Duff & Phelps is celebrating its 10-year anniversary edition
with the launch of the 2018 U.S. Goodwill Impairment Study (the
"2018 Study"). The 2018 Study examines general and
industry goodwill impairment trends of 8,400+ U.S. publicly traded
companies through December 2017.
Total goodwill impairment was $35.1 billion in 2017, increasing
by 23% over the prior year. The graphic below shows the trend in
the dollar amount of goodwill impairment and number of impairment
events over the period 2013 – 2017.
Over the past 10 years, the accounting model for goodwill under
U.S. GAAP underwent several significant changes and
simplifications. A qualitative test (aka., Step 0) was introduced
in 2011, while in 2014, a private company alternative was created,
allowing private entities to elect the amortization of goodwill on
a straight-line basis over a certain number of years. Most
recently, the model was further simplified through the issuance in
January 2017 of Accounting
