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Discussion of Accounting Discretion in Fair Value Estimates: An Examination of SFAS 142 Goodwill Impairments
Author(s) -
BENS DANIEL A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of accounting research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.767
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1475-679X
pISSN - 0021-8456
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-679x.2006.00201.x
Subject(s) - goodwill , accounting , fair value , earnings management , audit , financial accounting , actuarial science , financial statement , book value , proxy (statistics) , equity (law) , business , economics , discretion , market value , earnings , accounting information system , political science , statistics , law , mathematics
Beatty and Weber examine an accounting choice that managers made upon adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards 142: whether to record a goodwill asset impairment as a cumulative effect of an accounting change at the time of adoption or delay the recognition of such an impairment to the future (perhaps indefinitely) when they would be recorded as expenses in earnings from continuing operations. The authors consider several factors that might influence management's reporting of transition effects, including contracting, equity market incentives, and regulatory forces. Participants at the 2005 Journal of Accounting Research Conference questioned whether such a complex accounting decision can be captured with simple linear models and noisy proxy variables, while also speculating upon whether the results would generalize to other settings. In this discussion, I summarize Beatty and Weber's research, highlight its contribution to the accounting literature, and provide a record of the main issues raised by the conference participants.