How Informative Are Earnings Numbers That Exclude Goodwill Amortization?

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Moehrle ◽  
Jennifer A. Reynolds-Moehrle ◽  
James S. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Information Content ◽  
Cash Flow ◽  
Performance Measures ◽  
Intangible Assets ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Business Combinations ◽  
Traditional Performance

In the original exposure draft, Business Combinations and Intangible Assets, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed that companies be allowed to report a second per share earnings number that excludes goodwill amortization. Subsequently, the FASB has proposed that goodwill not be amortized at all. Instead, it will be written down when impaired. In this study, we assess the information content of earnings excluding amortization of intangibles relative to two traditional performance measures: earnings before extraordinary items and cash flow from operations. We find that the relative informativeness of earnings before amortization and earnings before extraordinary items do not differ significantly. We also find, consistent with prior research, that both earnings before amortization and earnings before extraordinary items are more informative than cash flow from operations. These findings suggest that goodwill amortization disclosures were not decision-useful and, therefore, support the FASB's revised position.

scholarly journals New Accounting Guidance For Business Combinations

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen W. McConnell ◽  
Bill D. Cox ◽  
John E. Elsea
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Business Combinations ◽  
Accounting Principles ◽  
Business Combination

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 141 Business Combinations in June 2001.  SFAS 141 supersedes Accounting Principles Board (APB) Opinion No. 16 Business Combinations and SFAS No. 38 Accounting for Preacquisition Contingencies of Purchased Enterprises.  APB Opinion 16 created two acceptable methods of accounting for a business combination, the purchase and the pooling of interests methods.  These two different methods often resulted in very different financial results for economically similar transactions.

scholarly journals The FASBs Concepts Statement On Cash Flows And Present Value

2011 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Martens ◽  
Thomas Berry
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Fair Value ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Present Value ◽  
Numerical Examples ◽  
Flow Information

In February 2000, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 7, Using Cash Flow Information and Present Value in Accounting Measurements.  In this document the FASB asserts without proof that a present value computation along its lines will provide a good estimate of the fair value of an asset or liability.  Using numerical examples provided by the FASB, we attempt to construct arguments in support of the FASB’s claim.  We find that such arguments require strong and not at all obvious assumptions about players in hypothetical markets.

A HISTORY OF POOLING OF INTERESTS ACCOUNTING FOR BUSINESS COMBINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank R. Rayburn ◽  
Ollie S. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Standards ◽  
The United States ◽  
Securities And Exchange Commission ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Business Combinations ◽  
Accounting Principles ◽  
History Of ◽  
Business Combination ◽  
The Subject

This paper traces the development of pooling of interests accounting for business combinations from 1945 to 1991. The history of the pooling concept is reviewed chronologically with particular emphasis on the events of 1969–1970 that were related to the most recent pronouncement on the subject, Accounting Principles Board (APB) Opinion No. 16. Early in its life (1974), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) placed a project on its agenda to reconsider pooling of interests accounting. That project was removed from the FASB's agenda in 1981. APB Opinion No. 16 has gone essentially unchanged as it relates to the accounting for a business combination as a pooling of interests. Resolution of implementation issues has been left largely to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the accounting profession. The FASB has a project on its agenda on Consolidations and Related Matters that may impact pooling of interests accounting. There also is some pressure for the FASB to revisit accounting for business combinations.

scholarly journals A Research Note On The Issue Of Non-Articulation And The Method Used To Calculate Net Operating Cash Flow

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry J. Ward ◽  
Jon Woodroof ◽  
Benjamin P. Foster
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Indirect Method ◽  
Direct Method ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Font Size ◽  
Operating Cash Flow ◽  
Statement Of Cash Flows

