Panco Corporation purchased Apex Unlimited for $12 million. The fair market value of Apex Unlimited's net assets

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Panco Corporation purchased Apex Unlimited for $12 million. The fair market value of Apex Unlimited's net assets at the time was $9 million, so Panco Corporation recorded $3 million of goodwill. Included in the purchase was a patent valued at $1.5 million with an estimated remaining life of eight years. To comply with GAAP, the goodwill was not amortized, but the patent was amortized over the remaining eight-year life. However, the Apex Unlimited business was not as profitable as anticipated, and as a result, the accountant for Panco Corporation stated that the goodwill needed to be written off. Further, the accountant discovered that the remaining life of the patent was only six years and that it should be amortized over the remaining six-year life rather than the eight-year life originally estimated. The CEO became concerned because these adjustments would cause net income to be extremely low for the year. As a result, he told the accountant to wait before writing off the goodwill because of the possibility that the purchase could be profitable in the future. Also, he argued, the life of the patent should be left alone because it was originally based upon what was thought to be an eight-year life. After much debate, the CEO then agreed with the accountant as long as the amount of goodwill was not completely written off in the current year. What ethical concerns are involved? Should the accountant change the amortizable life of an intangible asset? Should the accountant completely write off the goodwill account in the current year? Does the CEO's concern for higher net income create any ethical problems when the accountant agrees to not completely write off the goodwill? Do you have any other thoughts?

Goodwill
Goodwill is an important concept and terminology in accounting which means good reputation. The word goodwill is used at various places in accounting but it is recognized only at the time of a business combination. There are generally two types of...
Corporation
A Corporation is a legal form of business that is separate from its owner. In other words, a corporation is a business or organization formed by a group of people, and its right and liabilities separate from those of the individuals involved. It may...
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Financial Accounting

ISBN: 978-0134436111

4th edition

Authors: Robert Kemp, Jeffrey Waybright

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