Goodwill refers to the potential economic value that can bring excess profits to the operation of enterprises in the future, or the capitalized value that the expected profitability of enterprises exceeds the normal profitability of identifiable assets (such as the average social return on investment). Goodwill is an integral part of the overall value of an enterprise. In business combination, it is the difference between the investment cost of the purchased enterprise and the fair value of the net assets of the merged enterprise.

Goodwill does not belong to the intangible assets of an enterprise. According to the Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises, intangible assets refer to identifiable non-monetary assets that are owned or controlled by enterprises and have no physical form. Criteria for identifiability include:

(1) can be separated or divided from the enterprise, and can be used for sale, transfer, license, lease or exchange alone or together with relevant contracts, assets or liabilities;

(2) From contractual rights or other legal rights, regardless of whether these rights can be transferred or separated from the enterprise or other rights and obligations.

Intangible assets mainly include patents, non-patented technologies, trademarks, copyrights, land use rights and concessions. The existence of goodwill is inseparable from the enterprise itself, and it is not identifiable, so it is not an intangible asset.

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