On Dec. 6, the FASB proposed allowing companies to keep goodwill unamortized on the balance sheet. Companies that used the pooling method cheered this tradeoff, of course, because FASB had already proposed eliminating pooling, and this new proposal would remove the aspect of purchase accounting companies loathe -- reducing earnings as a result of goodwill amortization.
As an encore, the FASB announced Dec. 20 that its proposal should be retroactive, meaning companies currently amortizing goodwill no longer have to do so......
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