Compensation and benefits

This Subtopic governs the form and content of the annual financial statements of a defined benefit pension plan. The overriding objective is to provide information useful in assessing the plan's present and future ability to pay benefits when due, with content focused on plan participants' needs (960-205-10-1 through 10-2). Annual statements must present net assets available for benefits, changes in those net assets, the actuarial present value of accumulated plan benefits, and the significant factors causing the year-to-year change in that actuarial present value (960-205-45-1).

This subtopic governs how a defined contribution pension plan presents its GAAP financial statements. On the accrual basis, the plan must present a statement of net assets available for benefits at plan year-end and a statement of changes in net assets available for benefits for the year, showing total assets, total liabilities, and net assets available for benefits, plus specified minimum categories of changes (net appreciation/depreciation in fair value, investment income, employer/participant/other contributions, benefits paid, insurance contract purchases, and administrative expenses). It also lists required note disclosures about the plan agreement, amendments, contribution basis, tax status, forfeitures, and similar matters.

ASC 965-205 (indexed here as 205-965) prescribes the financial statement presentation for health and welfare benefit plans. Defined benefit plans must present, on the accrual basis, a statement of net assets available for benefits, a statement of changes in net assets available for benefits, information about the plan's benefit obligations, and the significant factors causing year-to-year changes in those obligations; defined contribution plans present only the two net-asset statements because the obligation is limited to participants' account balances. It also governs how retiree health benefits funded through a 401(h) account in the sponsor's defined benefit pension plan are reported in the health and welfare plan's financial statements, plus an extensive list of required note disclosures.

This Subtopic governs when a defined benefit pension plan recognizes contributions receivable in its own financial statements. Amounts due at the reporting date from employers, participants, or other funding sources (separately identified) are recognized when supported by legal or contractual requirements or a formal commitment, net of an allowance for estimated uncollectible amounts. Unfunded prior service costs and any excess of the actuarial present value of accumulated plan benefits over net assets available for benefits are not plan receivables.

This Subtopic governs receivables in the financial statements of defined contribution pension plans — principally employer/participant contributions receivable and participant loans. Contributions receivable are recognized when supported by a formal commitment or legal/contractual requirement, are shown net of an allowance for estimated uncollectible amounts, and are separately identified. Participant loans are measured at unpaid principal plus accrued but unpaid interest and are reported as notes receivable from participants rather than as investments at fair value.

ASC 962-325 governs how a defined contribution pension plan reports its investments and insurance contracts. The core rule is that plan investments (including derivatives) are reported at fair value under Topic 820, with two exceptions: fully benefit-responsive investment contracts are reported at contract value, and insurance contracts as defined in Subtopic 944-20 are presented the same way as in the plan's ERISA Form 5500 filing (fair value or contract value). It also prescribes trade-date recording, presentation of investments by general type, master trust disclosures, and disclosures about benefit-responsive contracts.

This Subtopic governs how a defined benefit pension plan accounts for property, plant, and equipment it uses in operating the plan (buildings, equipment, furniture and fixtures, leasehold improvements). Unlike plan investments, which are generally reported at fair value, these operating assets are presented at cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization (360-960-35-1). The rationale is that expenditures for operating assets are advance payments for future administrative services rather than investments expected to generate cash flows to pay benefits (360-960-35-2).

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.

This subtopic tells health and welfare benefit plans how to measure property, plant, and equipment on the plan's financial statements. Assets used in plan operations (buildings, equipment, furniture and fixtures, leasehold improvements) are carried at cost less accumulated depreciation or amortization, while real estate and other holdings held as plan investments are reported at fair value less costs to sell, if significant, as of the financial statement date.

ASC 420-10 governs when and how an entity recognizes and measures liabilities for costs of exit or disposal activities (restructurings), including one-time involuntary employee termination benefits, costs to terminate non-lease contracts, and other associated costs such as facility closures and employee relocation. The core rule is that a liability is recognized only when it is incurred — i.e., when a present obligation exists — and measured initially at fair value; a mere commitment to an exit or disposal plan is not the requisite past event (420-10-25-1 through 25-2, 420-10-30-1). Ongoing termination-benefit arrangements, pension/OPEB special termination benefits, deferred compensation, stock compensation, and asset retirement obligations are excluded and handled under other Topics (420-10-15-5 through 15-6).

