On Jan. 1, 2012, the Arizona Corp. created a defined contribution pension plan. The plan calls for Arizona to make contributions to the plan on behalf of each qualifying employee until the employee reaches the age of 75. The actuary hired by Arizona estimates that the average age that Arizona employees will retire is 68. The Arizona CFO believes that the annual pension expense should be equal to the amount of the contributions made to the plan each year.
Required:
(a) What guidance does the Codification provide regarding this situation?
(b) Given that guidance, how should Arizona account for its contributions to this plan?