A Political History of Goodwill in the U.K.: An Illustration of Cyclical Standard Setting

A cyclical pattern of standard setting has been suggested elsewhere. In this context, this paper constitutes a case study of U.K. standard setting on the subject of goodwill. It is noted that varied practice of the 1960s was followed by several stimuli for action by standard setters. Managers opposed standardization and income reductions, whereas senior policy‐makers, government, press and international influences proposed it. The result is dramatic swings in the content of documents on goodwill from the Accounting Standards Committee, possibly contributing to the latter's demise.