Identifiable Intangible Assets

Intangibles recognised at fair value when a company is bought, separately from goodwill, because they arise from a contract or could be sold on their own: customer relationships, developed technology, trade names, licences. A company that built them itself carries none of them on its balance sheet, so in an acquisition they are usually most of the write-up. Those with a finite life are amortised; an indefinite-lived trade name is tested for impairment instead.