It's financial statements preparation time at Center Industries where you have been assistant controller for two months. Ben Huddler, the controller, seems to be pleasant but unpredictable. Today, although your schedule is filled with meetings with internal and outside auditors and two members of the board of directors, Ben made a request. "As you know, we're decreasing the rate at which we assume health care costs will rise when measuring our postretirement benefit obligation. I'd like to know how others have reported similar changes. Can you find me an example?" he asked. "I'd bet you could get one off the Internet." As a matter of fact, you often use EDGAR, the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system (www.sec.gov) to access financial statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Required:
1. What information is provided about the effect of the change on the company's estimated benefit obligation?
2. Obtain the relevant authoritative literature on disclosure requirements for health care cost trends using the FASB's Codification Research System. You might gain access from the FASB website (www.fasb.org), from your school library, or some other source. What authoritative literature do companies rely on when disclosing the effect of a change in health care cost trends?