Accounting treatment of goodwill
Self-created goodwill should not be included in the accounting scope of intangible assets, but should be accounted for in corporate mergers and acquisitions. This is because the formation of self-created goodwill is a long-term process, the value composition is complex, the formation cost is unverifiable, and the benefits brought to enterprises are often fluctuating and difficult to measure accurately.
Moreover, the author thinks that the recognition of self-created goodwill does not conform to the historical cost principle. This is because the tangible assets and other intangible assets of an enterprise may increase in value due to the change of time, but due to the consideration of historical cost principle, we do not consider these increases in accounting treatment. At this time, if the self-created goodwill is accounted for, it indirectly confirms the appreciation of this part of assets to some extent, which does not conform to the historical cost principle. For the goodwill generated by business combination, the measurement of its value is relatively simple, and in this case, other assets are also evaluated and their appreciation is considered, so it should be included in the accounting scope.
(b) human resource accounting, etc.
Human resources, knowledge capital, customer resources, supply channels and enterprise organizational structure are difficult to measure and should not be included in the accounting scope at present. Although this part of intangible resources may bring additional benefits to enterprises, the realization of this benefit is very uncertain and highly dependent on other assets. Moreover, from the perspective of property rights, it is difficult to say that it is owned by an enterprise and does not fully meet the definition of assets. It is also very difficult to distinguish and measure these resources. If they are forcibly included in the accounting of intangible assets, it will not only fail to provide true and reliable information, but will lead to a decline in the quality of accounting information and ultimately affect the quality of decision-making, which is not in line with the principle of cost-effectiveness and runs counter to our original intention of accounting intangible assets.
In fact, the value of these assets has been reflected in the profit statement of the enterprise, which is sometimes more accurate and reasonable. Excess income is the embodiment that an enterprise has some special resources. It is precisely because of the different income of enterprises that we can correctly estimate the value of enterprises from income rather than traditional assets. The author believes that if all intangible resources are included in the accounting system, then the return on assets of all enterprises is equal, that is, the same capital produces the same profit, then the income statement may not be necessary, so why should we determine the value of enterprises? This issue needs further discussion in the future. . .