Goodwill Amortization Research Articles

A review of research performed on the approach to the subsequent measurement of goodwill

Orientation: By taking stock of goodwill accounting literature, the article identifies key themes and highlights the lack of innovation in goodwill and intangibles’ accounting evolution.Research purpose: This article suggests pure grounded theory research is required to develop a novel perspective on goodwill accounting.Motivation for the study: Little progress has been made to overcome the dated issues related to goodwill impairment necessitating a genuinely fresh approach.Research approach/design and method: A search was performed on the Scopus Database and all sources containing a combination of ‘goodwill’ and ‘impairment’, ‘amortisation’ or ‘depreciation’ in the title, abstract or keywords were extracted. A total of 231 sources from 1990 to 2022 are analysed. These are coded with the support of a content analysis and a bibliometric analysis.Main findings: This research identifies the dominance of positivist quantitative research and financial economics as a key issue that may be holding back progress on the subsequent treatment of goodwill. The research iterates three core issues, namely: (1) that the impairment-only approach allows too much managerial discretion, (2) an inability to reasonably estimate the useful life of goodwill deters many from supporting goodwill amortisation and (3) sometimes goodwill may be a wasting asset while others may genuinely have an indefinite useful life.Practical/managerial implications: This research may be relevant for standard setters when considering goodwill accounting methods.Contribution/value-add: The research provides insights into existing literature and highlights areas for future accounting research.

Stakeholder’s Perception of Subsequent Goodwill Measurement: An Analysis of IASB Comment Letters

Goodwill is the most intangible of intangibles and continues to generate great debate in academic, business, and regulatory circles, with no consensus on its subsequent measurement. In early 2020, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a discussion paper entitled DP/2020/1 Business Combinations – Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment, to gather input on more useful disclosures on business combinations, bringing back to the discussion the subject of the subsequent measurement of goodwill. The IASB received comments on its proposed disclosures, as well as new evidence and arguments on how to account for goodwill, having received 193 comment letters from a wide range of stakeholders. This study aims to analyse the perception of those interested parties about the subsequent measurement of goodwill proposed by the IASB, as well as the arguments used for its reasoning. For this purpose, the content of stakeholder’s comment letters was analysed and classified as academics, auditors, investors, standard setters, preparers, regulators/securities, and others, and by region. In addition, the preparers’ comment letters were subclassified by sectors of activity to identify differences in the perception of preparers by industry. These differences point to the need to reflect on the existence of more than one goodwill measurement model, which best fits the sector of activity, a pioneering aspect in research on goodwill. The results reveal a preference trend for the systematic amortisation of goodwill. In all categories of stakeholders, apart from the "Others", the preference is for the reintroduction of goodwill amortisation. Similarly, most stakeholders in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania are in favour of reintroducing the systematic amortisation of goodwill. In some industries (Automotive, Banking, Luxury Goods, Electrical Appliances, Energy and Technology) no preparer prefers the impairment-only model, which suggests that perhaps in those sectors of activity, this model is not suitable. This study contributes to the literature on the subsequent measurement of goodwill, as well as to the different stakeholders, by presenting, under different perspectives of analysis, the respondents' preferences on the subsequent measurement of goodwill, as well as the arguments in favour of each model.

The goodwill impairment test under IFRS: Objective, effectiveness and alternative approaches

Stakeholders have questioned the effectiveness of the goodwill impairment-only approach, which was widely adopted in the early 2000s. Much empirical work has been conducted on the matter, but there is a need for more conceptual work. This paper applies goodwill-components theory to derive the theoretical objective of the goodwill impairment test and to define impairment effectiveness – a concept previously undefined but often referenced in the debate. Goodwill-components theory allows us to address the various components of goodwill instead of viewing accounting goodwill as homogeneous. Adopting this framework, we compare the current International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) model to two alternative impairment-only models, the pre-acquisition headroom (PH) model and the fair value (FV) model. We conclude that the PH model results in more effective impairment testing than the current IFRS model. Compared to the FV model, the PH model is more effective in the short run and less effective in the long run. Our analysis further identifies situations where the PH model is “over-effective”. The framework is also used to illustrate the effectiveness of the current IFRS model compared to a goodwill amortization model.

