Intangible Assets: Global Experience in Valuation and Accounting

NMA: world experience of assessment and accounting - international standards, corporate practice and conclusions for Russia

Executive summary

The target audience of the report: state bodies of the Russian Federation, state property management bodies, large state corporations and companies with state participation, development institutions, industry regulators, financial directors, strategy services, evaluation, internal control and intellectual property management.

The main conclusion of the study: in the world economy, a gap has formed between the economic significance of intangible capital and its visibility in the balance sheet. HMA in the strict accounting sense is only part of the wider intangible capital: significant investments in organizational capital, data, brands, human capital, design, business processes and part of digital resources are not recognized as assets under the current rules. This gap is one of the reasons why IASB with 2024 the Year of Comprehensive Review IAS 38; in July 2026 The Board continued to discuss, inter alia, the definition of IA, SaaS, software, and new types of intangible resources, while without making final decisions1]

The scale of the problem is already macroeconomic. According to evaluation WIPO and London Business School, in a sample of 29 The economy, which is about 57% Global GDP, investments in intangible assets in 2025 the Year of Over $10 trillion In real terms for 2008–2025 The years have grown on average by about 3,5% Each year, approximately 3,6 times faster than material investments; the aggregate intensity of intangible investments has reached 12,8% GDP vs 11,8% GDP is material. [2]

However, the balance sheet does not reflect all this capital. The international statistical tradition, which dates back to the work of Corrado-Hulten-Sichel, includes not only non-material investments in R&D and software, but also organizational capital, design, marketing assets and a number of other competencies. It is this expanded approach that is used by the modern Global database INTAN-Invest WIPO. [3]

IFRS/IAS 38 b) builds recognition on identity and control: an IA is an identifiable non-monetary asset without physical form; it must be separable or arise from contractual or other legal rights. Among the typical objects IASB names software, licenses, trademarks, patents, films and copyrights. Own brands, publishing names, client lists and similar independently created objects IAS 38 It is forbidden to capitalize.]4]

US GAAP more conservative than most R&D: Topic 730 Requires, as a rule, to write off the costs of research and development in costs as they arise; there are special models for software. Acquired in business combinations identifiable IAs, by contrast, are recognised separately from goodwill by acquisition-date fair value. V September 2025 years FASB Gaz ASU 2025-06 internal-use software, and the issues of internally created NMA continue to be in the field of work FASB. [5]

The EU for consolidated statements of companies whose securities are traded in regulated markets uses the EU-approved IFRS; the mandatory regime has been in force for the relevant consolidated statements since 2005. In addition, Accounting Directive regulates national regimes: for example, it allows the capitalization of development costs in cases provided for by national law, and provides depreciation solutions for goodwill and development costs. [6]

China is a particularly interesting example for Russia, as it complements the classical regulation of IA with a special data resources regime. CAS 6 divides research and development: the research stage is related to expenses, and development stage costs can be recognized as an asset if the established conditions are met. With 1 January 2024, there are temporary rules for the accounting reflection of corporate data resources, including the disclosure of resources that have not met the criteria for recognition as an asset. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China is developing a standardized data assets assessment infrastructure - a library of standards, rules, indicators, models and cases. [7]

For M&A, the value of HMA is particularly high. The buyer recognizes those assets that the seller may not have at all on the balance sheet. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has resulted in a final purchase price $75,408 billion: $21,969 billion were assigned to identifiable IAs and $51,001 billion — on goodwill. From NMA $11,619 billion the Marketing-related Assets, $9,689 billion — technology-based and $0,661 billion — customer-related. [8]

This means that two economically similar companies — one grown organically, the other collected through acquisitions — can demonstrate significantly different accounting values of IA. This asymmetry is already at the heart of the discussion at IASB: the Council is explicitly addressing the issue of comparability internally generated and acquired intangible assets. [9]

Assessment of IA in international practice is based on three families of approaches: market, income and cost. IFRS 13 directly considers market, income and cost approaches as widely used valuation techniques; IVS provides an international professional assessment infrastructure. For brands usually used relief-from-royalty, for customer relations and key technologies — MPEEM, for contracts and non-compete — with-and-without, for licenses sometimes greenfield; for reproducible software systems and databases, replacement-cost approach is applicable10]

For Russia, the key conclusion is not to mechanically capitalize all intangible costs, but to create a two-circuit system:

Contour A — regulated balance sheet: FSBU 14/2022, tax accounting, audit, evaluation, impeachment, legally proven rights.
Contour B is a management register of intangible capital: R&D, patents, technologies, software, data, models AI, know-how, organizational capital, competencies, client/partner networks, licenses, digital twins and other resources - including those that cannot be recognized as accounting NMAs.

Such an architecture preserves the reliability of financial reporting, but eliminates the strategic “invisibility” of resources. In Russia, the basic regulatory platform already exists: FSBU 14/2022 It is required starting with the reporting of 2024 year, and FSO XI regulates the valuation of intellectual property and IA. Therefore, the task 2026–2030 The first is the integration of accounting, valuation, legal, technological and management contours, rather than the creation of another isolated standard11]

The economic nature of IA and the classification system

The terms “intangible asset”, “intellectual property” and “intangible capital” are not synonymous.