ASC 710-10 is the catch-all compensation subtopic for arrangements outside pensions/OPEB (715), postemployment benefits (712), and stock compensation (718). Its General Subsections require accrual of a liability for compensated absences when four conditions are met (services already rendered, rights vest or accumulate, payment probable, amount reasonably estimable), prescribe accrual of individual deferred compensation contracts over the service period to the full eligibility date at present value, and limit deferral of union-contract lump-sum payments. The Deferred Compensation—Rabbi Trusts Subsections classify trust-held employer stock as treasury stock and classify the deferred compensation obligation as equity or a liability depending on the plan's settlement and diversification features (Plans A–D).

ASC 710-908 is the Airlines industry sub-subtopic of Compensation—General, but every section shown (05 Overview, 15 Scope, 25 Recognition, 30 Initial Measurement) is marked "Section not used," meaning the Codification carries no incremental airline-specific guidance in those sections. A reader must therefore apply the general compensation guidance in ASC 710 (and any airline guidance located elsewhere in ASC 908) to airline compensation arrangements.

This Subtopic addresses compensated absences and other compensation-related costs for entities with regulated operations. Even though a regulator may allow such compensation in rates only when paid, the entity must still accrue the liability under Topic 710 because regulator rate actions cannot eliminate obligations the regulator did not impose. Because the cost will be recoverable in future rates as paid, the entity simultaneously records a regulatory asset representing the probable future increased revenue.

ASC 712-10 governs employer accounting for nonretirement postemployment benefits — special and contractual termination benefits and other postemployment benefits (severance, salary continuation, disability, continued health coverage) paid to former or inactive employees after employment but before retirement and not paid through a pension or other postretirement plan. Special termination benefits are accrued when employees accept the offer and the amount is reasonably estimable; contractual termination benefits are accrued when it is probable employees will be entitled to them and the amount is reasonably estimable. Other postemployment benefits are accrued under Subtopic 710-10 if they accumulate or vest, and otherwise under the loss contingency model of paragraph 450-20-25-2.

ASC 715-10 is the Overall subtopic that sets the objectives and pervasive scope for employer accounting for pension, other postretirement, and certain special or contractual termination benefits. Its core premise is that a benefit plan is an exchange of deferred compensation for employee service, so the employer's obligation is incurred as services are rendered and cost is recognized over the employee service periods. Because the original content was built on an expense recognition model, most operative guidance sits in the Subsequent Measurement Sections of Subtopics 715-20, 715-30, 715-60, 715-70, and 715-80.

ASC 715-20 governs the presentation and disclosure requirements for single-employer defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit (OPEB) plans, and it confirms that a cash balance plan is a defined benefit plan. It requires employers to disclose, separately for pension and OPEB plans, reconciliations of the benefit obligation and plan assets, funded status and where it is recognized on the balance sheet, plan asset fair value information by class, weighted-average assumptions, expected future benefit payments and contributions, and amounts in AOCI not yet recognized in net periodic benefit cost. On the face of the income statement, only the service cost component goes with other compensation cost; all other components must be presented separately and outside any subtotal of income from operations.

ASC 715-30 governs an employer's accounting for single-employer defined benefit pension plans: it requires the employer to recognize the plan's funded status (projected benefit obligation versus fair value of plan assets) on the balance sheet and to recognize net periodic pension cost made up of service cost, interest cost, actual return on plan assets, and amortization of prior service cost/credit, net gain or loss, and any remaining transition asset or obligation. Gains, losses, and prior service cost are first recognized in other comprehensive income and amortized into net periodic pension cost over time (subject to the 10 percent corridor for net gains and losses). Separate Subsections govern settlements, curtailments, and certain termination benefits, which accelerate recognition in earnings of amounts sitting in accumulated other comprehensive income.