Comments on the Constituent Elements of Goodwill Amortization of Business Acquisition

歷來企業併購之商譽攤銷為爭訟焦點，其中的商譽認列尤為納稅人敗訴之首，2020年納稅者權利保護諮詢會建議財政部成立專責小組，以減少爭議，而財政部乃於2022年重新公布商譽認定原則。其中爭點莫不是在於商譽認列要件之構成項目，除了會計基金會函釋包括投入、處理程序及產出等業務要件外，司法決議又增添概括承受之負債要件。這些擴充要件是否適當、又該如何認定，本文建議企併法應明定之。

Riders on the Storm – Recent Tax Developments in Brazil and their Impact on the Financial Sector

In 2022, Brazil's economic environment faced significant turmoil, driven by political polarization, controversial policy proposals and the election of Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva as president. These factors led to a series of measures and decisions that affected the Brazilian tax system and the financial services industry. Among the changes were presidential decrees, provisional measures and court rulings that impacted tax deductibility for corporate income tax purposes, transfer pricing rules, withholding income tax rates, social contributions (PIS/COFINS) regulations, and the tax amortization of goodwill. By providing an in-depth examination of these developments, this article will shed light on the potential opportunities and challenges for companies operating in Brazil's financial services industry in the wake of these changes.

Goodwill Amortization in the Italian Civil Code: Estimation Poblems and a Methodological Proposal

In regulating the financial statements, the amortization of goodwill represents a complex problem that requires a careful assessment of the economic conditions of the firm and their foreseeable evolution. This study aimed to analyze the topic with specific regard to the Italian context, in order to identify the parameters useful for guiding the amortization processes, in compliance with the limits set by the legislation on financial statements. To this end, the study used a methodology based on the legal-economic analysis of the evolution of Italian legislation from 1882 to today and its effects on the economic valuations implied by amortization. The results show that the accounting for goodwill has changed over time, being characterized in the first phase by the prevalence of conservative accounting and by the consequent need to amortize goodwill in the shortest possible time. Subsequently, the accrual basis prevailed over conservatism, and today the basic rule is represented by the useful life of goodwill. The originality of this study lies in the multidisciplinary approach which, by combining the economic interpretation of the company with the legal rules on reporting, proposes an analysis model applicable in the practice of companies that prepare their financial statements according to the Civil Code.

Goodwill Amortization in the Italian Civil Code: Estimation Problems and a Methodological Proposal

In regulating the financial statements, the amortization of goodwill represents a complex problem that requires a careful assessment of the economic conditions of the firm and their foreseeable evolution. This study aims to analyze the topic with specific regard to the Italian context, in order to identify the parameters useful for guiding the amortization processes, in compliance with the limits set by the legislation on financial statements. To this end, the study used a methodology based on the legal-economic analysis of the evolution of Italian legislation from 1882 to today and its effects on the economic valuations implied by amortization. The results show that the accounting for goodwill has changed over time, being characterized in the first phase by the prevalence of conservative accounting and by the consequent need to amortize goodwill in the shortest possible time. Subsequently, the accrual basis prevailed over conservatism, and today the basic rule is represented by the useful life of goodwill. The originality of this study lies in the multidisciplinary approach which, by combining the economic interpretation of the company with the legal rules on reporting, proposes an analysis model applicable in the practice of companies that prepare their financial statements according to the Civil Code.

