Accounting for Intangible Assets Like Brand Names a 2021 Focus

U.S. accounting rulemakers plan to tackle a long-running debate about how to account for non-physical assets like brand names, logos, and licensing agreements.

Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Richard Jones said he plans to ask FASB to research whether the rulemaker needs to amend recognition and measurement of intangible assets, not just change disclosures about them.

“It’s not lost on me that intangibles don’t just arise in a business combination,” and many are developed by companies internally, Jones said at an American Institute of CPAs virtual conference on Tuesday. “We’re looking at the different aspects of the way intangibles ...