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Гудвилл как объект учета: истоки происхождения
Importance. Among the major accounting problems yet to be solved, accounting for goodwill is the most controversial and therefore requiring priority attention issue. The subject of the article is a historical overview of the origin and development of goodwill as an accounting object.
Objective. The purpose of the study is an analysis of the historical experience in the form of goodwill perceptions, identifying historical patterns suitable for improvement of modern theory and practice of accounting.
Methods. Methodological basis of the study consists of the works of distinguished domestic and foreign scientists in the field of bookkeeping and accounting. The authenticity of the author’s findings is confirmed by a logical use of scientific methods such as historical-and-comparative, historical-and-typological and historical-and-system method.
Results. In the paper, we research the ways of historical evolution of the goodwill as. We track the transformation of goodwill perceptions in the foreign literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We consider a variety of approaches to the definition of goodwill, the choice of valuation and accounting method. We characterize the main theories of goodwill accounting (superprofit theory, momentum theory, theory of the dynamic and actuarial school). Finally, we identify the differences in approaches to the concept, valuation method and accounting treatment of goodwill in English-speaking countries (United States, United Kingdom), continental European countries (France, Germany), Japan.
Application. Research results can be applied in educational, methodical and scientific work and are intended for a broad readership: scientists, students, bachelors, masters, postgraduates, teachers interested in this subject.
Conclusions and Relevance. We draw the conclusions about a gradual and cumulative process of development of goodwill theory, which is still in search of more perfect models of accounting treatment. The relevance of these findings is that they enable to uncover the origins of the reluctance of accountants to adopt new practices and ideas (i.e. IFRS3), combined with their hesitancy to discard considering goodwill as a mere difference or balancing item. It is proposed to shift from a "top-down" to the "bottom-up" approach for a fair statement of goodwill.