# Impairment

*Accounting & Reporting — Finicade finance glossary*

An impairment writes an asset down when its carrying value exceeds what it can recover. Goodwill impairments are the largest and most telling: they're an admission that an acquisition was overpaid for. They're non-cash and companies rush to label them one-off, but a pattern of impairments is a pattern of capital allocation failures, and the cash left the building years earlier.

**Also known as:** writedown, impairment charge, goodwill impairment

**Related terms:** [Goodwill](https://finicade.com/glossary/goodwill), [Fair Value](https://finicade.com/glossary/fair-value), [Depreciation](https://finicade.com/glossary/depreciation), [Write-Off](https://finicade.com/glossary/write-off), [Non-GAAP Earnings](https://finicade.com/glossary/non-gaap-earnings)

Source: https://finicade.com/glossary/impairment