Po IAS 38 An IA is an identifiable non-monetary asset without a physical substance. Identity exists if the asset is separable — that is, potentially sold, transferred, or licensed — or arises from contractual or other legal rights12]

Intellectual property represents the legal category of rights - patents, trademarks, copyrights, industrial designs, trade secrets and other protected results. Not every economically valuable IA is a registered IP, and the registered right itself does not guarantee a significant economic value.

Intangible capital is a broader economic category. The modern macroeconomic tradition of Corrado-Hulten-Sichel extends the investment concept beyond accounting IAs, including knowledge, organizational competencies and other resources that can create a future release. This approach became the basis of subsequent international research into intangible investment. [3]

Working classification for public and corporate governance

It is therefore critical to separate the three perimeters: legally protected rights, accounting IAs and economic intangible capital. Their crossing is incomplete. IAS 38, For example, it explicitly excludes recognition of self-created brands, mastheads, publishing titles, and customer lists, although they may have obvious economic value13]

Therefore, the value of "NMA in the balance sheet" can not be used as a direct indicator of the technological or intellectual potential of the enterprise. This is particularly significant when comparing an organic business with a company actively acquiring technology through M&A. IASB addresses this issue in the framework of the ongoing project on Intangible Assets. [9]

International standards of recognition, accounting and taxation

Comparison of main systems

Sources of comparative table: IASB by IAS 38, IAS 36, IFRS 3 and the current Intangible Assets project; FASB by Topics 730/805 and ASU 2025-06; EU Regulation 1606/2002 and Accounting Directive; the Ministry of Finance of China CAS 6 and data resources; The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the official portal of legal information on the FSBU 14/2022 and FSO XI. [14]

IFRS: recognition, subsequent evaluation and disclosure

IAS 38 allows the recognition of only an identifiable resource that meets the requirements of the standard. For internally generated assets, the costs must be divided into research phase and development phase. Development can be capitalized only after meeting the established criteria, including technical feasibility, intent and the ability to complete the development/use or sell the result and the ability to reliably measure the costs involved. Own brands and client lists are not subject to capitalization. [15]

Once recognised, end-of-life assets are systematically depreciated over that period and are tested against impeachment on appropriate grounds. Assets with an indefinite period are not depreciated, but are subject to annual impairment checks. Similarly, goodwill and HMAs not yet available for use are tested annually. [16]

IAS 36 defines recoverable amount as the largest of fair value less costs of disposal and value in use. Consequently, an impairment is not an accounting formality, but a new assessment of an asset's ability or cash-generating unit to maintain its carrying amount. [17]

Of particular importance is IFRS 3: in M&A, the acquirer must separate the identifiable intangible assets from the goodwill. That is why a brand, technology or customer relationship that was not in the balance sheet of the acquired company can appear on the balance sheet of the buyer for the first time. [18]

US GAAP

US GAAP different from IFRS Especially with my R&D. Topic 730 The R&D costs are deducted as they arise FASB Historically, it explains uncertainty of future benefits, measurability problems, and weak direct correlation between the size of today's costs and future economic outcome19]

There is a more fragmented system. For software to be sold/leased/marketed, the costs before reaching the technological functionality are on R&D expense, after reaching the functionality and before the general release are capitalized. For internal-use software, Subtopic is used 350-40; in 2025 the Year FASB completed the corresponding project ASU 2025-06. [20]

In business combination, the American model, on the contrary, requires the recognition of identifiable assets and liabilities and the evaluation of the corresponding acquired HMA separately from goodwill. [21]

For public companies, goodwill is not systematically depreciated, but is tested on an impeachment-level reporting unit; FASB also provides an annual impeachment model for indefinite-lived intangible assets. [22]

European Union

Regulation No 1606/2002 has formed the European infrastructure for the application of international standards: the relevant public groups use IFRS, approved by the EU, for consolidated reporting. The current codification of approved international standards is contained, inter alia, in Regulation (EU) 2023/1803 with subsequent amendments. [23]

For companies located outside the corresponding IFRS-perimeter, Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU plays an essential role. It requires the systematic write-off of IA during a useful economic life and provides for national development cost decisions; if the term goodwill or development cost cannot be reliably determined, the Member State shall fix the period within the range permitted by the Directive. [24]

EFRAG has repeatedly fixed a more fundamental problem: the current system does not display a significant part of internally generated signals, which reduces the comparability of asset-light and knowledge-intensive companies. [25]

China

CAS 6 was published in 2006 Year and put into operation with 1 January 2007. The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China confirms the strict boundary between research and development: the costs of the research stage are recognized in the current result, and the costs of the development stage are capitalized only if the criteria of the standard are met; previously written-off costs cannot be retroactively restored as an asset26]

Especially important is the Chinese experiment with data as a managed economic resource. Temporary rules on enterprise data resources were published in August 2023 years and came into force 1 January 2024. They apply to data resources that meet recognition requirements, including as IAs or stocks, and provide for additional disclosure of controlled data resources that may generate economic benefits but have not been recognized due to non-compliance with criteria27]

