Who is this article for?

Users who want to learn about the Impairments database.

No special access or permissions are required.

The Audit Analytics Impairments database provides comprehensive coverage of all domestic SEC registrant disclosures of charges for impairments to assets, including securities or goodwill.

1. Understanding the Impairments database

An impairment is an accounting principle that represents the permanent reduction in the value of a non-cash company asset. An asset's fair value, cash flow, and future benefits are regularly tested, so when these fall below the asset's book value, then the difference between the values are written off. This results in the asset's value declining on the balance sheet.

The database covers all domestic SEC registrant disclosures under Rule ASC 350 and ASC 260. Per SEC requirements, this includes all '33 and '34 Act filers.

The Impairments database is available online, through WRDS, and as data feeds [Feed65] with the relevant subscription.

Note: Saved Search Alert is available. Daily Summary Email is not available.

2. Using the database for research and analysis

The Impairments database supports several common research applications:

• Benchmark impairments by industry, sector, or size
• Research trends involving the largest impairments
• Analyse key data points including reasons and characteristics of impairment, impact on pre-tax income (including earnings per share (EPS), if disclosed), impairment disclosure text, and impairment classification
• Review impairment classification including goodwill, intangibles, and property, plant, and equipment (PP&E)
• Use impairments as a factor to gauge financial reporting quality

3. Understanding data collection sources

The impairments data is sourced from the following form types:

• XBRL
• Annual filings
• 8-K Item 2.06 Material Impairments disclosures

4. Searching for impairments

The Impairments search page offers the following filters to refine your results:

• Name	Description	Data Dictionary Field(s)	Sort By?
  Search by Ticker or CIK Code	Filter results to a specific population	CIK Code  Ticker	Yes
  Market Index	Filter for Market Index	N/A	No
  Search by Keyword	Search for impairment containing keyword	N/A	No
  Impairment Types	Filter by normalized type of impairment	Impairment Type	No
  Additional Descriptions	Filter by additional descriptive characteristics of the impairment	Additional Description(s)	No
  Impairment Amount	Filter by either pre- or after-tax amount of the impairment charge (in USD)	Impact on Pretax Income (USD) Impact on Net Income (USD)	Yes
  Market Cap	Filter by a range of companies’ market caps	Market Cap ($)	Yes
  Revenues	Filter by a range of companies’ revenue	Revenue ($)	Yes
  Search Industries	Filter by companies’ industry(s)	SIC Code NAICS Code	No
  Company Location	Filter by current business address location(s)	State Name  Region  County	No
  Period Ended	Filter by period end date for this reporting period	Period End Date	Yes
  File Date	Filter by a range of filing dates	Source Date	Yes

5. Viewing and exporting results

Results can be viewed at the bottom of the page. The following are accessible through clicking the respective hyperlinks:

• Impairments Data Dictionary download
• CSV file downloads of the results
• Overview of individual companies' profile
• Filing type (opens the SEC file for a given entry)

All fields available in the CSV are defined in the Data Dictionary. All impairments of a given company are available for viewing on the company's overview profile.