Cash is king? Declino e rinascita dei metodi finanziari nella valutazione delle aziende e nell'impairment test dell avviamento

Cash flow methods are the most suitable in order to estimate the true value of companies, which mainly depends on their ability to generate liquidity (cash is king) and are based on sound scientific theories (such as the Modigliani - Miller model). The concrete estimate of cash flows is however difficult and its unpredictability can make it arbitrary: that's why practitioners don't use these methods as often as we might expect. International accounting principles and Italian OIC principles move around the concept of fair value, based on sale prices, while the impairment test of goodwill is based on a comparison between book and recoverable value, this being the higher between fair value and value in used, founded on expected cash flows. Cash flow methods are so regaining an absolute centrality, even if their practical applications are still controversial, while other methods are complementary, often in order to support the determination of a negotiation price.