Contemporary issues and alternative options on accounting for brands are the main thrusts of this paper. Thus, issues associated with accounting for brands and their effects on the financial statements or alternative financial treatments and valuations of brands on the balance sheets of corporate organizations are examined and evaluated. Accordingly, the definition and recognition of brands as assets in the balance sheet are considered. The paper also dwells on areas related to brand accounting: the need for accountants in the valuation and management of brands, reliability of cost measurement of brands, accounting treatment for brands, revaluation of intangible assets and disclosure requirements. Other areas that are equally discussed are the issues of brand regulations in Nigeria and the way forward. The paper concludes that the financial world arrives at a brand valuation by estimating the operating profit attributable to the brand and comparing it to an unbranded product. Also, brand valuation appears to be the most promising technique capable of illustrating the importance of brands to managers while bridging the different orientations between accountants and marketing managers. The paper recommends that the choice treatments of goodwill should be replaced by one standard treatment of purchased goodwill, amortization, while internally generated goodwill should not be recorded on the balance sheet; and the interaction between management accountants and selling and distribution managers' needs should further be strengthened and improved upon to allow for sound managerial decisions.

Corporate intangibles have recently become more and more important in the economic life and for the success of corporate activities. For most of the companies, intangibles are essential factors for their progress, and a considerable part of their corporate value. Corporate intangibles are assets that are not perceptible to touch, insubstantial or eluding the grasp of the mind; and one type of the very broad spectrum of corporate intangibles is brands.

A brand is any word, tone, design or symbol to identify and distinguish one product or a group of products from other products (Plasseraud and Dehaut, 1994). In other words, a brand is a commercial term which can be a name, a logo, distinctive packaging or a combination of both, which serves to identify the origin of a product or a group of products and it enables the consumer to distinguish the branded product from other products. Brands also promote the customer's loyalty for the product.

Brands have, over time, been hardly recognized in the balance sheets of most corporate organizations; this is because there was no accounting standard to back up their valuations and disclosures in the balance sheets. However, there was an exposure draft published by Accounting Standards Committee (ASC) in 1990 and in 1994, the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) published a discussion paper entitled, "Goodwill and Intangible Assets" (ASB, 1994).

Brand Management Journal, Managerial Decisions, Corporate Intangibles, Accounting Standards Committee, ASC, Accounting Standards Board, ASB, Brand Management Strategy, Brand Valuation, Decision Making, Brand Management, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS.