Accounting for goodwill.

The economic reality of the present years is more and more characterized by the difference existing between the value that markets assign to firms and their book value. What is this difference? Where does it originates?This book is aimed at describing how this difference can find an explanation into the intangibles of firms, i.e in that greater value that firms create and that cannot be recognized through the accounting logic, that is just the goodwill.Notably, even if it doesn’t appear through the accounting techniques, this part of the value is an important element of the overall economic value generated by firms and it can influence in a significant way the value that markets assign to them.According to these premises the book proposes a method for the analysis and evaluation of intangible assets of an enterprise based on a breakdown process of the internally generated goodwill (also referred to as going concern goodwill).In other words, this book would like to define the economic nature of the internally generated goodwill and through its progressive breakdown it would like to find an explanation of its origin, paying particular attention to the relationship between internally generated goodwill, intangible resources and competitive differentials.