The impact of different goodwill accounting methods on stock prices: A comparison of amortization and impairment-only methodologies

In March 2020, the IASB issued a discussion paper – ‘Business Combinations – Disclosures, Goodwill and Impairment’ – which discussed, inter alia, whether to introduce a sort of counterreformation of IAS 36 that might lead to the reintroduction of goodwill amortization. Among other things, the IASB, leveraging key findings from academic research, questioned a) the disclosure provided by entities applying IFRS 3 requirements and b) the timing of impairment write-downs and their overal11Https://www.ifrs.org/projects/work-plan/goodwill-and-impairment/#published-documents.l magnitude.The main goal of this study, focusing on a large sample of European listed companies since the adoption of IAS in 2005, is to test the value relevance of goodwill under the current accounting framework and the alternative hypothesis of an amortization regime.Our findings show that the information provided by listed companies to market investors under the current accounting regime (verification at least annually of the recoverability of the value of the goodwill carrying amount through the impairment test) – the level of goodwill before and post impairment, as well as goodwill write downs – is value relevant and contributes to explain the level of the market to tangible book value multiple. On the contrary, simulating the alternative accounting scenario of goodwill amortization, we found that the information conveyed to market investor would not be value relevant, with the amortization itself added back to the multiple. The results support the current accounting framework and indicate that the best way to improve goodwill accounting is by enforcing present rules.This study aims to provide a multidimensional contribution to the current debate within the IASB, leveraging the largest database in Europe.

How do Investors Respond to Default Goodwill Amortization Periods and Deviations from the Default?

How do Investors Respond to Default Goodwill Amortization Periods and Deviations from the Default?

Did the accounting for goodwill create a bubble?

This article investigates the accounting standards changes related to business acquisitions and the impact of those changes on the reported goodwill in the past 50 years. We observe that the amount of goodwill on companies’ balance sheets steadily increased before 2001 but has risen to new levels with the adoption of SFAS 141. Goodwill is now equal to about 30 percent of companies’ net assets compared to only about 7 percent in the 1980s. We examine whether the increased levels of goodwill could have resulted from changes in accounting standards. Specifically, we investigate the impacts of accounting regulations on goodwill reporting under three different regimes: APB 16 and 17, SFAS 141 and 142, and SFAS 141(R). We find that the increase in the reported value of goodwill is not a result of an increase in public companies’ acquisitions, as those have actually decreased over time. Further, the increase overlaps with the changes to the accounting for goodwill and the switch from goodwill amortization to impairment. Our findings are timely and important because the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has a concurrent project revisiting Identifiable Intangible Assets and Subsequent Accounting for Goodwill (FASB 2020). Our evidence urges caution in the reintroduction of goodwill amortization proposed by FASB, as the level of goodwill has increased dramatically despite FASB’s intentions to improve the quality of goodwill accounting and curtail management’s goodwill manipulation.

Discretion in the application of the goodwill impairment test in European banks

In the absence of amortization of goodwill, the purpose of this study is to identify whether the impairment test was applied uniformly between 2005 and 2015 at the 45 biggest banks in Europe, during the first decade of IFRS application. Likewise, an attempt has been made to verify whether such application has been insufficient and late. Through a significant sample, statistical tools already widely used in other studies have been applied to contrast the behavior of entities. The results obtained show that impairment policies have been applied unevenly in each of the countries. These conclusions could support the return to a valuation pattern that takes into account the systematic amortization of goodwill, apart from its impairment. This paper reveals how impairment in European banks has been recognized during a crucial period of time that includes a major financial crisis. The study suggests a discretionary and opportunistic implementation of accounting regulations which does not reveal the economic conditions inherent to the financial activity of the leading European banks, making comparability difficult and, ultimately, making the financial information less relevant.

Impairment or amortization of goodwill? An analysis of CFO perceptions of goodwill accounting

Given the ongoing controversy around the accounting treatment of goodwill and the search by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) for improvements to goodwill accounting, this study surveys a global sample of 352 chief financial officers (CFOs) to understand their perceptions of adopting a goodwill impairment-only approach compared to an amortization model. More than half of the respondents agree that alternative accounting treatments of impairment testing might provide more useful information. However, almost two thirds still prefer goodwill impairment testing to the amortization process. Theoretically, the study shows that the impairment-only model preference is associated with characteristics on an individual, firm and country level. The results indicate that more expert CFOs and overall CFO perceptions of firms’ economic conditions and the role of external auditors affect preference for the goodwill accounting model. Further, there is evidence that dominant ownership structures and accounting culture affect CFO preferences. The study investigates several areas in which regulators and standard setters can intervene, thereby contributing to the debate on whether to reintroduce the amortization of goodwill.