In 2024, the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China demanded the development of a data assets evaluation system and directly designated the creation of a standard library, rule library, indicator library, model library and case library, as well as the use of digital technologies to predict their cost. This is no longer just an accounting standard, but an element of the industrial policy of intangible capital management. [28]

Timeline for regulatory development

Key Stages - Formation IAS 38, US Transition GAAP to impeachment-only goodwill, European mandatory application IFRS, CAS 6, the Russian FSBU 14/2022, Chinese data resources regulations and current revision IAS 38. [29]

On 30 August 2026 new edition IAS 38 Not yet accepted: 22 July 2026 IASB discussed potential changes to the definition and supporting requirements, using licensing/SaaS as a test case, but no decisions were made on the standard at that time. Therefore, organizations should not prematurely build accounting on the proposed future model IASB. [30]

Tax implications

The accounting value of IA and the tax base of IA can vary significantly, creating temporary differences and deducted tax on IAS 12. In M&A transactions, this is particularly noticeable: the fair-value step-up of the acquired IA is able to simultaneously form a deferred tax liability, which in turn affects the amount of goodwill. [31]

Sources: IRS on ?197 and ?174A, tax authorities of China, European Commission and Federal Tax Service of Russia. [32]

It is especially important for Russia that the 1 January 2025 The FTS points to the possibility of taking into account double the cost when forming the initial cost of certain high-tech NMAs, including exclusive rights to Russian software / databases and the results of research and development provided for by law; the application of the corresponding option should be fixed in the tax accounting policy33]

Valuation methods, depreciation, impairment and disclosure

Evaluation architecture

IFRS 13 establishes the general principle of fair value as a market valuation and distinguishes three widely used valuation approaches: market approach, income approach and cost approach. International standards for evaluation IVS provide a professional methodology for their application; current edition IVS has been updated in 2024 the Year of Application 2025 year, and in 2026 the Year IVSC Continued development IVS 210 Intangible Assets. [34]

It is important to distinguish:

the cost for financial statements, determined within IFRS/US GAAP;

market/fair value for M&A or independent valuation;

investment/strategic value to a specific owner;

tax value;

value-in-use or strategic value.

They don't have to match.

Comparison of approaches and methods

IFRS 13 explicitly allows for market, cost, and income approaches, but does not prescribe one universal method for IA. The choice of method is determined by the characteristics of the asset and the availability of data. In practice PPA The Big Four is widely described RFR, MPEEM, with-and-without and greenfield as options for a profitable approach to acquired intangible assets35]

Notes on basic methods

Relief-from-Royalty. Simplified conceptual formula:

where is the applicable tax effect, the discount rate, and terminal value is allowed only where it is compatible with the economic term of the asset. The method treats value as the present value of hypothetical royalty payments that the owner avoids by owning the object. [36]

Critical Assumptions: forecast revenue, royalty benchmark, legal territory of law, remaining useful life, tax rate, discount rate, competitive obsolescence.

MPEEM.

where is the contribution asset charges for the use of other resources, without which the estimated NMA would not create cash flow.

The key risk is to incorrectly attribute an excessively large portion of the return to one intangible asset or to double-count the benefits in multiple assets. That's why MPEEM is most appropriate for a single dominant income-generating asset rather than multiple interdependent IAs at the same time. Practice PPA The Big Four MPEEM, In particular, customer relationships, technologies and IPR&D. [37]

With-and-Without.

The method requires a realistic counterfactual scenario. When evaluating a non-compete, license or customer relationship, it is not necessary to model the “disappearance of the whole company”, but rather the economic consequence of the absence of a specific right.

Cost Approach. For software IFRS 13 illustrates the logic of current replacement cost: how much would a market participant today pay for the creation of a substitute asset comparable utility adjusted for functional/economic absolutes38]

That’s why the cost approach is especially useful for infrastructure software, datasets or libraries, but much weaker for the brand: a brand worth billions can be created by historical expenses that do not themselves explain the future premium margin.

Brands & ISO 10668

ISO 10668 sets the framework for monetary brand valuation: the purpose of the assessment, the basis, the approaches, the methods, the quality of the data and the requirements for the report. V 2026 the Year ISO It is also working to update the relevant standardization, which reflects the growing importance of brand valuation39]

Useful life and depreciation

The economic term of an IA is not determined solely by the legal term of protection. It should take into account the technological cycle, customer behavior, likelihood of replacement, competition, maintenance extenditure, contractual constraints, and the ability of the enterprise to continue to benefit.

For rapidly aging algorithms or technologies, economic life can be much shorter than the patent term; on the contrary, a trademark can legally be renewed repeatedly, which, under appropriate circumstances, can support indefinite-life assessment.

At Microsoft, after the purchase of Activision Blizzard, the final PPA gave sharply different terms: marketing-related intents - 24, technology-based - 4, customer-related - 4. This is a clear example of why a single "normative term of the NMA" is economically incorrect. [40]

Impairment as an area of assessed risk

Impairment is particularly sensitive to:

• revenue forecasts and margins;
• discount rate/WACC;
• long-term growth rate;
• probability of successful development;
• Regulatory approval period;
• market share and churn;
• technological substitution;
• royalty rates and useful lives.

