ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide an overview of the complex issues and various approaches regarding the area of accounting for, and reporting of, intangibles. In particular, the analysis deals with the issues linked to the recognition, measure, and disclosure within and outside the traditional financial statements which are posed by the intangible economy to private organisations. The chapter examines the concept of intellectual capital (IC) as well as some of the innovative methods and forms of reporting which have been put forward to deal with such a problematic area. The attempt to measure IC has largely been driven by companies that rely heavily on knowledge as a key input to production. Companies that are creating measurement and reporting requirements are choosing to engage in benchmarking activities because they believe that such activities create value for them. Intellectual capital measurement can be approached from several viewpoints: internal versus external; qualitative versus quantitative; and monetary-based versus non-monetary-based.
