Feedback statement on the Discussion Paper on the accounting treatment for goodwill
Feb 04, 2015
On February 4, 2015, a research group of the Accounting Standards Board of Japan, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group and the Italian standard setter Organismo Italiano di Contabilità released a feedback statement summarizing the comments received on a Discussion Paper (DP) published in July 2014. That DP “Should Goodwill still not be Amortized? - Accounting and Disclosure for Goodwill” was arguing that the reintroduction of amortization of goodwill would be appropriate.
In response to the paper, the research group received twenty nine comment letters.
The majority of respondents supported reintroducing the amortisation of goodwill. Nonetheless, these respondents provided mixed views on whether the IASB should indicate a maximum amortisation period. Some respondents also acknowledged the subjectivity and high level of judgement in determining the useful life of goodwill, but they believed the level of subjectivity and judgement to be not higher than that in the impairment test. In general, respondents who supported the amortisation of goodwill believed that the IASB should develop guidance to help preparers to determine the useful life of the acquired goodwill.
A minority of respondents, mostly users, were supportive of the current impairment-only approach. These respondents explained that the amortisation model was fairly meaningless and it would not be beneficial to users of financial statements.
The full feedback statement is available on the EFRAG website.
