International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS-3) in 2004 imposes mandatory reporting of intangible assets so as to enhance the level of transparency. In India, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has also issued an accounting standard regarding disclosure of intangible assets. Recent national and international guidelines direct companies to go through a more rigorous process of identifying and valuing acquired intangibles assets. There are number of methodologies intended to provide sufficient credible and consistent manner for valuation of these assets. But unfortunately the correct measurement of intangible assets has never been an easy task. Due to enormous difficulty in valuation and big risk of inaccurate measurement, there is still a big gap in the financial reporting of intangible assets. Valuation of intangible asset is still seen as a black art. In the light of the above facts, the present paper explores different methods for valuing acquired as well as self-generated intangible asset and discusses recent case studies concerning the valuation of generated and acquired intangible assets. The paper critically evaluates different methods of valuing intangible assets. The paper also attempts to put forward some suggestions to overcome the limitations of present financial reporting system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
