商誉的分析

摘要：当前，商誉十分具有争议性。另外，寻找一个理想的方法来减缓争议是非常有必要的，这样做不仅对商誉有好处，对公司也有好处。通过比较各种处理商誉的方法来探索各个方法的优点和缺点，这篇论文总结了目前最为令人满意的商誉处理方法。

关键词：商誉 会计 核算方法

In this day and age, the staggering advancement of accounting is benefiting every enterprise, while it is accompanied by a series of topics as well. Compared with some accounting subjects of less controversy such as cash, account receivable and so forth, goodwill does require further study to combat the issues in the future. In addition, it is also worthwhile to do the research on goodwill accounting, which is advantageous for the economy of a nation as well as for the corporations.

There are a multitute of discussions revolving around the selection of goodwill accounting method. Currently, there are several accounting methods of goodwill around the world. For,example, one of the methods is that the outsourcing goodwill would be well-advised to regarded as an asset, and shoud be amortised in ceratin years as well. As a consequence, the value of goodwill is to disappear. Thus this method takes both matching principle and the fact goodwill is exhaustible into consideration. By the contrast, another way does not consider that goodwill can be used up――that is to say, goodwill is regarded as an permanent asset. Those who support such method on the grounds that the value of goodwill changes with the prospect of individual companies other than the goodwill’s service life which is determined by people’s biased views. To be exact, the better a firm, the more valuable the goodwill. In addition to the aboved-mentioned two methods, britain adopts the third way to cope with goodwill accounting. British enterprises only record outsourcing goodwill as shareholders’ equity, which means that they ignore goodwill created by themselves. Besides, there is the forth new accounting method which is prevelant currently. This booming method actually is the product of the first method. Specifically, it replaces amortisation with impairment provision.

On earth, which method is preferable? Actually, these four methods have both advantages and disadvantages. At present, the forth accounting method shares the highest proportion among the countries, which means it must own some absolute suprioties to certain extent. Firstly, this method conforms with principle of caution, because it make a provision for impairment to effectively avoid overestimating an asset. In addition, such method calculates the goodwill which is equal to the balance between the combined cost and fair value of purchased firm’s net asset on the basis that the former outnumbers the latter. The outcome is not only reasonable but also convenient to get. Besides, this approach effectively solves the problem of the first method, which amortises goodwill regardless of the actual situation. Due to the improvement of an enterprise, goodwill’s real value increases. Hence, it is unreasonable to reduce the amount of goodwill in the account book in such circumstance. Similarly, this method solves the same issue of the second method which regards goodwill as a permenant asset. The goodwill of a firm with the second method is bound to be exaggerated in economic recession. As for the third way, it does not conform with principle of accrual basis and of matching. Therefore the other three approachs have their individual limits. Consequently, they have disproportionally been replaced by the forth one.

Actually, the goodwill accounting discussed above mainly focuses on outsourcing goodwill which will be confirmed and recorded only when a corporation is mergered. By the contrast, the goodwill created by an enterprise will be neither confirmed nor recorded when it happens. That goodwill is opposed to be recored on certain grounds. For instance, it is impossible for the current accounting system to accurate goodwill when it happens. In addition, the value of goodwill is determined by the state of operation of specific company which is constantly changing. Consequently, a company which records the value of goodwill at intervals is bound to waste precious human resource. Besides, it’s beyond accountants’ ability to accurately work out goodwill if a firm is not mergered. Thus enterprises only confirm and record goodwill they get when mergerring other ones.

From the above, there exists a variety of difficulties in handling goodwill including the calculation of goodwill, the selection of goodwill accounting method and the follow-up validation and calculation. Besides, whether it is necessary to spare such great efforts to study goodwill has aroused controversy. Nowdays, goodwill accounting has been an indispensible part of accounting. The significance of goodwill is best illustrated by plenty of real-world examples as well. Coca-cola company greatly demonstrates the importance of goodwill. More precisely, it is the high reputation of coca-cola company that contributes to its current prevalence and sustainable development, as coca-cola is not only the name of a beverage company, but also the guarantee of products. Thus the brand name of coca-cola has created huge extra profit for this company for many years. Except example of coca-cola companyt, there seems to be plenty of examples to prove the necessity of research on goodwill as well as the its essential impact on companies.

In conclusion, not only is goodwill useful, but also it requires further study in the future. In addition, what I need to highligh is that the view on goodwill is merely valid for current circumstance, which means this view is not fixed but flexible. For example, with the progression of accounting system, the method that goodwill is supposed to be recorded when it happens is, in all likelihood, adopted in the future, while the outsourcing goodwill accounting is likely to be discarded as data are not up-to-the-minute. The flexibility of accounting method suggests that actually there is no best method. Hence, the superiority of any present best accounting method has a time limit.

References:

[1]中国注册会计师协会：《2010年注册会计师考试全国统一考制定教材 会计》 2010年

[2]邓小洋：《商誉会计论》2001年

[3]曹伟、金燕华：《商誉会计问题新探》，《财务与会计》2003年第2期

[4]黄晓榕：《也谈商誉的计价与账务处理》，《福建财会》2002年第4期