ASC 715-60 governs an employer's accounting for single-employer defined benefit postretirement benefit plans other than pensions (OPEB)—chiefly retiree health care, but also retiree life insurance, tuition, day care, legal services and housing subsidies. The employer must recognize the funded status of each plan (fair value of plan assets less the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation) on the balance sheet, attribute the expected postretirement benefit obligation ratably over an attribution period ending at the full eligibility date, and recognize net periodic postretirement benefit cost with delayed recognition of prior service cost, gains/losses, and any transition obligation through other comprehensive income. Separate Subsections address the Medicare Part D subsidy, settlements/curtailments/termination benefits, and split-dollar life insurance arrangements.

ASC 715-70 governs employer accounting and disclosure for defined contribution pension and other postretirement benefit plans—plans that provide an individual account for each participant and benefits based only on contributions plus returns. The core rule is that net periodic cost equals the contribution called for in the period in which the employee renders service (715-70-35-1), with costs accrued during the service period if contributions relate to periods after retirement or termination. Plans with characteristics of both defined benefit and defined contribution plans must be accounted for based on their substance (715-70-15-2).

ASC 715-80 governs an employer's accounting and disclosure for participation in multiemployer pension and other postretirement benefit plans — plans to which two or more unrelated employers contribute, usually under collective-bargaining agreements. The core rule is defined-contribution-like: the employer recognizes as net pension (or net periodic postretirement benefit) cost the required contribution for the period, including cash and the fair value of noncash contributions, and recognizes a liability only for unpaid required contributions (715-80-35-1). Extensive plan-by-plan disclosures (zone status, EIN, contributions, collective-bargaining agreement expirations, withdrawal exposure) are required so users can assess the distinctive risks of multiemployer participation.

ASC 715-912 is the industry-specific overlay applying retirement benefit accounting to government contractors. Its scope mirrors the Contractors—Federal Government Overall Subtopic (912-10-15), and its only substantive requirement is a disclosure consideration: contractors should consider disclosing the effect of the government's rights to any excess pension plan assets if a plan terminates.

ASC 715-930 governs how coal industry entities account for postretirement medical and death benefit obligations imposed by the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act of 1992, which assigns beneficiaries (and a share of "orphan" beneficiaries) of the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund to former signatories of coal wage agreements. Entities still operating in the coal industry may elect to account for the obligation either as participation in a multiemployer plan or as a liability imposed by the Act; entities electing liability treatment, and all entities no longer operating in the coal industry, must recognize the entire obligation as a loss under Subtopic 450-20 (715-930-25-1). Losses so recognized are presented as an unusual or infrequently occurring item, and the impact of the Act must be disclosed.

This Subtopic adapts Topic 715 (pension and other postretirement benefits) for not-for-profit entities, which do not report other comprehensive income. Everywhere Topic 715 would require net gains or losses, prior service costs or credits, and transition assets or obligations to run through OCI/AOCI, an NFP instead recognizes those amounts as changes in net assets without donor restrictions that have not yet been reclassified into net periodic benefit cost. Those amounts, and the non-service components of net periodic benefit cost, are presented in separate line items outside any intermediate measure of operations (or performance indicator for business-oriented health care NFPs).

ASC 715-980 tells rate-regulated entities how to account for the difference between net periodic pension cost (715-30) or net periodic postretirement benefit cost (715-60) and the amounts of those costs allowed for rate-making purposes. The regulator's actions create a regulatory asset (deferred cost whose recovery is probable) or a liability (unearned revenue collected for future costs), which changes only the timing of expense recognition, not the underlying 715-30/715-60 measurement. Deferral of 715-60 costs as a regulatory asset is permitted only if strict criteria about the rate order, five-year phase-in, roughly 20-year deferral-recovery period, and non-increasing rate escalation are met.