Pfizer, for example, has an impairment of 2023 The year included about $2,8 billion, including $1,4 billion by IPR&D etrasimod and $964 Million by developed technology rights Prevnar 13; Reasons included changes in development plans, revenue expectations, transition to vaccines with wider coverage, and competitive pressures41]

Disclosure

A good disclosure of an IA should answer not only the question “how much is an asset on the balance sheet?” but at least five questions:

What is this resource → why is it controlled → as the value of → will last economic life → what assumptions can cause impeachment.

It is advisable for state corporations to go beyond the minimum requirements of accounting standards and disclose administratively significant data on patent families, technologies, software, data assets, critical know-how, terms of legal protection, monetization models, licensing, dependence on key specialists and cybersecurity - subject to the regime of state, commercial and technological secrecy.

Corporate practices, industries and impact on M&A

Cases of transnational companies

Sources for Microsoft, Pfizer, Disney, and industry model extractive industries. [42]

Microsoft also has a direct impact PPA for subsequent profit: depreciation intangible assets in fiscal 2025 Imprint $6,0 billion, Against $4,8 billion in 2024 and $2,5 billion in 2023. This means that the distribution of purchase price between amortised NMA and goodwill directly changes the post-deal learnings profile43]

Goodwill by Activision $51,001 billion and, as explained by Microsoft, was mainly related to the expected integration of synergies; almost all of this goodwill company considered not subject to tax deduction. This clearly shows that goodwill is not just a “bad value detail” but a residue that includes synergistic effects that are not separately identifiable by the IA44]

Technology sector

It is dominated by:

Software and algorithms; databases; patents; trained models and model-related know-how; developer ecosystems; customer relations; cloud/SaaS contractual rights; brand; organizational know-how.

The main accounting problem is the gap between value creation and capitalization. The huge costs of developers and research can immediately reduce profits, while the acquisition of similar technology through M&A creates an identical intuitive asset. FASB and IASB both continue to work on software/intangibles; IASB specifically considers agile development, cloud/SaaS, AI and data as test cases of modernity45]

For the state, this means that the balance sheet of a state-owned IT company cannot be the only source of assessment of its technological capital.

Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology

Critical NMAs: patents, compound rights, licenses, IPR&D, regulatory dossiers, developed technology, trademarks.

A unique feature is the optional and probabilistic nature of value. The drug may have a huge expected value before the end of the tests, but this cost is determined by the probabilities of transition between phases, the period before launch, patent exclusivity, pricing/reimbursement and competitive landscape.

The Pfizer case demonstrates this volatility: the adjustment of development plans and commercial forecasts can cause billions of dollars of influence charges. [41]

For the evaluation of pharmaceutical IPR&D, therefore, probability-adjusted DCF/rNPV is more useful than the mechanical capitalization of historical R&D cost.

Media and entertainment

Critical objects: content libraries, copyrights, character franchises, brands, distribution rights, subscriber/customer relationships.

Here, the main risk is not physical wear and tear, but a change in the mode of consumption. Disney has already fixed major impeachment charges as during COVID-19, and later in linear entertainment46]

The cost of a media asset should therefore be associated with an active audience, engagement, retention, monetization per user, licensing potential, and realigning economic relevance of content.

Energy

In the energy sector, a significant part of the intangible economy is distributed among several standards: mineral/exploration rights, licenses, concessions, seismic/geological data, patents, software, control algorithms, grid models, customer contracts, carbon-related rights.

IFRS 6 specifically regulates exploration and evaluation expansion; the costs of development mineral resources already come out of this perimeter and interact with others IFRS, including IAS 38 where appropriate. This makes the energy sector a good example of why a single corporate register of intangible capital should be wider than one accounting line "MA"47]

For Russia, this is especially important for geological data, subsoil use licenses, technological models of production, software, digital twins of deposits, proprietary process know-how and R&D results.

HMA in M&A: systemic effect

Simplified purchase price allocation can be represented as:

taking into account other assets, liabilities, deferred taxes and the requirements of the applicable standard.

Therefore, the assessment of IA changes simultaneously:

goodwill cost; future depreciation; EBIT/operating profit; deferred tax; future impeachment risk; ROA/ROIC; post-merger KPI.

This creates a conflict of incentives. Other things being equal, a greater distribution per finite-lived intangibles increases future depreciation; a greater distribution in goodwill reduces scheduled depreciation for public IFRS/US-GAAP model, but increases the concentration of impact risk. Science literature really does consider goodwillPPA as an area of significant management dissection and potential early management48]

That is why for large state M&A, the independence of the evaluation function must be institutionally separated from the team, KPI of which depend on immediate improvement of post-deal learnings.

IA in the national economy: data, infrastructure, risks and new tools

Intangible investment as a macroeconomic category

The current capital structure is changing faster than the financial reporting system. Po WIPO, in 2025 the Year of Intangible Investments 29 The observed economies have exceeded $10 trillion; aggregate intent-investment intensity achieved 12,8% GDP. The United States had 15,6%, France 15,2%, a Sweden — 17,4% GDP. [2]

Important: these figures are not the book value of the IA. These are macroeconomic investment estimates of the broader intangible capital. It is impossible, for example, to take the indicator WIPO 12,8% and use it as a normative share of NMA in the Russian corporate balance sheet.

