FASB’s “new goodwill impairment testing standard may give companies more options and flexibility, but it also leaves some questions unanswered,” says a new article in Accounting Today. Adds Greg Forsythe (Deloitte Financial Advisory Services):

In terms of the literature that comes out from the FASB, we’ve had a lot of thick documents on fair value in recent years, but this one is pretty skimpy in comparison, because it is fairly simple in concept. However, what’s simple in concept may have some complexity and challenges around it. I think that’s where everyone is right now, sort of trying to think through what this might mean, and what auditors might need to do to audit this kind of qualitative data, which is…new in a fair value concept.

Read Brad Pursel’s analysis of the new standard and its qualitative requirements in the November BVUpdate.