Emerging Common Law Decisions in Goodwill Accounting Regulation
Emerging Common Law Decisions in Goodwill Accounting Regulation

Summary/Abstract: In respect to financial reporting, statutory accounting standards and regulations form only a part of the normative landscape. Considering the case of common law countries, besides these classic sources of norms and practices there is an alternative base for exercising the professional judgement of the accountant, the case law precedents which drive and supplement in cases accounting regulations. For the purpose of this paper, goodwill accounting is explored from a normative perspective which draws from case law precedents in Zimbabwe and South Africa, two emerging common law countries which share a rich common law heritage, resulting in a set of findings relevant to the understanding of the nature of goodwill as well as an understanding of the factors which lead to early adoption of International Accounting Standards.

• Details
• Contents