IFRS Funded Status Question represents, practice, equation, service

segalm

The Stalla practice exam answer key says that funded status for IFRS =
GAAP Funded Status (FV Assets - PBO)
+Unrecognized Prior Service Cost
- Unrecognized Actuarial Gains
This seems odd to me. Why would the unrecognized prior service cost be added, since it represents costs that have been incurred but are not yet reflected in the PBO? It seems to me that the equation would make more sense if it were:
GAAP Funded Status (Assets - PBO)
- Unrecognized Prior Service Cost
+ Unrecognized Actuarial Gains
I’m probably making a silly mistake in my understanding, if anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated.

bolligerallstar

For pensions, you always add losses and subtract gains. I can’t tell you why, but that’s how I remember it.

Rasec

Since you are starting with an amount where PBO is in negative position (i.e. being deducted from FV of assets), you need to add unrecog service cost to the amount of the excess over the PBO. It is equivalent to the fact that you are essentially reducing the PBO (as PBO is negative). Hope this helps.

Windjammer

^
US GAAP: Net pension asset or liability (PBO) is report on B/S. Unrecognize past service costs/actuarial gains are reported as component of Other Comprehensive Income (OCI). until amortized to pension cost.
IFRS: Adjusted funded status=
Funded status (like US GAAP)
+/- past service cost
+/- actuarial gains
=Prepaid (Accrued) Pension cost
Unrecognized PSC, Actuarial gains are in footnotes only NOT on B/S.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

canadiananalyst

humm, I thought it is the other way around..
I thought in GAAP, we should report the funded status (plan asset - PBO)
in IFRS, we report the funded status only…
hummm, anyone here? thanks

tikfed

no earlier posters are correct.
US GAAP - report the Funded Status
IFRS: Funded Status + Unamortized Prior Service Cost +/- Unamortized Loss(Gain) +/- Unamortized Transition Asset (Liability).

AnalystForum

^
You are right: It is in USGAAP that we report a clear, unsmoothed position, ie the true funded status. This has been so since December 15, 2006.
Before that, the situation was just like IFRS: You reported a net pension asset or liability, which is a “smoothed” funded status.
Now:
IFRS net A or L
- unrecognized prior service cost
+ unrecognized actuarial gains
= funded status (ie USGAAP)
I guess this way around the equation makes sense, and so it becomes clear why you “add” unrecognized prior service cost to the USGAAP funded status.
Hope that helps.