intangible assets evaluation risk and control
intangible assets increase the heterogeneity and exclusiveness of enterprises in market competition, and the value of building enterprise competition barriers is becoming more and more prominent, and the complexity of intangible assets identification and evaluation risk also increase accordingly. In order to ensure the quality of intangible assets evaluation and the authenticity and accuracy of the evaluation results, understanding and controlling the evaluation risks in the evaluation process has become a very important part of the asset evaluation system. The following is the knowledge of intangible assets evaluation risk and control that I brought to you. Welcome to read.
1. The significance of intangible assets' risk assessment and control
In internet plus, intangible assets have gradually penetrated into all fields of social economy, and with the coming of the Industrial 4. Revolution, intangible assets have ensured the benign development of technology in the market competition, effectively ensured and improved the heterogeneity among enterprises, improved the competitiveness of enterprises, and showed great value in economic activities such as financing, acquisition and joint venture. Intangible assets are formed with the development of economy and technology, and it is precisely because of its unique characteristics of immateriality, exclusiveness, separability of ownership and use right in transactions, uncertainty of future income, etc., that it increases the difficulty of identification and the complexity of evaluation. As a result, the problems and risks related to intangible assets evaluation in enterprise financing, mergers and acquisitions and other economic activities have become increasingly prominent, which has attracted more and more people's attention.
ii. risks of appraisal object and method
(I) risks of appraisal object
refers to the possibility that there is a big error in the appraisal value of intangible assets due to the failure to specify the appraisal object in the appraisal process. The new asset appraisal criteria implemented by China Asset Appraisal Association on July 1, 29? Article 2 in Intangible Assets states:? Intangible assets mentioned in these Standards refer to resources owned or controlled by a specific subject, which have no physical form, can continue to play a role and can bring economic benefits. ? At the same time, 13 kinds of intangible assets are defined in the Opinions on Operational Standards for Asset Appraisal (Trial), but some new intangible assets, such as the emerging option value, e-commerce platform, Internet APPlication app, etc., are not well covered, and the owners of such intangible assets are easy to suffer losses due to the lack of operational guidelines and guidelines for the evaluation of such intangible assets. On the other hand, intangible assets have synergistic effect, that is, people often say that one plus one is greater than two. If only a single project is evaluated independently, the income increment brought by its combination will be underestimated.
(II)
Evaluation method risk refers to the possibility that there is a big error in the evaluation value due to the deviation in the selection of evaluation methods and the determination of parameters during the evaluation of intangible assets. At present, there are three methods to evaluate intangible assets, namely, market method, income method and cost method.
1. For traditional industries, income method and cost method are usually commonly used in intangible assets evaluation. Whether using income method or cost method, it is inevitable to be influenced by subjective factors such as appraisers' preference for assets and industries and optimism of economic environment when predicting future trends through historical data and industry data. For example, from February to August, 215, the economic fluctuation caused by China's stock market was more intense. With the central bank implementing a series of market stimulus policies such as lowering the RRR and cutting interest rates, the appraisers' subjective views on the future changes of the economic environment will affect the determination of the income increment and discount rate, thus affecting the appraisers' deviation or distortion of the results of intangible assets appraisal.
2. The market method used in the actual operation of innovative industries is to select companies with similar scale for evaluation by comparing relevant indicators. However, because each enterprise in the innovation industry has uncertain factors such as business profit model and business realization mode, if the market method is adopted, whether the comparable company can be accurately selected will become the key to affect the accuracy of the evaluation. For example, the same industry in internet plus can be subdivided into e-commerce platforms, P2P matchmaking services, social tools and other formats, which makes it more difficult to select comparable companies under the market law. If mistakes are made in the selection, the evaluation value will be distorted. Even if a comparable company with the same business profit model and business realization model is found, different interpretations of KPI quality will lead to deviations in the comparability of asset appraisal value.
III. Common risks and challenges in evaluation practice
In China's intangible assets evaluation system, there have been many discussions on intangible assets involved in traditional industries, and the evaluation criteria and operational norms are also improving in the use of income method and cost method. However, with the rapid development of innovation industry today, the definition of new intangible assets, the corresponding evaluation methods, standards and operational norms are still not perfect.
