Carpenter Company adopted a defined benefit pension plan for its employees on January 1, 2016. At the time of adoption, the pension contract provided for retroactive benefits for the company’s active participating employees. These retroactive benefits resulted in a prior service cost of $1,860,000 that created a projected benefit obligation of the same amount on that date. Carpenter decided to amortize the prior service cost by the straight-line method over the 20-year average remaining service life of the employees. The following additional information is also available for 2016 and 2017: 

(1) discount rate for both 2016 and 2017: 8%; 

(2) company contribution (funded 12/31): 2016, $550,000; 2017, $530,000; 

(3) expected long-term rate of return on plan assets: 9%; 

(4) actual rate of return on plan assets, 10%; 

(5) service cost: 2016, $257,000; 2017, $264,000; and 

(6) plan assets: 1/1/2016, $0. Carpenter paid pension benefits of $30,000 each year. Carpenter uses the corridor approach to amortize gains or losses. There are no other components of Carpenter’s pension expense. Ignore any adjustment of accumulated other comprehensive income.

Required:

Prepare a pension plan worksheet that includes the calculation of Carpenter’s pension expense for 2016 and 2017, the reconciliation of the beginning and ending projected benefit obligation for 2016 and 2017, the reconciliation of the beginning and ending plan assets for 2016 and 2017, and the journal entry to record the pension expense at the end of 2016 and 2017, indicating whether each component is a debit or credit.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

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