Goodwill appearing in old books is written off before admission in which ratio?

Correct answer: Old ratio

Goodwill already appearing in the old books belongs to the existing partners under their old profit-sharing arrangement. When a new partner is admitted, the old goodwill should not continue as an asset in the same form if the partnership is reorganised. It is therefore written off by debiting the existing partners’ capital or current accounts and crediting the goodwill account. Since the old partners owned that goodwill in their earlier relationship, the debit is made in their old profit-sharing ratio. Thus option A is correct.

For example, if three old partners shared profits in the ratio 3:2:1 and old goodwill was ₹60,000, their accounts would be debited in those proportions: ₹30,000, ₹20,000, and ₹10,000. The new ratio is not used because the goodwill being removed arose before admission. Similarly, the sacrificing ratio applies to compensation for the new partner’s share, not to writing off an old balance. Therefore the old ratio is the relevant basis for this entry.