What is Impairment of Assets?
An asset is said to be impaired when the carrying amount of the asset is more than its recoverable amount. By standards at each reporting date, all assets are reviewed for impairments.
Carrying Amount and Recoverable Amount
The carrying amount is the book value at which an asset is recorded in the financial statements. For inventory, the carrying amount can be its purchase cost and carriage paid on it. Recoverable value is the amount that can be recovered by either using an asset or by selling an asset. So the recoverable amount is the higher of value in use, and fair value less cost to sell.
Indications of Impairment and Impairment Test
There can be multiple indications suggesting that the asset might be impaired. Whenever there is an indication that an asset might be impaired, the recoverable amount should be calculated and any impairment loss should be recognized in the income statement. Some common examples of events that may indicate that an asset might be impaired are physical damage occurred to the asset, decrease in the reselling value of old asset due to technological advancement, natural disaster causing damage to the asset, expiration of rights to use assets resulting in inability to use and recover the carrying amount, etc.