impairment in goodwill: an analysis based on accounting disclosure

This study aimed to verify whether Brazilian publicly traded companies published information about the goodwill impairment test between 2009 and 2011. The elaboration of a measure with compulsory disclosure items resulted in an index of compliance with the standard and permitted surveying what information the companies have disclosed. The results indicate that, in 2009, most companies did not disclose any information required for the goodwill impairment test. In 2010 and 2011, however, the percentage of companies that did not disclose anything about the procedures adopted for the test dropped. In addition, there are signs that, on average, the disclosure index increased in the course of the study period, but was very heterogeneous. Information about the discount rate and the description of the did not figure among the most disclosed information. The reflexes of a possible change in the key premise was the item whose disclosure the companies neglected most over the years. As the analysis suggests, these results may be linked with the companies’ adaptability to the impairment test procedures, but may also derive from the concentration characteristics of the companies’ control rights. In general, the increase in the disclosure percentage of the premises of the goodwill impairment test along the study period was not sufficient to reduce the disclosure differences among the companies. In addition, it could be perceived that many companies did not show consistency in the disclosure of the measure’s items between one year and the other.