1. Chapter 15
Impairment of Assets

2. Objectives Understand the purpose of the impairment test for assets
Understand when to undertake an impairment test
Explain how to undertake an impairment test for an individual asset
Impairment losses for cash generating units
Impairment of goodwill
Account for reversals of impairment losses
Outline the disclosures required by IFRS 3

3. Introduction to IAS 36
Entities are required to conduct impairment tests to ensure their assets are not overstated
Impairment results when an asset’s carrying amount (CA) is more than its recoverable amount (RA)
Not all assets require this test. Notable exclusions include:
Inventories
Deferred tax assets
Assets held for resale

4. When to Undertake an Impairment Test
Assets must be tested for impairment when there is an indication (or evidence) of impairment
Not necessarily annually
The following assets must be tested annually for impairment:
Intangibles with indefinite useful lives
Intangibles not yet available for use
Goodwill acquired in a business combination

5. Collecting Evidence of Impairment
IAS 36 provides internal and external minimum indicators of impairment
External sources
Decline in market value
Adverse changes in entity’s environment/ market
Increases in interest rates
Market capitalization
Internal sources
Obsolescence or physical damage
Change in asset use
An asset’s economic performance being worse than expected

6. Impairment Test for an Individual Asset

7. Fair Value Less Costs to Sell
Defined as
Two parts to the definition:
Fair value
Costs of disposal
“ … the amount obtainable from the sale of an asset in an arm’s length transaction… less the costs of disposal”
(IAS 36 para 6)
In an active market, fair value is the market price: easier to calculate than value in use.
Examples of costs of disposal include legal costs, stamp duty & similar transaction taxes, costs of removing the asset or bringing it into condition for sale.

8. Fair Value Less Costs to Sell
Fair value is determined using the following ‘value hierarchy’
Price in a binding sale agreement
Market price
Appropriate estimation
Costs of disposal include:
legal fees
stamp duty
costs of removing the asset
Finance costs and income tax are not considered to be costs of disposal
In an active market, fair value is the market price: easier to calculate than value in use.
Examples of costs of disposal include legal costs, stamp duty & similar transaction taxes, costs of removing the asset or bringing it into condition for sale.

9. Value in Use
Defined as
Five elements when calculating value in use
Estimate of future cash flows
Expectations about possible variations in amount or timing of future cash flows
Time value of money
Price for bearing uncertainty inherent in asset
Other factors such as illiquidity
“ … the present value of future cash flows expected
to be derived from an asset or cash-generating unit”

10. Determining Future Cash Flows
Objective overall is to:
Estimate future cash flows
Apply a discount rate
Projections should be based on:
Managements best estimates
External evidence
Budgets/forecasts covering a minimum 5 year period
Cash inflows & outflows should include:
Those from the continuing use of the asset
Those expected on the disposal of the asset

11. Determining the Discount Rate
The discount rate should reflect:
The time value of money
The risks specific to the asset for which future cash flows have not been adjusted
Discount rates are commonly based on:
The entity’s weighted average cost of capital
The entity’s incremental borrowing rate
Other market borrowing rates
The rate must reflect specific risks relating to:
Country risk
Currency risk
Price risk

12. Recognition & Measurement of an Impairment Loss for an Individual Asset
An impairment loss is recognized where carrying amount > recoverable amount
Where the asset is accounted for under the cost model, the impairment loss is recognized immediately in profit or loss
Where the asset is accounted for under the revaluation model, the impairment loss is treated as a revaluation decrease
Any subsequent depreciation/amortization is based on the new recoverable amount.

13. Comparison to US GAAP US GAAP IFRS
ASC requires a review for impairment indicators in PP&E “whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable.”
A recoverability test is required:
If the carrying amount of the asset exceeds the sum of the expected net future undiscounted cash flows, then the asset is not recoverable and an impairment loss must be calculated.
IFRS
IAS 36 requires an entity to assess annually whether there are any indicators of impairment.
There is no recoverability test, simply calculate an impairment loss if impairment indicators are present.

