Accounting for goodwill in an Australian context

Abstract

This article empirically documents the impact of regulation of goodwill accounting practice in Australia. Using a sample of 84 firms over the period 1983 to 1989, this study investigates changes in accounting practice in response to both professional regulation (AAS 18) and statutory-backed regulation (AS RB 10 13). Evidence presented reveals that the diversity of accounting practice was reduced after the imposition of AAS 18, and was reduced further after the imposition of ASRB 1013. The findings support the contention that statutory regulation was relatively more effective than professional regulation in the promotion of uniformity of practice. Previous writers have suggested that the effectiveness of the regulation was limited because firms avoided the application of the goodwill standards by making discretionary changes to their treatment of identifiable intangibles. This study confirms that the average balance of identifiable intangible assets increased subsequent to the imposition of accounting regulation.