BIBLICAL BASIS OF FORTY-YEAR GOODWILL AMORTIZATION

Current U.S. GAAP mandates amortizing goodwill over no more than 40 years. Although many commentators suggest that 40 years is an arbitrary time span, there is a Biblical basis for 40-year amortization. The Bible refers to 40 years as the life of a generation. Since amortizing goodwill over no more than 40 years corresponds to amortizing it over no more than one generation of talented employees or customers, the process is not completely arbitrary