A type of intangible asset that takes many forms including customer contracts and related customer relationships, noncontractual customer relationships, customer lists, and order or production backlog. These assets are part of the overall assets of a company being a target of business combination. At times, the relationships that an acquiree (target company) has with its customers may involve, or give rise to, more than one type of intangible asset (e.g., customer contract and related relationship, customer list and backlog).

The interrelationship of different types of intangible assets related to the same customer (of an acquiree) can create certain difficulties in recognizing and measuring customer-related intangible assets. The valuation of other intangible assets, such as brand names and trademarks, may also impact the valuation of customer-related intangible assets.

Furthermore, and depending on the useful lives and the pattern of consumption of the economic benefits arising from the assets, it may be necessary to separately recognize intangible assets that relate to a single customer relationship.