The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly affected the economic situation of many countries, which is worth considering not only globally but also in the context of specific industries. An asset that is particularly sensitive to negative economic changes is goodwill. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the pandemic on the quality of financial disclosures concerning goodwill in consolidated financial statements of groups of chosen strategic sectors in Poland. We investigated the implications of the pandemic on the frequency and scale of goodwill impairment in relation to 23 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange from the Energy, Mining, and Fuel Index. We identified the research gap in this area. For the purposes of this study, two research hypotheses were formulated: (H1) during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a slight improvement in the quality of goodwill disclosures in the consolidated financial statements of groups in the energy, fuel, and mining sectors; (H2) The COVID-19 pandemic caused a decrease in goodwill due to impairment losses in the consolidated financial statements of groups in the energy, fuel, and mining sectors. The hypotheses were verified on the basis of the above research sample. In order to verify the first hypothesis, we tested 81 consolidated financial statements for the years 2018–2021 based on a self-developed index of the quality of disclosed information. To verify the second hypothesis, we analyzed the frequency and scale of the estimated loss of goodwill during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the deterioration of the financial condition of the same research sample. The conducted research shows that the quality of disclosures regarding the goodwill in the examined sample has changed slightly. Contrary to our expectations, the pandemic did not materially reduce the value of goodwill. This means that the first hypothesis was verified positively, while the second hypothesis had to be rejected.

<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;">W artykule opisano rozwój polskiej rachunkowości od początku lat 90. XX w. do dnia dzisiejszego<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> w kontekście harmonizacji. Wyjaśniono, że zmiany były kształtowane przez dwa źródła międzynarodowych regulacji: MSSF i dyrektywy Unii Europejskiej. W efekcie polska rachunkowość reprezentuje model<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 9pt; color: #231f20; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;"> mieszany, łącząc w sobie cechy zarówno rozwiązań anglo-amerykańskich, jak i kontynentalnych.</span></span><br style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" /></span>

Purpose: Accounting for goodwill is one of the most controversial areas of financial reporting. For dec-ades, it has been subject to numerous changes, including options from writing it off to equity to keeping it permanently at cost. In the author’s opinion, this instability of the accounting approach results from an insufficient understanding of the economic essence of goodwill. There is a conflict between accounting regulations, where there is a clear trend to extend its useful life, and business logic, which defines good-will as an unstable and constantly evolving network of relationships between resources. The aim of this article is to analyze if the present accounting treatment of this item correctly reflects its economic es-sence. Methodology/approach: Research was carried out based on data obtained directly from the finan-cial statements of the top twenty listed entities in Poland, the UK, the USA, and Germany. Findings: Appropriate ratios have been calculated to substantiate the view that the entities take advantage of ac-counting regulations and, in practice, useful life ranges from 20 to over 100 years, depending on the country. Originality/value: Research has proven that the present accounting treatment in terms of recog-nition and measurement of goodwill is not in line with the economic essence of this balance sheet item.