A specific reduction on a company’s balance sheet that adjusts the value of a company’s goodwill. Due to accounting rules, a company must monitor and test the value of its goodwill, to determine if it is overvalued. If it is, the company must issue an impairment charge on its balance sheet, to take into account the reduced value of the goodwill. For instance, during the first quarter of 2009 Chesapeake Energy reported impairment charges of more than $6.11 billion, mostly due to the slumping value of its natural gas and oil properties.