Treatment of Intangibles

Focusing on value and the impact this has on the calculation of goodwill and treatment of all intangibles, this book argues that accountants overemphasize cost and liquidation value, ignore cashflow and value to a going concern, that they would "rather be precisely wrong than roughly right". They therefore distort the values of many tangible and intangible assets and overstate goodwill, with serious distorting effect. The book supports these arguments, illustrates the harm they do and discusses how values, and their impact, vary - depending on the party banker, shareholder and situation. It also discusses the way in which value differs for different parties and in different circumstances, particularly insolvency. Other books by the author include "Thinking About Credit", "Lending in International Commercial Banking", "The Medium-Term Loan Market" (with J.A. Donaldson), "Understanding Corporate Credit", "Credit Risk and Exposure in Securitisation and Transactions" and "How to Handle Problem Loans".