The Intent
You want to understand what triggers a goodwill write-down and how to identify those triggers before they create surprises.
How I Solve It
I identify impairment triggers by applying the 25 Factors with emphasis on Factor #11: Future Outlook, Factor #24: Risk, Factor #14: Client Base, and Factor #6: Utility, Sustainability, and Scalability.
The 5 Senses Inspection Report helps detect early deterioration in staff engagement, customer confidence, operational discipline, or brand perception that often precedes financial decline.
Experience
It is vital because "When does goodwill have to be written down?" is not a mechanical calculation. It is a real-world judgment about risk, control, sustainability, and transferability — and that judgment is where 10–15 years of owner-operator and valuation experience, your gut–brain axis, does the heavy lifting.
Why It Is Not Mechanical
On paper, valuation appears formula-driven. In reality, governance rights, risk concentration, growth durability, market conditions, and stakeholder dynamics materially affect value.
Where Experience Changes the Number
Decisions around normalization, premiums, discounts, projections, and defensibility require judgment formed through lived ownership, negotiation, and financial accountability.
Why the Gut–Brain Axis Matters
The brain performs disciplined financial analysis. The gut recognizes unrealistic narratives, hidden leverage, emotional distortions, and deal risk. Together they produce conclusions that withstand scrutiny.
Protecting Financial Lives
The final number affects wealth, control, solvency, tax exposure, and long-term relationships. Requiring 10–15 years of serious hands-on business and valuation experience ensures the answer is fair, defensible, and durable. See my Experience page.
The Result
You gain clarity on when a goodwill write-down is necessary and how to support it credibly.