Selected pension information extracted from the retirement benefits note that appeared in Green's 2017 annual report follows.

Question:

Selected pension information extracted from the retirement benefits note that appeared in Green's 2017 annual report follows. (These numbers have been modified but are based on the activities of a real company whose name has been disguised.)

All employees of Green and employees of certain other subsidiaries are eligible to participate in the company's pension plans. The defined benefit plans provide benefits for participating employees based on years of service and average compensation for a specified period of time before retirement.

The following table provides a reconciliation of the changes in the plans' benefit obligations and fair value of assets for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016:

Reconciliation of Projected Benefit Obligation

Selected pension information extracted from the retirement benefits note that

Reconciliation of Fair Value of Plan Assets

The following table provides a statement of funded status of the plans as of December 31, 2017 and 2016:
Funded Status

The following table provides the components of net periodic pension cost for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016, and 2015:
Components of Net Periodic Pension Cost

The following assumptions were used by the Company in the measurement of the benefit obligation as of December 31:
Weighted-Average Assumptions 2017 2016
Discount rate......................................8.25%.............7.00%
Salary growth rate..................................4.26............4.26
Expected return on plan assets....................9.48.............9.59
Required:
Show supporting computations with clear labels for all calculations.
1. What is the fair value of plan assets as of December 31, 2017?
2. What was the amount of benefit payments distributed to retirees in 2017?
3. Determine the amount of increase (decrease) in the projected benefit obligation (PBO) as a result of amendments to the plan during 2017 and reconcile it to AOCI-prior service costs.
4. Determine the amount of the actuarial loss (gain) on the PBO in 2017.
5. What was the effect of increasing the discount rate from 7.00% in 2016 to 8.25% in 2017?
6. Give the journal entries that Green would have made to record the effects of its pension plan for 2017.
7. Verify that the journal entries result in a balance sheet pension asset (liability) that is equal to the December 31, 2017, funded status.

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