FAR, Financial Accounting and Reporting

Sources for Intangibles: Goodwill and Other

Last reviewed 2026-10-06

The standards and authorities behind PocketCPA's FAR lessons on Intangibles: Goodwill and Other. The topic rests on ASC 350.

About this topic

An intangible asset is something a company owns that is worth money and cannot be touched.

More precisely, intangible assets are identifiable nonmonetary assets that lack physical substance. Patents, customer lists, franchise rights, broadcast licenses and trademarks are the usual examples.

Key points

Goodwill is not amortized; it is tested for impairment at the reporting-unit level at least annually.
Finite-lived intangibles are amortized and tested for impairment under ASC 360 only on a triggering event.
Indefinite-lived intangibles are not amortized but are tested annually for impairment by comparing fair value to carrying amount.
The goodwill impairment loss is the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value, capped at goodwill.

What the lessons cover

Recognizing goodwill (ASC 350-20-25; ASC 805)
Goodwill is not amortized: when and where to test (ASC 350-20-35-1, 35-28, 35-30)
The optional qualitative screen, "Step 0" (ASC 350-20-35-3)
The one-step quantitative test (ASU 2017-04) (ASC 350-20-35-2, 35-8)
Finite-lived intangibles (ASC 350-30-35-6 through 35-13; ASC 360-10)
Indefinite-lived intangibles (ASC 350-30-35-15 through 35-20)
The private-company alternative (ASC 350-20-15-4; 35-63)
Crypto assets (ASC 350-60)

Authoritative references

ASC 350-10-05-3, the six Subtopics across which Topic 350 spreads the accounting.
ASC 350-20-05-1, the scope of the goodwill Subtopic: goodwill after acquisition and the cost of internally developing it.
ASC 350-20-25 and ASC 805-30-30-1, recognition of goodwill as a residual in a business combination, with a bargain purchase gain under ASC 805-30-25-2.
ASC 350-20-35-1, 35-28 and 35-30, goodwill is not amortized, the annual test date, and the triggering events.
ASC 350-20-35-2, 35-4, 35-6, 35-7 and 35-8, the one-step quantitative test under ASU 2017-04: fair value against carrying amount including goodwill, with a loss only where carrying amount exceeds fair value.
ASC 350-20-35-3 through 35-3G, the optional qualitative screen, the more-likely-than-not threshold, the listed events and circumstances, and the unconditional option to bypass it.
ASC 350-20-35-12 and 35-13, the new accounting basis after an impairment, with reversal prohibited.
ASC 350-20-35-31 and 35-32, other assets tested before goodwill, including assets outside the ASC 360-10 long-lived-asset subsections.
ASC 350-20-35-33 through 35-38, the reporting unit as an operating segment or one level below it.
ASC 350-20-35-41 through 35-44, assignment of goodwill to the reporting units expected to benefit from the synergies of the combination.
ASC 350-20-35-8A through 35-8B, the superseded second step and the simultaneous-equation resolution of the tax effect, with the loss capped at the goodwill of the unit; illustrated at ASC 350-20-55-12 through 55-16 and 55-23.
ASC 350-20-35-58 and 35-59, equity-method goodwill, which is not amortized and is not separately tested under Topic 350, with ASC 323-10-35-32 and ASC 350-20-35-82 testing the investment as a whole.
ASC 350-20-15-4 through 15-6 and 35-63 through 35-71, the private-company alternative: amortization over ten years or less, the entity-level test election, testing only upon a triggering event, and the qualitative assessment.
ASC 350-20-35-64, the cumulative amortization period for any unit of goodwill can never exceed ten years.
ASC 350-20-35-73, 35-77 and 35-78, the loss limited to the goodwill of the entity or the reporting unit, the two allocation routes, and the prohibition on later reversal.
ASC 350-20-35-79 through 35-86, the sequencing rule under the alternative, the amortization period of the electing entity, and the triggering-event evaluation as of the end of each reporting period.
ASC 350-20-45-5 and 50-1A, presentation of one net goodwill figure and disclosure of the goodwill allocated to each reporting unit and reportable segment.
ASC 350-30-05-4, ASC 350-30-35-6 through 35-13 and ASC 360-10-35-21, finite-lived intangibles, amortized over the useful life and tested under the long-lived-asset model, including the conjunctive test at 35-8 and the review of useful life at 35-9.
ASC 350-30-15-4(e) and ASC 350-60, the carve-out of crypto assets from Subtopic 350-30 and their separate subsequent measurement.
ASC 350-30-25-3 and 25-5, expensing of internally developed intangibles meeting any of three descriptions, and the separate unit of accounting for an acquired brand.
ASC 350-30-35-15 through 35-21, indefinite-lived intangibles: the single comparison, the new basis, the unconditional option to bypass the qualitative screen, and the combined unit of accounting for inseparable assets.
ASC 350-40-25-2 and 25-12 and ASC 350-50, internal-use software and website development costs, capitalized from the application development stage, with the project-stage framework superseded by ASU 2025-06.
ASC 350-60-05-1, 05-2, 15-1 and 15-2, crypto assets: subsequent measurement only, the six-part scope test, and the application to all entities that hold them.
ASC 350-60-35-1, 45-1 and 45-2, fair value with gains and losses in net income and the separate presentation of those changes.
ASC 350-60-50-1 through 50-6 and 65-1, the disclosures, including the aggregate holdings, realized gains and losses, and restrictions, and the transition and effective date.
ASC 360-10-35-17, 35-20 and 35-21, the asset group, the recoverability test, and the prohibition on reversing an impairment of an asset held and used.

How PocketCPA uses these sources

Every lesson is written in original words and cites the paragraph each rule comes from. No standard's text is reproduced. How lessons and questions are written and checked is set out in our methodology.