Efeitos da diversidade contabilística na análise financeira

: o caso particular do goodwill

Abstract

In the European Union, goodwill treatment is one of the main topics were accounting diversity is still a reality, nevertheless the efforts of the European Commission in the development of the harmonization process. This study seeks to ascertain, on an empirical basis, whether the existence of diversity in accounting principles (amortization vs. impairment) has significant consequences for the interpretation of financial ratios on the Iberian Peninsula level. Therefore, we have examined the financial statements of a sample of Portuguese and Spanish listed companies following the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We reformulated the financial statements using amortization of goodwill instead of the impairment test to understand how financial ratios would be affected as the basis of financial statement changes from the application of other accounting principles. To evaluate statistical significance we applied the non-parametric test Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. The results indicate that periodic amortization of goodwill has a significant impact on solvency, indebtedness and profitability ratios which suggest that the accounting principles applied are not innocuous to financial analyses. These results reinforce previous studies that suggested that the impairment model led to temporarily inflated earnings and goodwill balances which distort financial ratios presented.In the European Union, goodwill treatment is one of the main topics were accounting diversity is still a reality, nevertheless the efforts of the European Commission in the development of the harmonization process. This study seeks to ascertain, on an empirical basis, whether the existence of diversity in accounting principles (amortization vs. impairment) has significant consequences for the interpretation of financial ratios on the Iberian Peninsula level. Therefore, we have examined the financial statements of a sample of Portuguese and Spanish listed companies following the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We reformulated the financial statements using amortization of goodwill instead of the impairment test to understand how financial ratios would be affected as the basis of financial statement changes from the application of other accounting principles. To evaluate statistical significance we applied the non-parametric test Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. The results indicate that periodic amortization of goodwill has a significant impact on solvency, indebtedness and profitability ratios which suggest that the accounting principles applied are not innocuous to financial analyses. These results reinforce previous studies that suggested that the impairment model led to temporarily inflated earnings and goodwill balances which distort financial ratios presented.

Date of Award	29 Jun 2020
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria Luisa Anacoreta Correia (Supervisor)