For the EU, the link between intellectual property and economic structure is also significant. By research EUIPO 2026, IPR-intense industries provided 30,6% the EU Employment and 47,9% economic activity/GDP on average 2021–2023 years; they received more 88% considered by private-equity/venture funding startups49]

This does not mean that 47,9% GDP is "created only by patents": EUIPO classifies the industry as IPR-intensive in terms of IP usage and emphasizes intersections of different types of rights. But the indicator demonstrates the system connection of IP and the most capital-intensive innovation chains. [50]

Proposed circular chart of the structure of the intangible investment

For international benchmark it is advisable to visualize the structure based on categories WIPO/Global INTAN-Invest. The chart below is illustrative: the shares are rounded to whole values from the published distribution and should not be interpreted as a structure of Russian IAs or as a balance sheet.

The main analytical meaning of this diagram is organizational resources, R&D and software/data are comparable in economic importance to the traditional patent-brand concept of IA, but a significant part of them does not appear as a recognized asset. The international base WIPO develops the extended concept of Corrado-Hulten-Sichel. [51]

Regulatory shift to data

Chinese experience shows the possible direction of the next generation of regulation: not to declare all data as an asset, but to create conditions for recognition, disclosure and a separate data resources management infrastructure. C 2024 Chinese companies have received a special accounting framework, and public policy simultaneously requires the development of standards for the evaluation and control of data assets52]

In 2026, China also published a national data assets classification and coding standard, which refers to existing Chinese HMA classification standards and to ISO 55013 for data assets management. This indicates a shift from single-entry accounting entries to a machine-readable asset class management infrastructure. [53]

Registers as a basic tool

For a large corporation, a quality register of IA must contain at least:

Resource ID → owner/controlling organization → Legal basis → Author/developer → Territory → term of law → Accounting status → tax status → valuation basis → cost → Method → date of evaluation → useful life → impairment triggers → Product/R&D → cybersecurity classification → KPI → history.

Russian infrastructure already has some elements of such a system. Rospatent maintains open registers of industrial property objects; GIS/single electronic infrastructure for maintaining state registers of intellectual activity results is developing. [54]

For subsoil use, Rosnedra uses an information licensing system with GISFunctionality of Spatial Analysis. This provides a natural basis for the connection of law + Geography + Resource + Technology + Valuation in the energy sector. [55]

GIS

GIS is especially useful where the value of the NMA is tied to the territory:

Subsoil use licenses; concessions; infrastructure rights; spectrum rights; natural resources; geological datasets; territorial brands; breeding achievements; IP used in specific production facilities.

For public administration, this allows you to move from the IMA table to the spatial balance of intellectual and technological rights.

Blockchain / distributed ledger

A distributed ledger is potentially useful not for "creating value" of an IA, but primarily for:

timestamping of origin → evidence version → chain of title → licensing → fixation transfer rights → audit trail.

WIPO noted the blockchain's potential to fix creation time and rights information, and EUIPO since 2021 developed European IP Registers in Blockchain. [56]

However, blockchain cannot be turned into an end in itself. It does not automatically prove economic value, does not replace the legal validity of the law and does not eliminate the error of the original data. It is important that your own service WIPO PROOF was discontinued in January 2022 The availability of timestamping technology does not yet guarantee a long-term institutional service model57]

Therefore, for Russia the priority should be:

Unified semantics and identifier NMA → legally significant register → API → versioning/audit trail → only then choose blockchain or conventional trusted database.

Estimated uncertainty and manipulation

NMAs are among the most judgment-intensive reporting objects. The fewer deals observed, the greater the role of Level 3 assumptions: sales forecasts, royalty rates, churn, useful life, terminal growth, and discount rate.

Main channels of manipulation:

over-capitalization of own costs → artificial increase in profit;

overrated useful life → understatement depreciation exploit;

aggressive royalty rate or optimistic DCF → Fair value is overvalued;

too high goodwill in PPA → Lower systematic post-deal depreciation;

delayed impeachment → retention of inflated assets and earnings;

Transfer price IP → transfer of profits between jurisdictions.

Studies do find a link between goodwill/impairment discrimination and PPA with research-management indicators, and European tax authorities separately consider transfer pricing and placement patents as a potential channel of profit shifting. [58]

Cyber Risks

An intangible asset can lose value without destroying the physical infrastructure. Leakage of source code, trade secrets, training set, engineering documentation or access keys can deprive the resource of exclusivity, reduce licensing potential or destroy competitive advantage.

NIST in industrial cybersecurity research noted IP theft as one of the leading cyberthreats for advanced manufacturing; wider NIST-materials refer to the economic consequences of cyber incidents business interference, fines, response costs and misappropriation of information59]

Hence the principal conclusion:

Cyber security HMA should be part of the valuation and implementation system, not just the security function.

For a critical asset, the registry should contain its cyber-classification, location, backup/recovery status, privileged-access map, third-party exposure, and assessment of the loss-of-exclusive effect on value.

