8. Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill

The Company performs a goodwill impairment assessment at least annually but may perform interim assessments in the event of a triggering event that may indicate the fair value of a reporting unit decreased below its carrying value. The decline in operating results and net loss experienced in the six-month period ended March 31, 2024, and the recent negative trend in the Company’s stock price and market capitalization, in management’s view, represents one or more triggering events that suggest that the Company’s goodwill may be impaired. The Company reevaluated its financial forecast for the March 2024 quarterly results and performed an interim impairment assessment of its goodwill using the updated information. The results of the interim assessment indicated the Company’s goodwill assigned to both its Professional and Industrial Services reporting units was not impaired.

For purposes of performing its interim goodwill impairment assessment as of March 31, 2024, the Company applied customary valuation techniques in order to estimate the fair value of its Professional and Industrial Services reporting units and considered recent trends in the Company’s stock price, implied control or acquisition premiums, discounted cash flows, guideline public company results, guideline transactions, earnings, and other possible factors and their effects on estimated fair value of the Company’s reporting units. The estimated fair value of the Professional Services reporting unit resulting from the March 31, 2024 assessment exceeded the reporting unit’s carrying value by approximately 5%, or approximately $4.0 million. The excess of the estimated fair value over the carrying value of the Professional Services reporting unit decreased from approximately 25%, or approximately $20.3 million, as of the September 30, 2023 annual assessment, principally as a result of the negative conditions and results experienced so far during the first half of the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and reductions to the Company’s forecasts of future results, accordingly. Should industry conditions remain consistently negative, or worsen, or if assumptions such as control premiums, terminal growth projections, cost of capital or discount rates or business enterprise value multiples change such conditions could result in a deficit or deficits of the fair values of one or both of the Company’s reporting units as compared to their respective carrying values, leading to an impairment in the future.

Intangible Assets

The following tables set forth the costs, accumulated amortization, and net book value of the Company’s separately identifiable intangible assets as of March 31, 2024 and September 30, 2023 and estimated future amortization expense.

Intangible assets that represent customer relationships are amortized on the basis of estimated future undiscounted cash flows or using the straight-line basis over estimated remaining useful lives of five to ten years. Trade names are amortized on a straight-line basis over their respective estimated useful lives of between five and ten years.