Waypoints: Ideas and Insights to Navigate Enterprise Complexity

Each year, a question from your auditor will inevitably pop up, “Have you tested your goodwill for impairment yet?” In 2015, that question might have sparked more grimace than in prior years; try DOUBLE the grimace.

A recently released survey of more than 8,500 publicly-traded companies in the U.S. found that total goodwill impairment increased from $26 billion in 2014 to $57 billion in 2015. Ironically, this occurred in a year characterized by exceptionally high merger and acquisition activity. The increased M&A activity last year seems to promise more write-offs in the future and even more reasons to be concerned about getting it right.

When the HORNE Public & Middle Market team started writing about the new lease standard and the new revenue recognition standard, the implementation deadlines seemed to be in the distant future. The guidance for the lease standard was just released in February of this year and doesn’t take effect for public companies until 2019 and for private companies until 2020. The revenue recognition standard deadlines are scheduled a year earlier—2018 and 2019 for public and private companies, respectively.

I recently wrote about the major financial reporting changes in the new lease standard and the potential impacts the changes could have on your business. When I wrote the blog, the Financial Accounting Standards Board was finalizing the standard, and it officially issued the new lease guidance on Feb. 25.