AICPA Issues Goodwill Impairment Testing Guidance

The American Institute of CPAs’ Financial Reporting Executive Committee has published a working draft of a new AICPA Accounting and Valuation Guide, “Testing Goodwill for Impairment.”

The guide, which was developed by the AICPA Impairment Task Force, provides nonauthoritative guidance and illustrations regarding goodwill impairment testing for valuation specialists, preparers of financial statements and independent auditors. The guide also includes some guidance from the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Update 2011-08, Testing Goodwill for Impairment, issued in September 2011, but without commentary or examples from the AICPA task force on FASB’s qualitative assessment framework (see FASB Issues Goodwill Impairment Testing Standard).

Interested parties are encouraged to submit informal comments on the draft guide and any additional implementation guidance they believe is needed for FASB ASU 2011-08. The deadline for submitting comments is March 15, 2012.

FinREC also expects to issue a working draft later this month of another AICPA Accounting and Valuation Guide, “Assets Acquired to Be Used in Research and Development Activities,” which will replace the practice aid that was originally issued in 2001.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Audit Financial reporting Associations Accounting standards
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY