Identification of Intangible Assets in Business Combinations -A comparison between the US and Sweden
Sammanfattning
Background
and
Discussion:
In
2002,
IASB
and
FASB
started
working
on
a
convergence
project
with
the
aim
of
identifying
and
minimizing
differences
between
the
two
regulations,
IFRS
and
US
GAAP.
Since
2005,
when
it
became
mandatory
to
prepare
the
financial
statements
in
accordance
with
IFRS
for
all
listed
companies
in
the
EU,
goodwill
has
grown
remarkably
in
Sweden
but
stayed
rather
stable
in
the
US.
Is
this
partly
depending
on
differences
in
recognition
of
intangible
assets
in
business
combinations?
Since
the
standards
are
similar
to
each
other,
could
quality
of
enforcement
affect
accounting
choices
and
the
recognition
of
intangibles?
Purpose
and
Research
Questions:
The
purpose
of
this
thesis
is
to
examine
if
there
are
any
significant
differences
in
recognition
of
intangible
assets
when
acquiring
firms
perform
their
purchase
price
allocations
in
business
combinations.
The
research
questions
are:
Are
there
any
differences
in
the
recognition
of
specific
intangible
assets
in
business
combinations
in
the
US,
between
the
examined
years,
and
due
to
the
characteristics
of
the
acquiring
firms,
and
the
size
of
the
acquisitions?
Are
there
any
significant
differences
in
the
recognition
of
intangible
assets
when
comparing
the
US
and
Swedish
samples?
Methodology:
To
test
for
differences
in
recognition
of
intangible
assets
in
business
combinations,
this
thesis
is
approached
by
a
deductive
method
of
quantitative
character,
using
secondary
data.
Financial
data
is
gathered
from
databases
and
annual
reports,
and
the
hypotheses
are
tested
with
Kruskal-‐Wallis
tests
and
linear
regression
models.
Results
and
Conclusions:
The
characteristics
of
the
acquiring
firm
that
significantly
showed
to
affect
the
recognition
of
intangible
assets
were
firm
size,
industry
affiliation
and
technology-‐level.
Size
of
the
acquisitions
was
also
a
significant
factor.
The
results
from
the
regression
model
showed
that
US
firms
recognizes
a
larger
share
of
intangible
assets
in
business
combinations
than
Swedish
firms
and
we
assume
this
is
the
result
of
stronger
enforcement
in
the
US.
Examinationsnivå
Student essay
Fil(er)
Datum
2014-06-12Författare
Eliasson, Kristoffer
Ericstam, Fredrik
Nyckelord
Intangible Assets, Business Combinations, Goodwill, IFRS 3, Accounting Choices, Enforcement
Serie/rapportnr.
Externredovisning
13-14-53M
Språk
eng