Recommendations for Russian practice and state-corporate policy

Russia has already taken a significant step: the FSBU 14/2022 is used from the reporting period of 2024, and the FSO XI forms the professional basis for the assessment of intellectual property and IA. The next stage should be built not as another reform of the plan of accounts, but as a national system of intangible capital management. [60]

Legal Outline

The first direction is to create a single passport of an intangible resource applicable to state corporations and largest companies with state participation.

It should not mean automatic recognition of each object of the IA in the balance sheet. The passport should independently indicate:

legal status; accounting status; tax status; valuation status; security status; state significance.

This eliminates the fundamental error "if an object is not in the balance sheet, then it does not exist as an economic asset."

For IP created under a government contract or with budget co-financing, a machine-readable chain should be provided:

Methodological outline

The sectoral methodological profiles of the IA should be approved, rather than trying to apply one model to the entire economy.

Methodical requirements should prohibit the use of a single value number without interval/sensitivity analysis for material Level-3-type valuations.

For a meaningful NMA, the report must show a minimum base/downside/upside case and sensitivity to the three main assumptions.

Institutional Outline

It is advisable to form a national methodological platform for the assessment and statistics of the NMA on the principle close to the Chinese architecture:

Library of objects → library of methods → Parameter Library → library royalty/transaction benchmarks → library useful lives → the Impairment Cases Library → Industry Indexes.

Chinese data assets policy explicitly assumes similar standard/rule/indicator/model/case libraries. [61]

The Russian contour can be built on a bundle:

Minfin → Ministry of Economic Development/Assessment Community → Rospatent → Rosstat → FNS → Sectoral Departments → Rosimushchestvo → State Corporation → development institutions.

The accounting value remains within the competence of the applicable standards, and a single platform creates a benchmark infrastructure, not the administrative “state patent price”.

The two-contour balance of intangible capital

It is recommended for state corporations to form annually:

Financial layer: recognized intangible assets + goodwill + depreciation + impact.

Strategic layer: all controlled intangible capital, including unrecognized resources.

Example:

It is this approach that allows not to destroy the reliability of accounting by excessive capitalization, but at the same time to give the state a real map of intellectual capital.

NMA and system KPI

In the public sector, it is dangerous to stimulate management of KPI "growth of the carrying amount of IA": it can be performed through M&A, cost capitalization or optimistic estimates without creating a real economic effect.

It is more correct to build a chain from resource to result:

This means that the unit of efficiency is not the patent itself, but the economic output of the controlled technology.

KPI national and corporate level

A limited set of cross-cutting indicators is appropriate for authorities and state corporations.

The absolute amount of IA should not become a key state indicator: the inter-industry comparability of such a sum is low, and the incentive to overestimation is too large.

Funding under IP

The next level of maturity is the use of qualitatively identified and evaluated IA for financing, collateral structures, licensing and securitization where legally and economically permissible.

the European Institutions 2026 The IP-backed finance is separately examined and noted that one of the reasons for the weak use of IP as collateral remains the lack of clarity and acceptance of the relevant assets by creditors62]

Therefore, the state stimulation of IP-backed lending in Russia should begin not with the mandatory acceptance of a patent by the bank as collateral, but with:

due diligence standard; encumbrance register; uniform valuation reports; statistics recoveries; secondary market; insurance of individual risks; recovery procedures.

Tax policy

Russian tax incentives are already moving in the direction of priority technological NMA 2025 For a number of Russian programs, databases, AI-related and certain R&D-generated rights, increasing coefficients are provided33]

The next principle should be that the tax incentive depends not only on the fact of purchase or registration of the asset, but also on meaningful technological activities. Otherwise, the system risks stimulating legal re-registration of rights instead of developing technologies.

For international groups, a separate control is necessary:

DEMPE-like economics → Where technology is created → What is R&D Risk → Who controls the IP → Where is Royalty → What is arm's-length valuation.

The international experience of the EU shows that placing patents and royalty flows can become a profit shifting tool, so IP support policies must simultaneously have an anti-abuse layer. [63]

Roadmap of Russia for the management of IA to 2030

The proposed roadmap assumes that FSBU 14/2022 and FSO XI are already in operation; therefore, the goal is not to replace the current accounting regulation, but to create an integrated state-corporate system over it. [64]

Priority for the year 2026: not the reassessment of millions of objects, but the inventory and classification. Without a credible owner, legal nature, source of creation, product relationships, and cybersecurity, any monetary valuation would create false accuracy.

Priority 2027: Evaluation governance. For a significant IA, the state group must store the model, initial assumptions, evaluation date, confidence interval, scripts, reviewer, and audit trail.

Priority 2028: data/software/AI. Chinese experience shows that data-resource accounting is becoming an independent regulatory direction; IASB simultaneously considers data, AI, software and SaaS as part of the modernization IAS 38. It is more rational for Russia to create a data-asset register in advance, without expecting the mandatory accounting capitalization of all such resources. [65]

Priority 2029: IA funding. Only after accumulating transaction history, recoveries, and valuation accuracy is it reasonable to scale IP-backed finance.

