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Accounting for Intangibles: From IP to CEO

By Nir Kossovsky
November 29, 2007

'Jazz isn't music because you can't read it or write it,' declared Buenos Aires concert master Luis Schifrin to his son. A master of what his father deemed intangible, Lalo ' as he called himself ' went on to become a great jazz pianist, write more than 100 scores for films, television, and video games, and become most famous for composing the 'burning-fuse' theme tune from the Mission: Impossible television series.

By modern accounting standards, like those of Schifrin p're, most things of value are intangible. International Accounting Standard 38, promulgated in March 2004, requires an enterprise to recognize an intangible asset, whether purchased or self-created (at cost) if, and only if:

  • It is probable that the future economic benefits that are attributable to the asset will flow to the enterprise; and
  • The cost of the asset can be measured reliably.

It is unlikely that accountants would have recorded the 'burning fuse' theme tune as an asset on a corporate balance sheet. But that shouldn't limit a CEO from managing the asset for maximum value, communicating its value to stakeholders, or protecting that asset's value from risk.

Intangible Asset Finance

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