14. Examples Is the equipment impaired under either US GAAP or IFRS?
On January 1, 2009, a company acquired a piece of equipment for $100,000. It was decided that the equipment would be depreciated over ten years with zero salvage value. At December 31, 2012, the equipment has significantly decreased in value due to technological innovations in the industry in which the company operates. The current carrying value of the equipment is $60,000 ($100,000 cost less $40,000 of accumulated depreciation). The expected future undiscounted cash flows from the use of this equipment are $61,000. The discounted net present value of expected cash flows from this piece of equipment is $51,000. Additionally, the fair value of the piece of equipment is $50,000 and the selling costs are minimal.
Is the equipment impaired under either US GAAP or IFRS?

15. Examples Example 1 solution:
Using US GAAP, the carrying value of the equipment of $60,000 is less than the expected future undiscounted cash flows of $61,000, so the equipment is not impaired.
Using IFRS, the equipment is impaired because the carrying value of $60,000 is greater than the recoverable amount of $51,000.

16. Examples
Example 2:
Use the same facts as the previous example, except the expected future undiscounted cash flows from the use of this equipment are $59,000.
What, if any, impairment loss should be recorded using US GAAP and IFRS?
Show any required journal entries.

17. Examples Example 2 solution:
Using US GAAP, the piece of equipment now fails the recoverability test. The $60,000 carrying value of the equipment exceeds the sum of the expected net future undiscounted cash flows of $59,000. Therefore, an impairment loss must be calculated. The impairment loss is the difference between the carrying value of $60,000 and the fair value of $50,000. A $10,000 impairment loss would be recorded as follows:
Impairment loss $ 10,000
Equipment $ 10,000
Using IFRS, there are impairment indicators so an impairment loss must be calculated. Using IAS 36, the recoverable amount is $51,000 (the higher of the net fair value of $50,000 or the discounted net present value of the cash flows of $51,000). Therefore, a $9,000 impairment loss needs to be recorded as follows:
Impairment loss $ 9,000
Equipment $ 9,000

18. Cash-Generating Units
Where the fair value less costs to sell (FVLCTS) < CA it is necessary to calculate the value in use (VIU) of an asset to determine whether or not it has been impaired
It may not be possible to identify an individual assets VIU when the asset only has a value due to its relationship with other assets
In such cases the VIU of the asset must be determined in the context of the asset’s cash-generating unit (CGU)
Defined as the smallest identifiable group of assets (generating cash flows from continuing use) that are independent of the cash inflows from other assets or groups of assets

19. Identifying Cash Generating Units
Identification of CGUs requires consideration of:
How management monitors the entity’s operations;
How management makes decisions about continuing or disposing of the entity’s assets and operations
If an active market exists for the output of a group of assets, this group of assets is classified as a CGU
CGUs must be identified consistently from period to period
IAS 36 allows a segment to be used as a CGU where the segment equates to the smallest group of assets generating independent cash flows

20. Impairment Losses and CGUs – Excluding Goodwill
Where an impairment loss arises in a CGU with no goodwill the loss is allocated across all of the assets in the CGU on a pro-rata basis based on the CA of each asset relative to the total CA amount of the CGU
Losses are accounted for in the same way as for individual assets
The CA of an individual asset cannot be reduced below the highest of:
FVLCTS (if determinable);
VIU (if determinable); or
Zero
Corporate assets – should try to allocate these across CGUs on a reasonable and consistent basis if possible

21. Cash Generating Units & Goodwill
Where a CGU includes goodwill, IAS 36 contains specific requirements for accounting for the allocation of impairment losses arising in relation to the CGU
Goodwill is a residual balance, consisting of assets that cannot be individually identified or separately recognized
Therefore it is not possible to determine a FVLCTS for goodwill, or to identify cash flows relating specifically to goodwill
Rather, goodwill can only be tested for impairment at the CGU level

22. Cash Generating Units & Goodwill
IAS 36 requires that goodwill be allocated to the lowest level at which management monitors the goodwill
Where an impairment loss arises in a CGU with goodwill the following allocation rules apply:
To reduce the carrying amount of the CGU’s goodwill to zero
To the other assets of the CGU on a pro rata basis

