Comparabilidade das demonstrações contábeis brasileiras em 2009 e 2010

Abstract

With the passing of Law No. 11.638/07 Brazil started the process of adopting the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and finally joined the worldwide convergence to the IFRS. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) seeks the convergence of local laws to the norms it issues, so that comparable accounting information comes as a result. Thus, given the importance of comparable accounting information, this study aims to check the level of comparability of the 2009 and 2010 accounting statements. For that, a sample of 65 Brazilian companies listed on the open in the BM&FBOVESPA was gathered for the year 2012. The notes in their 2010 consolidated accounting statements were analyzed; they contained a presentation of the 2009 BRGAAP/IFRS account ledger reconciliation table, thus allowing for the identification of the level of comparability for these two years. The Gray Index was used to verify the comparability of the Net Profit (Portuguese, LL Lucro Líquido), and the Net Asset (Portuguese PL Patrimônio Líquido), presented under two accounting standards the BRGAAP and the IFRS. The Taplin Index (T Index) was used to measure comparability, quantifying the accounting choices made by the companies, for each of the pre-determined items. In this case, the items were the biological assets, the fixed assets, the intangible assets, the inventories, and the financial instruments. The Gray Index revealed that 37 companies (56,93%) were comparable for the LL, while 33 companies (50,76%) were comparable for the PL. The more frequent adjustments shown by the companies that did not have comparable LL and PL were: non-controlling interests, deferred taxes, deferred asset retirement, employee benefits, biological assets, business combinations, and concession contracts. The expected comparability was identified, once 2009 was a year of transition from local norms to the IFRS, therefore, two different sets of accounting standards were identified for that period. The application of the T Index for the five pre-determined items resulted in plain comparability for biological assets, intangible assets, and financial instruments. That means that all the companies made the same accounting choice. For fixed assets comparability was 65%, and for inventories, 50%. The results obtained cannot ascertain that the adoption of the IFRS implied in an increase in comparability of accounting statements during the first stage. Closer monitoring of the companies behavior during the upcoming years is needed, in the case of accounting choices, so that a more thorough evaluation can be made about the level of comparability reached by Brazilian companies upon convergence to the IFRS.