IASB votes to retain impairment-only approach for goodwill accounting

At its November 2022 meeting, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has today voted to retain the impairment-only approach to account for goodwill. This tentative decision culminates a thorough evaluation that began with the Post-implementation Review (PIR) of IFRS 3 Business Combinations in 2014.

In making its decision, the IASB considered stakeholder feedback from the PIR of IFRS 3, the discussion paper the IASB published in March 2020 and subsequent research. The IASB concluded that extensive evidence collected did not demonstrate a compelling case to change its previous decision about accounting for goodwill.

In September 2022, the IASB also voted to add disclosure requirements to IFRS 3 on information about the subsequent performance of an acquisition, in response to investors' feedback on the PIR. In designing these disclosure requirements, the IASB also responded to feedback from companies about the challenges of providing this information.

The IASB will next consider whether to publish these proposals in an exposure draft. If so, the IASB will finalise details of its proposals to require better disclosure on the subsequent performance of acquisitions and explore potential improvements and simplifications to the impairment test before it publishes such an exposure draft.