# ASC 360-962: Property, Plant, and Equipment — Plan Accounting—Defined Contribution Pension Plans Source: FASB Accounting Standards Codification, Basic View [Read online](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/) Study and research edition. Verify current requirements with the official source. Summaries, enrichment, and tags are machine-generated study aids. Paragraph html preserves source markup; snippet is abbreviated. Pending content is not necessarily effective. Tables and mathematical or amendment markup are retained as HTML where Markdown would lose structure. Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:24.376Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:35.677Z Record version: sha256:f6fcd57b1066514ef0e1b246567c7b693752634cf826ca24ce4468800396c2a9 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 360-962: Property, Plant, and Equipment — Plan Accounting—Defined Contribution Pension Plans ### Machine-generated study aids ```json { "summary": "This subtopic governs how a defined contribution pension plan accounts for property, plant, and equipment that the plan itself uses in its operations. The core rule is that such operating assets — buildings, equipment, furniture and fixtures, and leasehold improvements — are reported at cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization, rather than at fair value like investment assets.", "key_points": [ "This Subtopic provides guidance on accounting for property, plant, and equipment for defined contribution plans (360-962-05-1).", "Its scope is the same as the Overall Subtopic, Section 962-10-15 (360-962-15-1).", "Plan assets used in plan operations shall be reported at cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization (360-962-35-1).", "Operating assets covered may include buildings, equipment, furniture and fixtures, and leasehold improvements (360-962-35-1(a) through (d)).", "The cost-less-depreciation model applies to assets used in operating the plan, distinguishing them from the plan's investments, which are measured under the Topic 962 investment guidance." ], "categories": [ "Subsequent measurement", "Inventory and PP&E", "Compensation and benefits", "Industry-specific" ], "audience_level": "introductory", "student_note": "Exam trap: students assume everything a benefit plan holds is carried at fair value; assets the plan uses to run itself (its office building, computers, leasehold improvements) are instead carried at historical cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization.", "related_topics": [ "962-10", "962-325", "360-10", "960", "965", "962-40" ], "key_concepts": [ "defined contribution plan", "operating assets", "property, plant, and equipment", "cost less accumulated depreciation", "leasehold improvements", "plan accounting", "amortization" ] } ``` Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:24.376Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:24.376Z Record version: sha256:ef68dbf64869a5ffed4ccc8111f3281668de0484234fc52576e0c3856b5c2abe Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 360-962-00: 00 Status [Read section](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#00-status) SEC content: no ##### [360-962-00-1](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#360-962-00-1) Pending content: no Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:24.376Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:24.376Z Record version: sha256:7c4a96c60e34461f9124d012e1157e6e3193bf5c5fd98dc6dd058910a8beefac Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. The following table identifies the changes made to this Subtopic.

Paragraph	Action	Accounting Standards Update	Date

Defined Contribution Plan	Added	Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-09	07/16/2018

962-360-05-1	Added	Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-09	07/16/2018
962-360-15-1	Added	Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-09	07/16/2018
962-360-35-1	Added	Accounting Standards Update No. 2018-09	07/16/2018

Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:26.654Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:26.654Z Record version: sha256:d07dae92b0803703e086d5a3539011b0058432311ce50fe7e3a705488345d7d5 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 360-962-05: 05 Overview and Background [Read section](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#05-overview-and-background) SEC content: no ##### [360-962-05-1](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#360-962-05-1) Pending content: no Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:26.654Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:26.654Z Record version: sha256:ef9806a4226700136d0ff516154ea894d34271bba810b85c6f3d8e7a44c860d2 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. This Subtopic provides guidance on accounting for property, plant, and equipment for [defined contribution plans](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/glossary/d/#defined-contribution-plan "A plan that provides an individual account for each participant and provides benefits that are based on all of the following: amounts contributed to the participant's account by the employer or employee; investment experience; and any forfeitures allocated to the account, less any administrative expenses charged to the plan. Defined contribution health and welfare plans—Defined contribution health and welfare plans maintain an individual account for each plan participant. They have terms that specify the means of determining the contributions to participants' accounts, rather than the amount of benefits the participants are to receive. The benefits a plan participant will receive are limited to the amount contributed to the participant's account, investment experience, expenses, and any forfeitures allocated to the participant's account. These plans also include flexible spending arrangements. Defined contribution postretirement plan—A plan that provides postretirement benefits in return for services rendered, provides an individual account for each plan participant, and specifies how contributions to the individual's account are to be determined rather than specifies the amount of benefits the individual is to receive. Under a defined contribution postretirement plan, the benefits a plan participant will receive depend solely on the amount contributed to the plan participant's account, the returns earned on investments of those contributions, and the forfeitures of other plan participants' benefits that may be allocated to that plan participant's account."). Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:29.652Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:29.652Z Record version: sha256:d40847a16689c1ca3ff3d408b0ad47166f9e5086c0d258d5cf2f30bba662b99a Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 360-962-15: 15 Scope and Scope Exceptions [Read section](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#15-scope-and-scope-exceptions) SEC content: no #### Overall Guidance ##### [360-962-15-1](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#360-962-15-1) Pending content: no Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:29.652Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:29.652Z Record version: sha256:4ec3b834ff4b96d902079763edd965fc779c7c694cc9c03316e694363b9640f1 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. This Subtopic follows the same Scope and Scope Exceptions as outlined in the Overall Subtopic; see Section 962-10-15. Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:35.677Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:35.677Z Record version: sha256:e3765fab2f97532e258918fdc789f182b8442cd766ca5e58da9c9691e130f772 Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. ## ASC 360-962-35: 35 Subsequent Measurement [Read section](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#35-subsequent-measurement) SEC content: no ##### [360-962-35-1](https://asc.understandingaccounting.org/asc/360/962/#360-962-35-1) Pending content: no Source downloaded (UTC): 2026-09-10T00:11:35.677Z to 2026-09-10T00:11:35.677Z Record version: sha256:84c018439665545c8418ecde3e4e16eff7962a7850e9c3982cd80202840a538c Snapshot version: sha256:15aea8165dff9f5ae47d9484f8470588b13b307f56e1d50801bf4d85ec190e3f Effective as of: not established by retrieval timestamps. Plan assets used in plan operations shall be reported at cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization and may consist of any of the following: 1. a Buildings 2. b Equipment 3. c Furniture and fixtures 4. d Leasehold improvements.