Intangible Assets

TGreen

ACC 482

Lanier

November 22, 2014

Final Project

Intangible assets are acquired by a merger/consolidation or developed internally. When a merger or consolidation of a two or more businesses; intangible assets are recorded at their fair value. If generated internally, these assets are recorded in the research and development stages. Research phase includes all activities and costs incurred before the intangible asset is commercially feasible, while the development phase includes all activities and costs incurred after the asset is established to be commercially feasible. All costs in research phase are expensed in the period incurred while costs incurred in development phase are capitalized.

The following are examples of an intangible asset: Copyrights, Patents, Franchises, and Trademarks. Copyrights grant business authority to reproduce and sale books, magazines, journals, software. A copyright has a legal life equal to the life of the creator plus 70 years. A copyright has a legal life equal to the life of the creator plus 70 years; the economic life is usually shorter. The economic life is the period of time over which the cost of a copyright should be amortizedA copyright has a legal life equal to the life of the creator plus 70 years; the economic life is usually shorter. The economic life is the period of time over which the cost of a copyright should be amortized.A copyright has a legal life equal to the life of the creator plus 70 years; the economic life is usually shorter. The economic life is the period of time over which the cost of a copyright should be amortized.Patents grant research and manufacturing companies control over the use and sale of a specific design in the manufacturing process. The cost of a patent should be amortized over its useful life (not to exceed its legal life of 20 years). Franchises give owners the right to manufacture or sell certain products (i.e., McDonalds) or perform a certain service on an exclusive...