Incomparabilità dei bilanci IAS-IFRS? Prime riflessioni

Comparability is one of the four principal qualitative characteristics of financial statements. It is an attribute that make the information in financial statements useful to investors, creditors, and others. Users must be able to compare the financial statements of different enterprises in order to evaluate their relative financial position and performance. Hence, the measurement and display of the financial effect of transactions and other events must be carried out in a consistent way for different enterprises. This paper aims to evaluate the level of comparability guaranteed by the international accounting standards and to verify if it is better or worse than that guaranteed by the national accounting standards. The research is based on a deductive approach. The financial statements of two different enterprises are comparable only if the measurement and display of the financial effect of the same transaction or event are carried out in a consistent way. Otherwise they are not comparable. The results of a theoretical research carried out on certain assets show that the level of comparability guaranteed by the international accounting standards is potentially low and certainly worse than that guaranteed by the national accounting standards. Nevertheless the results of an empirical research carried out on a sample of Italian listed enterprises show that incomparability can be considered still only a theoretical risk.