Finally, in 2001, the rules changed under FAS 141 and 142 to facilitate how goodwill will be counted. Companies could now choose to carry out amortization or contribute to impairment testing. Regardless of how businesses choose to demonstrate goodwill, the Irs should still take its own precautions to manage goodwill. Goodwill can often be tricky in the sense that it is difficult to determine its true value. In the case of AOL Time Warner, it is above all the worst commercial operation in history. Indeed, these companies were initially very profitable and sought to expand on the stock market. After the market crashed due to the recession, Time Warner lost a lot of money buying AOL. If Time Warner had known the true value of AOL at the time, then this transaction would not have happened.