Critical Audit Matter Description
The Company’s evaluation of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets for impairment involves the comparison of the fair value of each reporting unit or indefinite lived intangible asset to its carrying value. The Company estimates fair value using the income method, which is based on the present value of estimated future cash flows attributable to the respective assets. This requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions related to forecasts of future net sales and earnings, including growth rates beyond a 10-year time period, royalty rates and discount rates. Changes in the assumptions could have a significant impact on either the fair value, the amount of any impairment charge, or both. The Company performed their annual impairment assessments of the Shave Care reporting unit as of October 1, 2020 and the Gillette brand indefinite lived intangible asset (the “Gillette brand”) as of December 31, 2020. Because the estimated fair values exceeded their carrying values, no impairments were recorded. As of June 30, 2021, the Shave Care reporting unit goodwill was $12.8 billion, and the Gillette brand was $14.1 billion.
We identified the Company’s impairment evaluations of goodwill for the Shave Care reporting unit and the Gillette brand as a critical audit matter because of the significant judgments made by management to estimate the fair values of the reporting unit and the brand. A high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort was required when performing audit procedures to evaluate the reasonableness of management’s estimates and assumptions related to the forecasts of future net sales and earnings as well as the selection of royalty rates and discount rates, including the need to involve our fair value specialists.