This paper studies the identity transitions of East German audit recruits during the fundamental ideological, economic, and societal change brought about by the reunification of Germany in 1990. Integrating the identity work literature with key concepts from Pierre Bourdieu and Erving Goffman, we build on semi-structured interviews with two groups of recruits—university graduates and former state auditors—to explore and theorize the marked differences observed in these recruits' transition processes. In line with wider processes of territorial stigmatization, we argue that the West German audit firms pragmatically instrumentalized their local personnel, seeking to deploy them without intending to integrate them into the profession. In turn, the audit recruits met with this exertion of symbolic violence by managing a ‘spoiled identity’. The university graduates found it easier to recognize and accumulate legitimate forms of capital, thereby submitting themselves to the inculcation of the profession's socialization process, which ultimately yielded their institution into the profession. In contrast, the former state auditors' local knowledge and access to client networks provided immediately useful capital to the West German firms, which, however, sought to retain a status differential vis-à-vis these recruits. As a result of such strategies of condescension, the former state auditors maintained key aspects of their identity as a salient part of their self-conception. We further highlight the role of the local audit offices in the recruits' transition processes, as they evolved from flexible spaces, which allowed for experimentation and improvisation, into more structured units. This process embedded professional values and practices, thereby creating localized office identities.

This article studies accountability demands at an educational institution following extreme changes of societal conditions, as observed in Nazi Germany (1933–1945). We refer to the Handelshochschule Leipzig founded as the first free-standing business school in Germany to show how the Nazi doctrine made its way into this university, affecting academics on both the organizational and the individual levels. As political accountability became a dominant governance instrument, most academics submitted to this new accountability regime. They became subjects of accountability, who can only be understood by the norms that were imposed on them. The change in accountability demands created considerable challenges for individuals, and, ex post, it may be impossible to ascertain their moral attitudes and how they attempted to cope with ensuing ethical dilemmas.

This article discusses the effect of deferred tax liabilities (DTLs) on an impairment test of goodwill. While IAS 12.66 acknowledges that DTLs arising in a business combination influence the amount of goodwill an entity recognises, International Financial Reporting Standards are silent on the implications of this rule, in particular that DTLs trigger a ‘day one’ impairment of goodwill. To avoid this impairment charge, the professional literature suggests deducting DTLs from the carrying amount of the cash generating unit. This method appears contentious conceptually and is unable to shield the entity from an impairment in subsequent periods. The article discusses four proposed solutions to the problem, but recommends a conceptual re-think of the mechanical recognition of deferred taxes in a business combination.

Die bilanzielle Abbildung von Unternehmenszusammenschlüssen nach IFRS 3 stellt Erwerber regelmäßig vor große Herausforderungen. Der dabei maßgebliche beizulegende Zeitwert steht im Spannungsfeld zwischen Relevanz und glaubwürdiger Darstellung und ein nach IFRS bilanzierender Erwerber ist angehalten, die Verlässlichkeit der Kaufpreisallokation zu überprüfen. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt theoretisch sowie anhand eines Fallbeispiels Plausibilisierungsmöglichkeiten vor, mittels derer die Ergebnisse eines Unternehmenserwerbs überprüft werden können. Dabei gelangen sowohl eine Analyse der internen Verzinsung (IRR) als auch eine Untersuchung der gewichteten vermögenswertspezifischen Zinssätze (WARA) zur Anwendung.

This paper analyzes the benefits of a pre-deal purchasing price allocation (pre-deal PPA), which acquirers have come to integrate into an acquisition process to examine the effects of a potential acquisition on the acquirer’s financial statements. The authors take a management perspective and iestigate if the tool improves the comprehensiveness and quality of acquisition decisions. Based on an exploratory analysis using the results of semi-structured interviews with 24 accounting professionals from 19 Germany-based companies, the authors conduct a qualitative content analysis to identify the method’s benefits in the context of friendly acquisitions. The results suggest that, subject to cost-benefit considerations, a pre-deal PPA increases decision quality and leads to more comprehensive acquisition decisions. Furthermore, the paper proposes several best practice approaches to improve the implementation of a pre-deal PPA.