Article Abstract:
Soaring costs of retiree health benefits have become a dilemma for many companies due to earlier employee retirement, increasing life expectancies, and climbing medical costs. Some companies have more retirees than workers, and because retiree benefits are usually financed on a pay-as-you-go basis, unfunded liabilities exist for future health care costs. Retirees in the futures are likely to be paying a larger share of their health-care costs or receiving fewer benefits. Companies may soon set annual or lifetime maximums on retiree benefit payments, link levels of benefits to retirees' years of service, or consider taking actions to slow down the early retirement boom.
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Article Abstract:
Forty-eight percent of Australian manufacturing firms responding to a survey used all four cost : prevention, internal and external failure, and appraisal costs. The Standards Association of Austalia's Guide to the Determiniation and Use of Quality costs follows the above approach. Reasons for nonuse of these standards were difficulty of estimates, problems with accounting systems, and absence of management support.
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Article Abstract:
The recovery of nuclear power plant decommissioning costs from customers is analyzed. A fair allocation of costs among customer generations must be achieved. A reliable estimate of decommissioning costs must be developed. Consideration must be given to salvage value, storage, future employee disability, and other possible health costs. The accounting profession must consider technological advancements.
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