Berle Corp. has a defined benefit pension plan that features the following data:
January 1, 2016 (beginning of fiscal year):
Fair value of plan assets...........................................$4,000
Projected benefit obligation......................................$6,200
Accumulated benefit obligation.................................$5,900
AOCI balance relating to actuarial estimates......$900 (debit/loss)
The following assumptions are used for the pension plan in 2016
Discount rate.............................................7.5%
Average remaining employee service life.........25 years
Additional information relating to 2016:
New service cost.....................................................$300
Cash contributions to the plan assets (end of 2016)............$150
Pension benefits paid by the plan (end of 2016)................$350
Actual return on plan assets........................................$360
Actuarial estimate adjustment to the PBO............$50 (debit/loss)
The CFO of Berle Corp. devises a plan to inflate artificially net income by using an estimate for expected return on plan assets of 25% (the traditional estimate for return on plan assets is 10%).Under U.S. GAAP, the CFO chooses to amortize only the portion of any beginning AOCI balance outside the corridor into pension expense/income.
Required (ignore potential deferred tax effects):
1. Compute the 2016 pension expense/income under U.S. GAAP. What was the effect of the CFO's plans on 2016 pension expense/income?
2. Compute the 2016 pension expense/income under IFRS. What was the effect of the CFO's plan on 2016 pension expense/income?
3. Compute the effect of the CFO's plan on 2017 pension expense/income under U.S. GAAP. In other words, what is the effect of the plan on future period amortization of the AOCI balance?
4. Compute the effect of the CFO's plan on 2017 pension expense/income under IFRS. In other words, what is the effect of the plan on future period amortization of the AOCI balance?