Does amortization of goodwill effect on companies' profits and future cash flows?

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) will discuss whether or not accounting rules for M&A change, and it plans to draw a conclusion in 2021. In view of this fact, it is considered that a series of large M&A have significant effects on corporate earnings worldwide. This paper examines whether the amortization and/or non-amortization of goodwill affect companies’ earnings and future cash flow, an analysis for which there are two reasons. First, IFRS initiates the debate on the premise of goodwill amortization. If goodwill is amortized, it will have a profound impact on corporate profits and cash flow. Second, M&A has recently increased in Japan due to the increase in retained earnings and because IFRS has not requested goodwill amortization. The conclusion is as follows: First, it has become clear that legally retained earnings accelerate M&A because they affect the future goodwill along with both accounting standards. Next, the results revealed that the amortization of goodwill corresponds with the future ROA in conformity with Japanese accounting standards. On the other hand, this study did not determine that goodwill affects ROA in IFRS companies. Particularly, IFRS firms invested greater amounts of money than did Japanese accounting firms. Therefore, IFRS firms' goodwill might not be effective applied to M&A within four years.

Overbidding in Mergers and Acquisitions: An Accounting Perspective

ABSTRACTDoes accounting regime play a role in the well-documented phenomenon of overbidding in M&As? The 2001 regulatory change from a goodwill amortization to a non-amortization regime (SFAS 142) affords us a quasi-experimental setting for testing the consequences of M&A accounting rules for acquirers' bidding decisions. Relying on a novel approach to modeling optimal bidding, our primary finding indicates a significant increase in overbidding in the post-2001 period, suggesting that M&A accounting has real consequences for bidding decisions, and that this result is robust to a battery of sensitivity tests. In addition, supplementary tests show that overbidding is more pronounced in pooling versus purchase transactions, and that the accounting regime's implications for overbidding and acquisition premium are distinct. Overall, our findings shed light on the role accounting plays in shaping managerial decisions—and, ultimately, shareholder wealth—in an important corporate setting. They may thus inform researchers, corporate boards, and standards setters.Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.JEL Classifications: G34, M41.

Goodwill and Stock Price Crash Risk: An International Study

Using data from 43 markets around the world, we document that firms with larger goodwill balances have a higher stock price crash risk in future years. The positive association between goodwill balances and future crash risk is stronger for firms with weaker incentives to provide transparent disclosure, in markets with poorer investor protection or weaker accounting and auditing enforcement, and after periodic goodwill amortization was replaced by fair-value- based goodwill impairment. Further evidence suggests that goodwill balances are positively related to a measure of bad news withholding. Overall, the results are consistent with the view that managers have greater tendency to withhold negative information about goodwill and delay the release of information about the economic impairments of goodwill, thereby leading to increasing the likelihood of stock price crash occurrences in the future.

Denying Tax Amortization for Goodwill in Corporate Restructuring – A Controversy Surrounding the Scope of Intangibles

This article analyses the tax amortization of goodwill against the backdrop of M/S Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, a case decided by the Sindh High Court. The author reviews literature to ascertain the scope of intangibles. His findings suggest that goodwill is a melting pot of unidentifiable intangibles, He argues that the Court misapplied the ejusdem generis rule when interpreting the definition of goodwill in tax law of Pakistan.

Auditing Goodwill in the Post‐Amortization Era: Challenges for Auditors

ABSTRACTThe elimination of goodwill amortization in 2001 brought about significant change in how companies are required to account for goodwill. This change in accounting also brought with it new challenges for auditors, namely evaluating the reasonableness of management's assumptions related to goodwill valuation. In addition to introducing technical challenges, this task is particularly difficult given the misalignment in incentives it creates between managers who likely prefer to avoid recording an impairment and auditors who seek to minimize the bias in management's impairment testing. This study focuses on the consequences of the misaligned incentives that auditors face under the current goodwill assessment process. We find that the decision to record a goodwill impairment is associated with an increase in the probability of auditor dismissal. Consistent with the presence of significant friction with clients, our results also indicate that the likelihood of auditor dismissals is negatively related to the favorability of the impairment decision. Furthermore, we find that companies impairing goodwill prior to dismissing auditors subsequently employ auditors that are, on average, more favorable to clients in their impairment decisions.

