A company must disclose certain material write downs (also called impairments) in an 8-K. (If the company determines the impairment when routinely preparing its financial statements for its periodic report, the company may make the disclosure in the periodic report rather than in an 8-K.) A write down may occur when a company significantly lowers its estimate of the value of certain assets, such as the value of its brand or of a business it has acquired. The write-down hits the financial statements in two places—as a decrease in assets on the balance sheet and as an expense on the income statement.