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Using a proxy for nonarticulation, prior researchers found evidence that many companies using the indirect method of reporting net cash flow from operations have a significant level of nonarticulation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>The purpose of this study is to determine if companies using the direct method of reporting net cash flow from operations experience significantly lower levels of nonarticulation than companies that use the indirect method of reporting net cash flow from operations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>Results show that companies using the direct method have significantly less nonarticulation than companies using the indirect method.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>This finding suggests that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) should consider requiring companies to use the direct method of preparing the Statement of Cash Flows.</span></span></p>

scholarly journals Relative Ability of Earnings Data and Cash Flow in Predicting Future Cash Flows

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasrollah Takhtaei ◽  
Hassan Karimi
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Company Size ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Working Capital ◽  
Relative Ability ◽  
Future Cash Flows

The purpose of this study is to examine earnings relative ability, operational cash flow, and two traditional measures of cash flows namely net earnings plus depreciation and operational working capital in predicting future cash flows. Also, the effect of company size on ability of predictive measures mentioned is examined in this study. The population examined includes accepted companies in Tehran Stock Exchange during period from 2005 to 2009. The results indicate that net earnings have more ability than operational cash flows and its traditional proxies in predicting the cash flows future. These findings are consistent with Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) claim based on earnings in preference on cash flows in predicting future cash flows.

Response to the FASB Invitation to Comment Identifiable Intangible Assets and Subsequent Accounting for Goodwill

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shana Clor-Proell ◽  
Nerissa Brown ◽  
Stephen Stubben ◽  
Brian White ◽  
Elizabeth Blankespoor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Intangible Assets ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Standard Setting ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Business Combination ◽  
Accounting Standard Setting

In October 2019, the Financial Reporting Policy Committee of the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section of the American Accounting Association submitted a comment letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding the accounting for certain identifiable intangible assets acquired in a business combination and subsequent accounting for goodwill. This paper summarizes the content of the comment letter and discusses opportunities for future research on intangible assets that may inform accounting standard-setting decisions.

scholarly journals Revised Accounting For Business Combinations

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-20
Author(s):  
Arlette C. Wilson ◽  
Kimberly Key
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Business Combinations ◽  
Business Combination ◽  
Representational Faithfulness ◽  
Acquisition Method

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has recently issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 141 (Revised 2007) Business Combinations. The object of this Statement is to improve the relevance, representational faithfulness, and comparability of reported information about a business combination and its effects. This Statement replaces FASB Statement No. 141, but retains the fundamental requirements that the acquisition method of accounting (previously called the purchase method) be used for all business combinations. Some of the changes related to the accounting for business combinations as a result of the new requirements are discussed and illustrated below.

AN ACCOUNTANT'S EDUCATION

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Staubus
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
University Of Chicago ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Decision Usefulness ◽  
Market Simulation ◽  
Broad Field ◽  
The University

This is a review of how various experiences in my career have contributed to my understanding of accounting. I recall the circumstances surrounding several of my efforts towards the development of accounting theories, viz. (1) decision-usefulness theory, (2) activity costing, and (3) market simulation accounting, as well as my excursion into (4) market association research in seeking to validate decision-usefulness theory and (5) a search for the effects of firms' economic environments on the development of enterprise accounting in the 2nd millennium, C.E. I give my impressions of several of the important players in the evolution of accounting thought in the 20th century with whom I was closely associated, such as Vatter, Moonitz, Chambers, and Sterling, as well as other prominent figures in the broad field of accounting. Some of my gains from associations with three institutions—the American Accounting Association, The University of Chicago, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board—are identified. I conclude with a few summary thoughts on what I have learned.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE US FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD AND THE INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING STANDARD SETTERS: 1973–2008

2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Kirsch
Keyword(s):  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Working Relationships ◽  
International Accounting ◽  
International Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Accounting Standards Board ◽  
Accounting Standard ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACT Utilizing archival materials as well as personal interviews and correspondence with personnel of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Committee/Board (IASC/B), including former Board chairmen and staff members, this paper examines the development of the working relationships between the FASB and the IASC/B from their earliest interactions in 1973 through the transformation of the IASC into the IASB and the Convergence Program rooted in the 2002 Norwalk Agreement up to 2008.

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