Importance The article discusses the genesis of views on the economic substance of goodwill and its valuation. In addition, the article addresses goodwill recognition in financial statements of the acquiring company, and its subsequent accounting. The article deals with the period of the first half of the 20th century. Objectives The objective of the research is to acquaint the professional accounting community with the history of accounting for one of the most unusual and mysterious assets, i.e. goodwill. Methods I studied a great deal of sources and found out that, in the first half of the 20th century, a broad variety of opinions on the nature, valuation and accounting of goodwill, which were typical of the 1900-1920s, converged into two critically different approaches to the recognition and accounting of goodwill and resulted in the emergence of the national accounting standards governing the goodwill accounting practice, in the 1930-1940s. The article presents an overview of the most prominent scholars on goodwill. The research examines the most important trends in goodwill researches of the period. Conclusions and Relevance The article can be useful for those interested in the history of accounting, in particular, in the history of ideas about goodwill.
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