IFRS adoption and organisational change - evidence from Malaysia

The adoption of IFRS in Malaysia has not changed all aspects of financial accounting and reporting. However, in regards to goodwill, the new accounting treatment represents one of the biggest challenges to Malaysian reporting entities as no such standard existed pre-IFRS adoption. The new standard requires more rigorous techniques and disclosure of goodwill impairment testing and significantly expanded disclosure requirements. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which organisational responses to the new reporting regime may have changed over time. This is done by analysing the quality and technical accuracy of the goodwill disclosures reported by these organisations together with an assessment of evidence of variation. The sample consists of 249 listed firms listed on Bursa Malaysia that disclosed the existence of goodwill in each of the first two years of Malaysia’s new financial reporting regime. This examination of the response of firms to the new reporting regime provides significant insights for firms, auditors, financial analysts and regulators.