Priority 2030 Year: Linking Corporate Registers to Macroeconomics. WIPO shows that the intangible investment has already become comparable and surpasses the intangible investment in terms of the share of GDP in the observed population of developed and large economies. Russian industrial policy, which measures only buildings, machine tools and financial investments, will systematically underestimate the technological basis of production2]

The resulting policy architecture can be reduced to seven principles:

Not to capitalize everything — to identify everything essential. IAS 38 US and GAAP maintain conservativeness is not accidental: the cost of many internally generated resources can not be reliably separated from the value of the business as a whole66]

Divide the accounting and strategic value. An unrecognized resource in the financial balance sheet can be critical to technological sovereignty.

Evaluate the script, not just the number. Sensitivity analysis and uncertainty range are required for material HMA.

Link the IA to the product and cash flow. A patent without implementation should not automatically improve KPI.

Link M&A to follow-up control of goodwill. Microsoft/Activision shows the scale PPA: at the price $75,408 billion Goodwill $51,001 billion, the Identifiable Intangibles — $21,969 billion Such amounts require years of monitoring of the actual implementation of synergies44]

Make data assets a separate direction. Here the most interesting state benchmark today is provided by China. [52]

Consider cyber security as part of value preservation. Theft of know-how or data is not only an IT incident, but a potential economic asset’s impact. [59]

As a result, by 2030 for a large Russian state corporation, the target model should look not like one line of “Intangible Assets” in the balance sheet, but as a related system:

This is the most significant lesson of world experience: the modern system of IA is no longer only accounting for intellectual property. It is an infrastructure for managing knowledge, rights, data, technology, cost and risk throughout the entire life cycle of intangible capital. Movement IASB the Comprehensive Review IAS 38, work FASB over software/intangibles, Chinese data asset institutionalization and the growing macroeconomic dimension of intangible investment WIPO point in one direction - from the static accounting of individual rights to the management of the intangible production base of the economy67]

[1] [4] [12] [13] [14] [29] https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ias-38-intangible-assets/

https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ias-38-intangible-assets/

[2] https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/world-intangible-investment-highlights-2026/en/key-trends-and-insights.html

https://www.wipo.int/web-publications/world-intangible-investment-highlights-2026/en/key-trends-and-insights.html

[3] [51] https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/measuring-capital-new-economy

https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/measuring-capital-new-economy

[5] [19] https://storage.fasb.org/BMHO20220622.pdf

https://storage.fasb.org/BMHO20220622.pdf

[6] [23] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2002/1606/oj/eng

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2002/1606/oj/eng

[7] https://www.mof.gov.cn/jrttts/202312/t20231220_3923180.htm

https://www.mof.gov.cn/jrttts/202312/t20231220_3923180.htm

[8] [40] [42] [43] [44] https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar25/index.html

https://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar25/index.html

[9] https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/meetings/2025/february/iasb/ap17a-update-on-feedback.pdf

https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/meetings/2025/february/iasb/ap17a-update-on-feedback.pdf

[10] [34] [35] IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement

https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ifrs-13-fair-value-measurement/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[11] https://minfin.gov.ru/ru/document/?id_4=136833-novoe_v_bukhgalterskom_zakonodatelstve_fakty_i_kommentarii

https://minfin.gov.ru/ru/document/?id_4=136833-novoe_v_bukhgalterskom_zakonodatelstve_fakty_i_kommentarii

[15] [66] https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ias38.html

https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ias38.html

[16] IFRS - IAS 38 Intangible Assets

https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ias-38-intangible-assets/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[17] IAS 36 Impairment of Assets

https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/ias-36-impairment-of-assets/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[18] https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ifrs3.html

https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ifrs3.html

[20] https://storage.fasb.org/PCC-Topic%202-PublicMtg-20240418.pdf

https://storage.fasb.org/PCC-Topic%202-PublicMtg-20240418.pdf

[21] https://www.fasb.org/page/PageContent?bcpath=tff&pageId=%2Freference-library%2Fsuperseded-standards%2Fsummary-of-statement-no-141-revised-2007.html

https://www.fasb.org/page/PageContent?bcpath=tff&pageId=%2Freference-library%2Fsuperseded-standards%2Fsummary-of-statement-no-141-revised-2007.html

[22] https://www.fasb.org/page/PageContent?isStaticPage=true&pageId=%2Fstaticpages%2Fgoodwill-impairment-testing.html

https://www.fasb.org/page/PageContent?isStaticPage=true&pageId=%2Fstaticpages%2Fgoodwill-impairment-testing.html

[24] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX%3A02013L0034-20211221

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX%3A02013L0034-20211221

[25] https://www.efrag.org/system/files/sites/webpublishing/Meeting%20Documents/2006231244542621/04-02%20Draft%20Discussion%20Paper.pdf

https://www.efrag.org/system/files/sites/webpublishing/Meeting%20Documents/2006231244542621/04-02%20Draft%20Discussion%20Paper.pdf

[26] https://kzp.mof.gov.cn/content.jsp?class_id=01_21&infoid=1626

https://kzp.mof.gov.cn/content.jsp?class_id=01_21&infoid=1626

[27] [52] [65] https://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/caijingshidian/renminwang/202308/t20230828_3904233.htm

https://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/caijingshidian/renminwang/202308/t20230828_3904233.htm

