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GASB 68 FAQ for Accountants, CPAs, and Auditors
Additional questions about GASB 68? Contact us.
We are a very small cash-basis city. Do I need to be concerned about GASB 68?
The only cities that will have to work with the GASB 68 Notes to Financial Statements and Required Supplementary Information are those that are required to have an audit of their financial statements.
Cities that are not required to have their financial statements audited will not need to meet the requirements of GASB 68. Therefore, cities that are subject to annual or periodic examinations will not need to work with the GASB 68 information because their financial statements are not audited.
Why do I need to use the EMPLOYER CALCULATION OF TOTAL NET PENSION LIABILITY/(ASSET) AND PROPORTION workbook when the proportions and NPL amounts are in the Schedules of Pension Amounts by Employer?
IPERS is one Trust Fund with three membership groups: Regular, Sheriffs and Deputies, and Protection Occupations. Our actuaries calculated a Net Pension Liability/(Asset) for each employee group, as detailed in the GASB 68 Report (from Cavanaugh Macdonald) posted on IPERS’ website. Using each employer's proportion of employer contributions paid to IPERS (i.e. your employer contributions for that group divided by all employer contributions paid to IPERS for that group), IPERS has apportioned the Net Pension Liability/(Asset) to each employer by membership group. This means that the total proportions for all three groups comes to 300%. Since IPERS is one Trust Fund, an additional calculation needs to be done to get your proportion of the NPL for IPERS in total.
What if I only report for one employer ID number and I only have employees in one membership group? Do I still need to do this additional calculation?
Yes. The proportion listed on the Schedules of Pension Amounts by Employer is your proportion for that membership group, not for IPERS in total. Use the Employer Calculation of Total Net Pension Liability/(Asset) and Proportion workbook to calculate your proportion of the NPL for IPERS in total. See the instructions and the example for schools in the workbook for further guidance.
Will IPERS or I-Que provide the covered-employee payroll for my RSI?
Prior to the issuance of GASB Statement No. 82, Pension Issues, Statements 67 and 68 required presentation of covered-employee payroll (which is the payroll of employees who are provided with pensions through the pension plan), and ratios that use that measure, in schedules of required supplementary information. IPERS does not collect this information. However, GASB 82 amends Statements 67 and 68 to instead require the presentation of covered payroll, defined as the payroll on which contributions to a pension plan are based, and ratios that use that measure. IPERS does collect this information and it is available to employers through I-Que.
Will IPERS provide us with our fiscal year contributions to report as deferred outflows in our annual financial reports?
IPERS posts employers’ contributions on our website for the prior fiscal year near the end of August. These contributions will not be audited at that point and should be used only as a reasonability check against your own records. These contribution amounts will only include contributions paid specifically for the most recent fiscal year (ended June 30). Any contributions paid during the most recent fiscal year for prior fiscal years will not be included in the amounts posted.
What if my fiscal year-end is not June 30?
You will use the data reported in IPERS' most recent CAFR and GASB 67 Report, which are both published every December.The related GASB 68 actuarial report is generally published in February or early March. Audited GASB 68 schedules are provided every spring. If the availability of this information does not meet your reporting requirements, please work with your auditor to develop alternative solutions, if any.