Implications on Financial Autonomy Resulting from the Current Accounting System on Grants Related to Assets: Evidence from a Sample of Portuguese Agricultural Businesses

Abstract

The new System of Accounting Standards, effective since 2010, repealed all the Portuguese accounting standards. Compared to the former standards, the new normative advocates for different accounting procedures regarding the recognition of grants related to assets. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact on financial autonomy for grants recommended under the new standard in a sample of companies from the agricultural sector. To achieve the proposed objective, we proceeded to collect financial information from the year 2009 from a sample of 124 companies in the agricultural sector that were randomly selected from the SABI database from a list of those that had received subsidies for investment in that year. Based on the data analyzed, we can

deduce that the value of the equity of the companies in the study will register a positive variation, corresponding to the not yet recorded value of recognized subsidies, which corresponds to an increase of nearly 4.5%. This increase causes the indicator of financial autonomy to increase, on average, by 4.7%, and also has a positive impact on the solvency ratio, with an average variation greater than 11%. The fact that the new System of Accounting Standards advocates for accounting procedures that are different from those set out in the IAS 20 allows Portuguese companies to present economic financial indicators similar to those being presented by like companies in other European countries, where the initial recognition of the grant in equity is what counts. Also, this may also increase the chance of success for applications to funding sources or determined European programs or funds, as such funding sources normally require that companies show percentages or minimum values in certain ratios.