IAS 19
IAS 19 or International Accounting Standard Nineteen rule concerning employee benefits under the IFRS rules set by the International Accounting Standards Board. In this case, "employee benefits" includes wages and salaries as well as pensions, life insurance, and other perquisites. The rules in IAS 19 explains the accounting for longer term employee benefits and post employment plans such as defined benefit retirement plans. Accordingly, most of the standard is taken up with explaining the rules for long term employee benefits. Defined benefit pension plans as a type of post-employment benefit plan. Defined benefit pension plans will offer  various types of benefit according to the mode by which the employee leaves the employer. For example, if the employee remains in employment until his retirement age, then he may be entitled to a pension, often calculated by reference to his average salary in the period running up to their exit. The pension might be payable for the remainder of his life, and when he/she dies, at a reduced rate to his/her spouse for the remainder of his/her life. But if he leaves service before being entitled to a pension, he might receive a benefit such as  a return of contributions, or a deferred pension payable from normal retirement age, depending on length of service. In many cases, defined benefit pension plans are funded and hold assets in order to meet those promised benefits. A defined benefit pension plan is an example of a post-employment benefit plan. Accounting for defined benefit pension plans in IAS 19. Accounting for the costs and liabilities relating to such plans raises several issues. These include the following (note that paragraph references refer to IAS19 before it was revised in June 2011):