Ireland · The accounting Schedules
Schedule 3: accounting principles, the historical cost rules, value adjustments and fair value
the Companies Act 2014 · Schedule 3
Goodwill must be amortised unless its useful life cannot be reliably estimated
Goodwill amortisation is the point at which Irish practice diverges most often from group policy. Where, in exceptional circumstances, the useful life of goodwill acquired by a company, or of development costs or other intangibles, cannot be reliably estimated, Schedule 3 paragraph 25(3) sets what must be done. A company that carries goodwill without amortisation because the group does so has not applied the paragraph.
Fair value is permitted rather than assumed, and permission is conditional. Investment property and living animals and plants may be included at fair value provided that all such investment property, and all such living animals and plants, are treated in the way Schedule 3 paragraph 40(2) requires. Applying fair value to part of a class does not satisfy the proviso.
Schedule 3 sets the historical cost rules and the alternative accounting rules a company may choose
Schedule 3 sets the accounting principles and the historical cost rules. Subject to any value adjustment for depreciation or diminution in value made under paragraph 22 or 23, the amount to be included is determined as paragraph 21 provides. Subject to the qualification in paragraph 30(2), the purchase price or production cost of the assets paragraph 30(1) identifies is determined as that paragraph provides.
The alternative accounting rules, the revaluation reserve and fair value accounting are set out in the later paragraphs of the Schedule, including fair value accounting for financial instruments and for the other assets the Schedule names. A company that uses the alternative rules takes on the disclosure that goes with them, so the choice is not cost free.
The system generates your ComplianceSME company passport and then walks you through the working files
Working files 197, 198, 199 and 200 of the IE-COMPANY agent toolkit cover this situation. Working file 197 works through the accounting principles, historical cost and value adjustments. Working file 198 works through purchase price, production cost and the amortisation of intangible assets. Working file 199 works through the alternative accounting rules, the revaluation reserve and fair value. Working file 200 works through fair value accounting for financial instruments and other assets.
- Working file 197 · Schedule 3: accounting principles, historical cost and value adjustments
- Working file 198 · Schedule 3: purchase price, production cost and the amortisation of intangible assets
- Working file 199 · Schedule 3: alternative accounting rules, the revaluation reserve and fair value
- Working file 200 · Schedule 3: fair value accounting for financial instruments and other assets
Free, with a free account
The working files above open from your ComplianceSME account at no charge, and so does the rest of the Companies Act 2014 toolkit: 215 working files across the 75 situations a company registered in Ireland can be in. Working file 1 runs first and builds the company passport; after that you open each working file as its situation arises.
A working file runs in Claude. You ask the ComplianceSME connector for it in a dedicated premium seat on the Claude Team plan. It asks one question at a time, then returns the document the Companies Act 2014 names, citing the Act's section at every step. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is installed.
The report stays yours, ready for a bank, an insurer, a customer or an inspector. Your dashboard shows every working file and its state.
Open this working fileComplianceSME tracks the Companies Act 2014 and updates the toolkit on your account through the Compliance Complete account, so that you are never working from a superseded version. Compliance Complete