400Q Guide Error

Normally Goodwill remains constant on the Balance Sheet – why would it be impaired and what does Goodwill Impairment mean? 

Usually this happens when a company has been acquired and the acquirer re-assesses its intangible assets (such as customers, brand, and intellectual property) and finds that they are worth significantly less than they originally thought. 

Is that true? Thats the 400Q awnser - I think its wrong, because it mixes Purchase prica allocation with goodwill impairment or am I missing something?

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

From what I understand, it is correct. The way I think of it:

  • goodwill is the mathematical difference btwn purchase price and book value of acquired assets and is thought of as a way to quantity the brand name/image of the acquisition target
  • you don't amortize goodwill but do periodic checks of its value to the market and you will only act if the new/updated value is less than the book value of goodwill
    • if that happens, you recognize an impairment/loss to bring down the value of goodwill
  • a firm cannot create its own goodwill/it can only occur from an M&A transaction (correct me if I'm wrong here plz)

Here's an example. If a firm was bought out for $500mm, and it's market value of assets at the time of acquisition was $400mm, then goodwill = 500-400=$100 mm. If in 1 year, a goodwill impairment check occurs and its updated value is $50mm, then you recognize a $50mm impairment loss. If the market/updated value is >$100mm, you won't do anything bc of the conservatism principle in acct (only recognize losses, not gains).

 

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