ASC 718-10 is the "Overall" subtopic for share-based payment arrangements, setting the pervasive scope, recognition, measurement, classification, and disclosure principles that apply to both equity- and liability-classified awards granted to employees and nonemployees (and, by cross-reference, to customers). Its core rule is that cost must be recognized for all share-based payment transactions using a fair-value-based measurement method, generally grant-date fair value of the equity instruments issued (or fair value of liabilities incurred), recognized as the goods are obtained or services are received (718-10-10-2; 718-10-25-2; 718-10-30-3). Classification as liability or equity follows Topic 480 criteria as modified by 718-10-25-8 through 25-19A, and performance conditions are accrued based on the probable outcome while market conditions are reflected in grant-date fair value.

ASC 718-20 governs the subsequent measurement of share-based payment awards that are classified as equity (liability-classified awards go to 718-30, and general recognition/measurement rules stay in 718-10). Its core rules address awards whose grant-date fair value cannot be reasonably estimated (intrinsic value remeasurement through settlement), clawback and other contingent features (accounted for only when the contingent event occurs), and — most importantly — modification accounting, under which a modification is treated as an exchange of the original award for a new one, with incremental cost measured as the excess of the modified award's fair value over the original award's fair value immediately before modification. It also covers repurchases, cancellations, and cancellation-and-replacement transactions.

ASC 718-30 governs share-based payment awards that are classified as liabilities rather than equity (e.g., cash-settled stock appreciation rights). Liability awards use the same grant-date measurement objective as equity awards, but the measurement date is the settlement date, so the liability is remeasured at fair value (or intrinsic value if a nonpublic entity so elects) at every reporting date through settlement. Changes in value during the requisite service (or nonemployee vesting) period are recognized as compensation cost in proportion to service rendered; changes after that period are expensed immediately in the period of change.

ASC 718-40 governs the employer's (sponsor's) accounting for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), distinguishing leveraged from nonleveraged plans. For leveraged ESOPs, the employer records the ESOP's outside debt as its own debt, charges shares issued to the ESOP to a contra-equity account ("unearned ESOP shares"), and recognizes compensation cost at the fair value of shares as they are committed to be released; for nonleveraged ESOPs, compensation cost equals the contribution called for in the period. It also prescribes dividend treatment (allocated shares to retained earnings; unallocated shares as debt reduction or compensation cost), EPS treatment, termination accounting, and disclosures.

ASC 718-50 governs employee share purchase plans (ESPPs), including Section 423-style plans. Its core rule is a three-part test in 718-50-25-1: a plan is noncompensatory only if (a) its terms are no more favorable than those available to all holders of the same class of shares or the discount does not exceed the per-share cost of raising capital publicly (a 5% or smaller discount is automatically acceptable), (b) substantially all employees meeting limited employment qualifications may participate on an equitable basis, and (c) the plan has no option features other than two narrow exceptions. If the plan is compensatory (e.g., it has a look-back feature), grant-date fair value is measured by valuing the award as the sum of its separate components, and the requisite service period is the period over which the employee participates and pays for the shares.

ASC 718-740 governs the income tax accounting consequences of share-based payment arrangements, including employee stock ownership plans. Cumulative compensation cost recognized for awards that ordinarily generate a future tax deduction creates a deductible temporary difference and a deferred tax asset (718-740-25-2, 25-4), measured on book compensation cost rather than the shares' current fair value. When the actual tax deduction is finally determined (typically at exercise, expiration, or vesting), any difference between it and cumulative book compensation cost is recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement (718-740-35-2).

ASC 908-10 is the Overall subtopic of the Airlines industry Topic; it lists the industry Subtopics (segment reporting, inventory, takeoff and landing slots, PP&E, compensation, other expenses, nonmonetary transactions) and describes the operating and accounting characteristics that make airlines distinctive. Its only substantive rule is scope: Topic 908 supplies incremental industry-specific guidance for airline entities, which must still comply with all other applicable GAAP (908-10-15-1). Background paragraphs highlight the complex revenue cycle (advance ticket sales, third-party sellers, refundable/exchangeable tickets), mobile flight equipment, maintenance programs, and flight-crew compensation.

