental nonemployer contributing entities as they prepare to implement Statements No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, or Statement No. 68, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions, as applicable.

Background: Statements 67 and 68 were approved in June 2012. Statement 67 is effective for plans for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2013. Statement 68 is effective for employers and governmental nonemployer contributing entities for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2014.

Project History: In the final third of 2012, an advisory committee was formed and staff began to compile issues to be considered for inclusion in the guides.

Current Developments: In the first third of 2013, staff continued to compile issues to be considered for inclusion in the guides.

Work Plan: The following work plan anticipates the issuance of two Implementation Guides—the first focused on plan implementation issues, including calculation of the net pension liability (collective net pension liability), and the second focused on additional issues related to employer-specific requirements in Statement 68. The projected timetable for the project is as follows:

Board meetings

Topics to be considered
May 2013: Review ballot draft of plan guide.

June 2013:

Issue plan guide.

July 2013–November 2013:

Staff development of additional material for employer guide and review of proposals by Advisory Committee.

December 2013:

Review ballot draft of employer guide.

January 2014:

Issue employer guide.


Implementation Guide—Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting—Recent Minutes

Minutes of Meetings, May 14-16, 2013

The Board reviewed and provided comments on the ballot draft of the Guide to Implementation of GASB Statement 67 on Financial Reporting for Pension Plans. The Board provided suggestions to clarify the content of certain questions and answers in the staff’s proposal. After discussing these suggested clarifications, the Board unanimously cleared the guide for issuance.

Minutes of Teleconference, March 11, 2013

The Board evaluated a list of potential illustrative material to accompany the illustrations originally presented in Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, in an Implementation Guide to that Statement. The Board tentatively agreed that the following illustrations should be included:

  • An expansion of the illustration of the discount rate “crossover” calculation that was presented in Statement 67 to present data for all years of the calculation
     
  • A crosswalk showing the relationship between amounts displayed in plan financial statements and the amounts used as the beginning and ending fair value of investments in the calculation of the money-weighted rate of return on pension plan investments
In addition, the Board tentatively agreed that the following potential illustrations should not be included in the draft Implementation Guide to Statement 67:

  • An illustration of a discount rate “crossover” calculation that uses a different fact set related to the employer’s contribution basis
     
  • An illustration of financial statements, note disclosures, and required supplementary information for an agent plan
     
  • An illustration of the calculation of a money-weighted rate of return using bi-directional net cash flows
     
  • An illustration of the calculation of a money-weighted rate of return using more frequent than monthly determination of net external cash flows.