72. Barton, Inc. received the following information from its pension plan trustee concerning the operation of the company's defined-benefit pension plan for the year ended December 31, 2026. December 31, 2026 January 1, 2026 Fair value of pension plan assets $5,600,000 Projected benefit obligation 6,400,000 Accumulated benefit obligation Accumulated OCI - (Gains / Losses) Actual return on plan assets 1,120,000 -0- $6,000,000 6,880,000 1,360,000 (120,000) 240,000 The service cost component of pension expense for 2026 is $600,000 and the amortization of prior service cost due to an increase in benefits is $80,000. The settlement rate is 10%. Assuming that the actual return equals the expected return on plan assets, what is the amount of pension expense for 2026? a. $600,000 b. $816,000 c. $828,000 d. $696,000 Ans: B, LO: 1, Bloom: AP, Difficulty: Moderate, Min: 3, AACSB: Analytic, AICPA BC: None, AICPA AC: Measurement Analysis and Interpretation AICPA PC: Problem Solving, IMA: Reporting, IFRS: None