Redovisningsinformations användbarhet
redovisning av goodwill enligt IFRS
Since January 1st 2005 all companies listed on a regulated stock exchange within the European Union are required to present their financial reports in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The intention of the introduction of IFRS is to achieve international harmonization of accounting rules in order to make financial reports more comparable between companies from different countries. The purpose of financial reports presented in accordance with IFRS is to provide information that is useful to the users of the information. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the information regarding goodwill and the goodwill impairment test, presented in accordance with IFRS, in fact is useful to a specific group of accounting information users, namely equity analysts. An empirical study is conducted, based on interviews with seven Swedish equity analysts. The empirical findings are discussed in the light of the IASB Conceptual Framework, including the four qualitative characteristics which distinguish useful financial reporting information. Our study reveals that the usefulness of the information regarding goodwill and the goodwill impairment test is strictly limited.