ASC 960-10 is the Overall subtopic of the defined benefit pension plan accounting Topic, setting the scope of and providing an overview of financial reporting by the plan itself (not the sponsoring employer, which follows Topic 715). Defined benefit plans promise participants determinable benefits based on factors such as age, years of service, and compensation, and because the plan's net assets are the means of paying those benefits, net asset information is necessary to assess the plan's ability to pay benefits when due. The Topic applies to all ongoing plans (funded or unfunded, ERISA and non-ERISA, U.S. and comparable foreign plans reporting under U.S. GAAP) but does not itself require any plan to prepare or distribute financial statements.

ASC 960-20 governs how a defined benefit pension plan measures and reports the actuarial present value of accumulated plan benefits — the benefits reasonably expected to be paid in exchange for employee service rendered to the benefit information date. Benefits are attributed using the plan's own provisions where possible and otherwise pro rata over years of service to full vesting (vested-type benefits) or to expected separation (nonvested-type benefits), measured using pay and service history as of the benefit information date under an ongoing-plan assumption. The total must be segmented at minimum into vested benefits of participants currently receiving payments, other vested benefits, and nonvested benefits, and the significant factors causing the year-to-year change must be identified.

ASC 960-30 governs how a defined benefit pension plan reports its net assets available for benefits and the changes in those net assets. Information must be prepared on the accrual basis and presented in enough detail to identify the plan's resources available for benefits and the significant changes during the year (960-30-25-1; 960-30-45-1). It also prescribes the minimum line items in the statement of changes and the special single-line presentation of assets held in a Section 401(h) account, which may not be counted as available for pension benefits.

ASC 960-40 covers defined benefit pension plans that are terminating. Once liquidation of the plan is deemed imminent (as defined in 205-30-25-2), the plan's financial statements for periods ending after that determination — including the year-end statements even if the trigger occurred mid-year — must be prepared on the liquidation basis of accounting under Subtopic 205-30. Accumulated plan benefits are measured on that liquidation basis, with all benefits generally reported as vested, and the terminating-plan or wasting-trust circumstances must be disclosed in all subsequent plan financial statements.

ASC 962-10 is the Overall subtopic for financial reporting **by** a defined contribution pension plan itself (not by the sponsoring employer, which follows Topic 715). Its objective is to provide information useful in assessing the plan's present and future ability to pay benefits when due; because plan net assets available for benefits equal the sum of participants' individual account balances, those net assets are measured and reported at values meaningful to users—principally the amount a participant could currently withdraw, borrow, or transfer. It applies to all employee benefit plans providing benefits based on amounts contributed to an employee's individual account, and not to defined benefit plans (Topic 960) or health and welfare plans (Topic 965).

ASC 962-40 governs the accounting and reporting by defined contribution pension plans that are terminating. Its core rule is that once liquidation of the plan is deemed imminent under ASC 205-30, the plan must prepare its financial statements—including year-end statements for a plan year in which imminence arose before year end—on the liquidation basis of accounting. The plan must also disclose the relevant circumstances in all subsequent financial statements once a termination decision is made or a wasting trust exists.

ASC 965-30 governs how a health and welfare benefit plan measures and reports its own benefit obligations (as distinct from the sponsoring employer's obligations). Benefit obligations, measured at actuarial present value as of the plan's year end, comprise three classifications: (1) claims payable, claims incurred but not reported (IBNR), and premiums due to insurance entities; (2) accumulated eligibility credits and postemployment benefits; and (3) postretirement benefits split among retirees, participants fully eligible, and participants not yet fully eligible (965-30-35-1). Plans must also present the significant factors causing year-to-year changes in each classification.

ASC 965-40 governs accounting and reporting by health and welfare benefit plans that are terminating. Once liquidation of the plan is deemed imminent under paragraph 205-30-25-2, the plan must prepare its financial statements using the liquidation basis of accounting under Subtopic 205-30, including for the year-end statements if imminence is determined before the plan year ends. Benefit obligations are measured on the liquidation basis rather than as actuarial present values, and the termination or wasting-trust circumstances must be disclosed in all subsequent plan financial statements.