23. Reversal of an Impairment Loss
Recognized losses are reassessed annually
Indicators for reversals of impairment losses are the same as those used for initially recognizing a loss
Ability to recognize a reversal of an impairment loss and the accounting for that reversal is dependent on whether the reversal relates to an individual asset, a CGU, or goodwill
Previously recognized impairment losses in relation to individual assets are able to be reversed
The new CA cannot be higher than the CA that would have been determined had no impairment loss been previously recognized
Section 11.6 p. 466.
Impairment loss reversal may relate to individual assets, cash-generating units or goodwill (as detailed on the following slides)
While the information sources may be the same, in this case we are of course looking for evidence of FAVOURABLE effects (like decreased interest rates) or INCREASED market value.

24. Reversal of an Impairment Loss – Cash Generating Unit
Impairment losses relating to goodwill cannot be reversed
The reversal of any impairment loss relating to a CGU is allocated across the assets of the CGU (excluding goodwill) on a pro-rata basis
The reversals for specific assets will be accounted for in the same way as for individual assets
Section 11.6 p. 466.
Impairment loss reversal may relate to individual assets, cash-generating units or goodwill (as detailed on the following slides)
While the information sources may be the same, in this case we are of course looking for evidence of FAVOURABLE effects (like decreased interest rates) or INCREASED market value.

25. Examples
Example 3:
Use the same facts as Examples 1 and 2, except in 2014 it is discovered that the technological innovations related to this piece of equipment are not effective. As a result, the fair value of this piece of equipment is now $41,000. The discounted net present value of expected cash flows from this piece of equipment is also $41,000.
Using IFRS, what amount of the original impairment loss of $9,000 can be reversed?
Show any required journal entries to reverse the impairment loss.

26. Examples
Example 3 solution: The impairment loss can be reversed up to the newly calculated recoverable amount of 41,000, but it cannot exceed what the original carrying amount, net of depreciation, would have been.
Impaired Not impaired
Net asset value 2012 $ 60,000 $ 60,000
Impairment 2012 (9,000)
51,000
Depreciation 2013 $51,000/(6) (8,500) (10,000)
Depreciation 2014 $51,000/(6) (8,500) (10,000)
34,000 $ 40,000
Reversal of impairment loss 6,000
$ 40,000
Equipment $ 6,000
Impairment loss $ 6,000

27. Examples Example 4 - Intangibles:
The Corporate Protection Company (CPC) has a patent on new fingerprint security technology.
The fair value of the patent is $18 million, excluding selling costs of $3 million. The present value of future cash flows is $16 million The sum of the undiscounted future cash flows is $19 million CPC currently carries the patent at a value of $20 million.
What journal entries would CPC prepare to record an impairment of the patent using both US GAAP and IFRS?

28. Examples Example 4 solution: US GAAP
Recoverability test: is the carrying value greater than the sum of the future undiscounted cash flows?
Yes, since $20 million is greater than $19 million.
Calculation of the impairment:
Carrying value - fair value = $20 million - $18 million
Journal entry to record the impairment:
Impairment loss $2 million
Patent $2 million

29. Examples Example 4 solution (continued): IFRS
Test for impairment: does the carrying amount exceed the recoverable amount?
Yes, the carrying amount of $20 million is higher than the recoverable amount of $16 million. The recoverable amount is calculated as the higher of the fair value less the selling costs ($18 million - $3 million = $15 million), and the value in use (present value of future cash flows = $16 million)
Calculation of the impairment (note that the determination and calculation of impairment are the same step):
Carrying value - recoverable amount = $20 million - $16 million = $4 million
Journal entry to record the impairment:
Impairment loss $4 million
Patent $4 million

30. Disclosures Key disclosures include:
The amount of impairment losses recognized in profit or loss during the period and line on income statement
The amount of reversals of impairment losses recognized in profit or loss during the period and line on income statement
The amount of impairment losses on revalued assets recognized directly in equity during the period
The amount of reversals of impairment losses on revalued assets recognized directly in equity during the period

31. Homework
Exercises 15.4, 15.5 and 15.16
DUE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2