The General Subsection of the Scope Section of the Overall Subtopic establishes the pervasive scope for the Compensation—General Topic, with specific exceptions noted in the other Subsections of this Section.
The guidance in the Compensation—General Topic applies to all entities.
The guidance in the Compensation—General Topic applies to the following compensation or employee benefit arrangements:
- a
Compensation for future absences where employees have rights to receive compensation for future absences (referred to as compensated absences) - b
Sabbatical leave or other similar benefit arrangement that is unrestricted (that is, the employee is not required to perform any direct or indirect services for or on behalf of the entity during the absence) - c
Lump-sum payments under union contracts (that is, not to individual employment contracts or any other situation involving compensation payments to individual employees).
The guidance in this Topic applies to the following deferred compensation or employee benefit arrangements:
- a
All forms of postemployment benefits, as defined in Subtopic 712-10, that meet the conditions in paragraph 710-10-25-1 - b
Split-dollar life insurance arrangements if the arrangement is, in substance, an individual deferred compensation contract (see paragraphs
.
- c
Other deferred compensation contracts accounted for individually.
The guidance in this Topic does not apply to the following deferred compensation or employee benefit arrangements:
- a
Benefits paid to active employees other than compensated absences
- b
Benefits paid at retirement or provided through a pension or postretirement benefit plan including special or contractual termination benefits payable upon termination from a pension or other postretirement plan are covered by Subtopics 715-30 and 715-60. - c
Individual deferred compensation contracts that are addressed by Subtopics 715-30 and 715-60, if those contracts, taken together, are equivalent to a defined benefit pension plan or a defined benefit other postretirement benefit plan, respectively. - d
Special or contractual termination benefits that are not payable from a pension or other postretirement plan are covered by Topic 712 - e
Stock compensation plans that are addressed by Topic 718 - f
Other postemployment benefits (see Topic 712) that do not meet the conditions in paragraph 710-10-25-1 and are accounted for in accordance with Topic 450.
The guidance in the Compensation—General Topic does not address the allocation of costs of compensated absences to interim periods.
The Deferred Compensation—Rabbi Trusts Subsections follow the same Scope and Scope Exceptions as outlined in the General Subsection of this Subtopic, with specific transaction qualifications noted below.
The guidance in the Deferred Compensation—Rabbi Trusts Subsections addresses the accounting for deferred compensation arrangements that have the following characteristics:
- a
If amounts earned by an employee are invested in the stock of the employer and placed in a rabbi trust - b
Where the employee elects to diversify the assets held by the rabbi trust into nonemployer securities.
The guidance in the Deferred Compensation—Rabbi Trusts Subsections does not address the accounting for stock appreciation rights even if they are funded through a rabbi trust.