A key conceptual question relating to including in financial statements an amount relating to synergies is whether the amount is a faithful representation of an assets. That is, does the amount of the synergies simply represent a second, potentially relevant, measurement of the group of assets or are synergies obtained from combining assets of the entity an additional asset of the entity (Barth and Landsman 1995)? Resolving this question involves determining whether synergies meet the assets definition and the appropriate unit of account for the assets, both of which are beyond the scope of this paper. Another question that would need to be addressed is how to determine which groups of the entity’s assets should have aggregate measurements; if the groups are defined too narrowly or too broadly, the usefulness of reporting the synergies measurement would be diminished.
Measurement Effects on Items in the Statements of Comprehensive Income and Cash Flow