Abstract

The implementation of The International Financial Reporting Standards (A-IFRS) has led to the implementation of significant modifications to the accounting and reporting system for goodwill in Australia. The impairment testing-led approach to goodwill reporting that is required by A-IFRS leads in a significantly different approach to the valuation of goodwill for the purposes of the balance sheet as well as to the type and timing of the effect that goodwill as an asset class has on the calculation of periodic profit. It could be argued that the transition to A-IFRS goodwill accounting and reporting also results in a significant increase in complexity. This is true in terms of the methods that reporting entities are required to use when accounting for goodwill as well as the nature of the disclosures that are required in relation to goodwill and its impairment. Based on this it seems that companies who are filing their initial reports under the new system may have variable degrees of di