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Correction

OCTOBER 2007 - The article “Displaying the Funding Status of Postretirement Plans: The Impact of SFAS 158 Disclosure,” by David N. Hurtt, Jerry G. Kreuze, and Sheldon A. Langsam (July 2007), contained two errors involving changes from the exposure draft to the final Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 158, Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans:

  • SFAS 158 changed the proposed requirements in the exposure draft by requiring recognition of previously unrecognized transition assets or obligations as an adjustment to accumulated other comprehensive income with subsequent amortization as a component of net periodic benefit cost.
  • Unlike the exposure draft, SFAS 158 does not permit retrospective application. SFAS 158 provides that pension balances are to be recognized as components of the ending balance of accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax.

In addition, in Exhibit 3 on page 37, a line was omitted from the Assets section of Bell South’s balance sheet. Underneath “Current assets,” there should have been an entry for “Property, plant, and equipment, net” of $21,723 in both the “As Reported” and “As Restated” columns (there would be no “Adjustment” for SFAS 158 in the middle column). The totals in the rest of the balance sheet are correct as they originally appeared.

The authors regret these errors. Exhibit 3 has been corrected online at www.cpajournal.com.

 

 

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