FASB Approves Revised Accounting Standard for Multi-Employer Pension Plans
On July 27, 2011 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) approved the revised accounting standard for Multi-Employer Pension Plans. This standard was originally released for public comment in September 2010 and was met with some criticism from the construction industry, so much criticism in fact that the Construction Industry FASB Coalition (The Coalition) was formed. The Coalition, led by several industry trade associations (as reported in our July 8, 2011 blog article), took on the FASB in an effort to remove several provisions of the standard. The most notable stance was against the proposed standard’s requirement to disclose a withdrawal liability to plans that a company participates in. The Coalition was successful in its negotiations as seen in the news release from the FASB regarding this accounting standard. Continue reading »
The Construction Industry FASB Coalition Takes on the FASB Multi-employer Benefit Plan Exposure Draft
If you own or work for a construction company that employs union workers, and participate in a multi-employer benefit plan this may interest you.
In case you were not aware, in September 2010 the FASB released Exposure Draft 715, Compensation – Retirement Benefits – Multi-employer Plans. The objective of this exposure draft is to have companies who participate in multi-employer benefit plans to disclose in more detail the company’s participation in the multi-employer benefit plan, and any effects on the company’s cash flows from its participation in the multi-employer benefit plan. The exposure draft details a list of required disclosures at 715-80-50-1B. In the opinion of many trade associations and construction companies alike, the increased disclosure requirements will be overly burdensome and costly to comply with, as well as potentially misleading to users of financial statements. Continue reading »