[28] [61] https://zcpgzx.mof.gov.cn/zcfg/202401/t20240112_3925778.htm

https://zcpgzx.mof.gov.cn/zcfg/202401/t20240112_3925778.htm

[30] IFRS - Intangible Assets

https://www.ifrs.org/projects/work-plan/intangible-assets/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[31] https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ias12.html

https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ias12.html

[32] https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/intangibles

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/intangibles

[33] https://www.nalog.gov.ru/rn28/news/activities_fts/15704623/

https://www.nalog.gov.ru/rn28/news/activities_fts/15704623/

[36] https://viewpoint.pwc.com/dt/gx/en/ivsc/international_valuat/international_valuat_INT/international_valuat_INT/International-Valuation-Standards/Asset-Standards/IVS-210-Intangible-Assets/60_Income_Approach.html

https://viewpoint.pwc.com/dt/gx/en/ivsc/international_valuat/international_valuat_INT/international_valuat_INT/International-Valuation-Standards/Asset-Standards/IVS-210-Intangible-Assets/60_Income_Approach.html

[37] https://viewpoint.pwc.com/dt/uk/en/pwc/manual_of_accounting/ifrs/ifrs_INT/ifrs_INT/05_fair_value_ifrs_1_INT/common_areas_of_appl_INT.html

https://viewpoint.pwc.com/dt/uk/en/pwc/manual_of_accounting/ifrs/ifrs_INT/ifrs_INT/05_fair_value_ifrs_1_INT/common_areas_of_appl_INT.html

[38] IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement

https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2025/issued/ifrs13-ie.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[39] ISO 10668:2010 - Brand valuation

https://www.iso.org/standard/46032.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[41] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78003/000007800325000017/pfe-12312024xex99.htm

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78003/000007800325000017/pfe-12312024xex99.htm

[45] https://www.fasb.org/page/PageContent?pageId=%2Fprojects%2Frecently-completed-projects%2Faccounting-for-and-disclosure-of-software-costs.html

https://www.fasb.org/page/PageContent?pageId=%2Fprojects%2Frecently-completed-projects%2Faccounting-for-and-disclosure-of-software-costs.html

[46] https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1744489/000174448921000074/R9.htm

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1744489/000174448921000074/R9.htm

[47] https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ifrs6.html

https://www.ifrs.org/content/dam/ifrs/publications/html-standards/english/2026/issued/ifrs6.html

[48] [58] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0882611015000127

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0882611015000127

[49] [50] https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/publications/ip-and-innovation-in-european-sectors

https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/publications/ip-and-innovation-in-european-sectors

[53] https://zcgls.mof.gov.cn/zhengcefabu/202607/P020260717331855291500.pdf

https://zcgls.mof.gov.cn/zhengcefabu/202607/P020260717331855291500.pdf

[54] https://online.rospatent.gov.ru/open-data/open-registers

https://online.rospatent.gov.ru/open-data/open-registers

[55] https://rosnedra.gov.ru/activity/tsifrovizatsiya/perechen_informatsionnykh_sistem_nakhodyashchikhsya_v_vedenii_federalnogo_agentstva_po_nedropolzovan/

https://rosnedra.gov.ru/activity/tsifrovizatsiya/perechen_informatsionnykh_sistem_nakhodyashchikhsya_v_vedenii_federalnogo_agentstva_po_nedropolzovan/

[56] https://www.wipo.int/en/web/wipo-magazine/articles/blockchain-transforming-the-registration-of-ip-rights-and-strengthening-the-protection-of-unregistered-ip-rights-55817

https://www.wipo.int/en/web/wipo-magazine/articles/blockchain-transforming-the-registration-of-ip-rights-and-strengthening-the-protection-of-unregistered-ip-rights-55817

[57] https://www.wipo.int/en/web/wipo-proof

https://www.wipo.int/en/web/wipo-proof

[59] https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2016/12/28/cyberrisk_manu_fullstudy_landscape_brochure_lpxcic07_06_17_7101_finalfor.pdf

https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2016/12/28/cyberrisk_manu_fullstudy_landscape_brochure_lpxcic07_06_17_7101_finalfor.pdf

[60] https://minfin.gov.ru/ru/perfomance/accounting/accounting/standart/positions/

https://minfin.gov.ru/ru/perfomance/accounting/accounting/standart/positions/

[62] IP-backed finance in Europe: state of play and future... - EUIPO

https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/publications/IP-backed-finance-in-Europe-state-of-play-and-future-perspectives?utm_source=chatgpt.com

[63] https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/9f5e88ae-eabc-4c44-952c-c09ed2ee8103_en

https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/9f5e88ae-eabc-4c44-952c-c09ed2ee8103_en

[64] https://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202206280008

https://publication.pravo.gov.ru/Document/View/0001202206280008

[67] IASB launches comprehensive review of accounting for...

https://www.ifrs.org/news-and-events/news/2024/04/iasb-launches-comprehensive-review-accounting-for-intangibles/?utm_source=chatgpt.com