Goodwill: an analysis

This thesis asserts that current accounting for Goodwill is needlessly uninformative and even misleading to users of financial statements. In support of this proposition, there is provided a compendium of past and present accounting theory in order to illustrate the currently irreconcilable differences of opinions surrounding the nature and valuation of Goodwill which perpetuate this situation. The author avers that there are separable intangible elements of Goodwill which can be identified and directly valued so that there should remain no general "Goodwill" asset valued indirectly as a residual of a business acquisition.