Goodwill Impairment Study 2015

The report also includes the annual survey of Financial Executives International (FEI) members who represent both privately-owned and publicly-traded companies.

Highlights from the study include:

• U.S. companies recorded $26 billion of goodwill impairment, representing an 18 percent increase from $22 billion in 2013.
• The average impairment amount was $75 million in 2014, a 5 percent decline from the prior year average of $79 million.
• Eighty-six percent of the survey respondents did not recognize impairment in 2014, which was the lowest level in the past three years.
• The Energy industry recorded the highest amount of goodwill impairment in 2014, nearly tripling from $2.1 billion in the prior year to $5.8 billion.
• Use of the qualitative goodwill impairment test known as Step 0 by public company survey respondents indicates record use, increasing to 54 percent from the 43 percent reported in 2014.