AASB 138 - Intangible Assets - July 2004
Intangible AssetsIntangible Assets
Start here
Get a plain-English read of Intangible Assets
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in AASB 138 - Intangible Assets - July 2004.
Intangible Assets
9 Entities frequently expend resources, or incur liabilities, on the acquisition, development, maintenance or enhancement of intangible resources such as scientific or technical knowledge, design and implementation of new processes or systems, licences, intellectual property, market knowledge and trademarks (including brand names and publishing titles). Common examples of items encompassed by these broad headings are computer software, patents, copyrights, motion picture films, customer lists, mortgage servicing rights, fishing licences, import quotas, franchises, customer or supplier relationships, customer loyalty, market share and marketing rights.
10 Not all the items described in paragraph 9 meet the definition of an intangible asset, that is, identifiability, control over a resource and existence of future economic benefits. If an item within the scope of this Standard does not meet the definition of an intangible asset, expenditure to acquire it or generate it internally is recognised as an expense when it is incurred. However, if the item is acquired in a business combination, it forms part of the goodwill recognised at the acquisition date (see paragraph 68).