Go Well with National Accounting?

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the concept of goodwill in the context of national accounting. Goodwill, being originally business accounting concept, was incorporated into the SNA in its 1993 version as a category of intangible non-produced assets, though Japanese national accounts have never included it. The SNA 2008 introduced a composite category called goodwill and marketing assets and included it in the list of non-produced non-financial assets. By recognising that goodwill is just essentially net worth (as a national accounting concept) with the sign reversed, it may be very natural to ask whether it is necessary or not for national accounts. This paper gives an answer to the question negatively and seeks to show that national accountants can deal with business acquisition fully reasonably without the concept. Some facts from business accounting history about the concept may bring insight into problems involved. (146 words) Note: Among his many debts, the author is grateful to Dr Aki Yamauchi, an ex-colleague of the author and a business accounting specialist. Discussion with her on the busines