The Value Relevance of Goodwill: IFRSs and Global Financial Crisis (GFC)

This study contributes to the issue of accounting for goodwill by examining the impact of changing from the Australian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (AGAAP) to Australian International Financial Reporting Standards (AIFRS) on goodwill, 3 years (2002 to 2004) before and 3 years (2006 to 2008) after AIFRS adoption. The sample is drawn from top 200 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). This study applies multiple regressions. The dependent variable is the closing share price 3 months after the balance sheet date. The independent variables consist of earnings per share, book value per share, goodwill in the balance sheet, goodwill in the income statement (goodwill amortisation and goodwill impairment) and goodwill acquisition. The findings indicate that goodwill accounted for in the income statement and balance sheet do not provide increased explanatory power of market value under AIFRS compared to AGAAP. Moreover, the goodwill in the income statement does not show value relevance in year 2007, but became significant in year 2008 during the global financial crisis (GFC). Also, the age of goodwill recorded in the balance sheet does not affect the value relevance of earnings and book value in the post-adoption period. This study contributes new evidence on accounting for goodwill under pre and post-IFRS accounting regimes in Australia. This is also the first study to examine the separate effects of goodwill accounting on earnings and net assets, with special attention given to the period before and during the GFC in capital markets.

Evolution of intangible asset accounting: Evidence from Australia

AbstractThis study investigates how the adoption of IFRS in Australia has changed the accounting for goodwill and identifiable intangible assets (IIA). Based on unique hand‐collected data for 802 Australian firm‐years during 2000–2010, we find that expenses related to IIA are higher under IFRS, which is consistent with the view that IFRS accounting policies for IIA are stricter than those under Australian domestic accounting standards pre‐2005 (AGAAP). Our results show two effects that accompany higher IIA expenses under IFRS, which reduce a negative impact on earnings: (i) lower goodwill expenses, and (ii) a shift in recognition of IIA from those with finite useful life to IIA with indefinite useful life. Finally, our market value analyses suggest that the market does not treat mechanical goodwill amortization as a genuine expense, but does treat as genuine expenses discretionary impairment charges, and more lenient IIA amortization under AGAAP. Our results are in line with prior Australian studies claiming that imposing stricter accounting rules for intangible assets under IFRS tends to diminish the quality of investors' information set.

Has Goodwill Become More Relevant After IFRS Convergence in Indonesia?

This research aims to analyze the value relevance of goodwill in Indonesia before and after International Financial Report Standard (IFRS) convergence. Prior to the IFRS convergence period, goodwill should be amortized, while after the IFRS convergence the amortization was prohibited and goodwill should be tested for impairment on annual basis. This research investigates goodwill among Indonesian listed companies in Kompas 100 index for the period 2009-2015. Using panel data regression analysis, the research finds before the IFRS adoption, both goodwill and goodwill amortization did not have significant value to the market value of the companies. However, goodwill has significant value to the market price of after IFRS convergence (2011-2015), while goodwill impairment losses did not. We also found more companies recording impairment loss at the adoption year than the years afterward. We tested the significance of impairment loss around the year of adoption and the test shows goodwill impairment loss has significant value to the market price of the companies. Thus, the adoption of IFRS 3 which required goodwill impairment has improved the value relevance of goodwill. The adoption of IFRS 3 also encouraged the companies to impair their goodwill at the adoption year. Impairment loss had been perceived positive by the investors which are shows by its positive sign of goodwill impairment coefficient. This may indicate Indonesian investors appreciate the purification of goodwill number from hidden past impairment and anticipate the higher future of Return on Asset.