1 intangible assets evaluation risk in innovative industries
For innovative industries, the definition and valuation of intangible assets contained in their industries are relatively vague. Assets such as e-commerce platforms and social tools do not conform to tangible assets in form, but are not included in the traditional definition of intangible assets, but conform to intangible assets? Resources that have no physical form, can continue to play a role and can bring economic benefits? Property of. When evaluating the value of these assets, the market method is usually used, but there is a lack of more operational guidance system when selecting reference objects or comparable companies. Today, with the vigorous development of innovation industry, especially Internet enterprises, there are many financing or trading activities. When appraisers evaluate, if companies with similar scale are selected through KPI indicators and evaluated based on the financing amount or transaction amount of these similar companies, there will be a possibility of large deviation in the evaluation results. For example, when selecting comparable companies in the same sub-industry, generally, by comparing the total number of users, monthly active users (MAU), weekly active users (WAU), daily active users (DAU) and daily active time, and referring to the valuation of recent comparable transactions/companies, the evaluation values of companies with similar data scales converge. However, due to the inconsistent data quality, such as the quality of active users, the free distribution of income per active user, the different commercial liquidity and other factors, the evaluation results are likely to be distorted.
2 synergy valuation risk of M&A in industrial chain extension
In the process of M&A in industrial chain, there may be synergy between intangible assets. In traditional industries, in order to control raw material channels and reduce costs in the further development of a production enterprise, when evaluating the value of intangible assets such as patented technology of the acquired party, if the synergistic effect between intangible assets is considered, a higher asset valuation will be given. The valuation increment brought by synergy is more prominent and significant in innovative industries. For example, Aofei Animation (2292) acquired the Pleasant Goat brand production team for RMB 54 million in September 213, while the net asset value of the consulting port company with Pleasant Goat brand was only HK$ 54 million as of June 3, 213.
3 Measurement of impairment of intangible assets including goodwill
Because most intangible assets lack an active and transparent market, it is very challenging to determine the fair value of these assets or to conduct impairment test on intangible assets. Intangible assets such as copyright and patent right appear with the development of economy and technology, which is a process of continuous upgrading, so this kind of intangible assets has its life cycle. In addition, in most practical cases, the outsourced enterprises are integrated into the activities of the acquired enterprises, rather than operating independently, resulting in the self-created goodwill mixed with the outsourced goodwill or replacing part of the outsourced goodwill. This makes us pay attention to the measurement of impairment when evaluating intangible assets. At the same time, if the financial statements and audit reports of enterprises are not properly analyzed and interpreted, it will also interfere with the appraiser's proper impairment measurement of intangible assets including goodwill. The evaluation for the purpose of intangible assets impairment measurement is not for trading, but for reflecting the income increment brought to the enterprise on the premise of continuous use.
IV. Risk control of intangible assets appraisal
The risk control of intangible assets appraisal should run through the whole appraisal activity, and the effective means and approaches of risk control mainly cover the following aspects:
NO1
For appraisers, firstly, they should strengthen their professional competence, secondly, they should raise their awareness of professional risks, and finally, they should learn and abide by the basic principles of professional ethics to enhance their sense of responsibility and professional ethics.
NO2
When evaluating the value of the target assets, it is necessary to have a comprehensive grasp of the economic, political and cultural environment, laws and policies of the countries and regions where the assets are being evaluated, technical strength, competition barriers and strategic direction through detailed and professional due diligence, so as to make a relatively accurate judgment on the asset value. When appraisers lack knowledge of the industry in which the appraisal object is located, they should strengthen consultation and communication with experts in the industry such as accountants, lawyers, financial consultants and technical consultants. Especially for the new intangible assets in innovative industries, it is necessary to accurately understand and grasp the asset value with the help of professionals, so as to ensure the effectiveness of the evaluation.
NO3
In view of the complexity and difficulty in intangible assets appraisal, appraisers need to strengthen the study and accumulation of appraisal cases and comparable objects in peacetime, not only to fully consider the profit increment brought by the synergy effect in industry integration and mergers and acquisitions, but also to avoid overestimation of assets caused by excessive amplification of synergy effect.
NO4
in the process of evaluation, appraisers should not only refer to the measurement of intangible assets in enterprise financial statements and audit reports, but also avoid the interference in asset impairment test caused by incorrect interpretation, and avoid the possibility of deviation of evaluation results caused by taking transaction value or fair value as the in-use value of intangible assets. For traditional manufacturing enterprises, whether to master the core technology and whether this technology has become or will become the leading direction of the industry in the future is the most important thing related to the value of assets and must be fully valued.
NO5
in the process of intangible assets evaluation, we should not only identify the risks existing in the assets themselves, but also pay attention to the systemic risks such as macro-situation and government intervention. On the other hand, we should strengthen the research of evaluation theory, improve the evaluation parameters and data collection in the operation of evaluation methods, and enhance the scientificity and effectiveness of evaluation. ;