Goodwill Accounting—Bane of GE, Kraft Heinz—Under Scrutiny

The accounting charges that laid bare deep problems—and led to multi-billion dollar writeoffs—at Kraft Heinz Co. and General Electric Co. could get a makeover.

U.S. accounting rulemakers are mulling changes for reporting goodwill, the intangible asset that can make headlines when a merger goes sour. Under one option, companies would be allowed to amortize the asset over time—a move that would no doubt make it easier for pubic companies that are complaining about onerous reporting requirements, but it could also make it tougher to detect troubles lurking inside other companies, critics say.

“The reality is that the GE or the ...