Disclosure of pension liabilities in company accounts

This gives our pensions actuarial team a unique insight into final salary pension scheme disclosures and provides an edge in the market when it comes to advising on and producing these figures independently for organisations we do not audit. Combining this with the requirement that actuarial advice on FRS17 and IAS19 disclosure figures must be provided to the company not trustee, the Mazars actuarial team are well placed to provide this service.

Our approach to providing the figures which feed into FRS17 and IAS19 disclosures is as follows:

• Recognising the timeframe on disclosure production is often short, we discuss key dates with the scheme sponsor upfront, including the preferred timeframe for delivery of draft liability figures and liaison with the scheme administrators and asset managers where necessary. At this meeting we would also discuss any changes in the scheme which could result in a curtailment, settlement or other special item.
• Bearing in mind it is the scheme sponsor’s responsibility to set the assumptions used in the disclosures, we provide expert advice to the sponsor on an appropriate set of assumptions. This is done in good time before the year end and so work can progress quickly once the reporting date is hit.
• Our final figures, to be incorporated into the account disclosures, are then delivered within a timeframe that meets the main audit closing deadlines.
• Following production of figures we remain available to discuss any points with a sponsors auditor, where necessary.

We provide calculations on a quarterly as well and annual basis and can also provide calculations on a bespoke basis where a merged accounting standard is used.