Genesis of the definition for Goodwill

The article is devoted to the consideration of genesis and development of the concept as goodwill in the context of views’ evolution on its economic essence. The authors deal with the reasons for changes of approaches to the accounting of goodwill. Moreover, the authors have a critical review of opinions of certain economists and accountants concerning this question. The authors define main stages of standards formation for the accounting of goodwill and tendencies of their development on the basis of the analysis of a large number of literary and standard sources.