Julgamento e tomada de decisão dos contadores no processo de controle do ativo imobilizado

Abstract

This research analyzed the individual and environmental variables that influence the judgment and decision making (JDM) of accountants in companies that adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and how they do it, in terms of asset control. This study argues that individual elements and environmental pressures influence the accountants JDM, demanded to a greater degree since the adoption of IFRS in Brazil in 2010. The individual perspective was studied in light of the Bounded Rationality Theory (cognitive, situational and informational limitations prevent the optimal decision); and the environmental uses the presuppositions of the Institutional Theory (the organizations tend to the similarity, due to coercive, normative and mimetic pressures). For the data collection, was used a semi-structured questionnaire, applied to 28 accountants who work in organizations that adopt the IFRS. The results show that individual variables and institutional pressures influence the JDM of the studied accountants. The individual elements are related to cognitive limitations (use of decision facilitators and excess variables), informational limitations (information unavailable and cost-effective to obtain it) and situational limitations (time); where the cognitive limitation is the most frequent. The environmental pressures identified are coercive (legislation, audit, capital holders, managers and regulators), normative (graduation, other accountants, supplementary training, teachers and auditing) and mimetics (consulting). Of these, the coercive pressure is the most present in the JDM of the accountants. The analysis of how individual and environmental elements influence the JDM shows that: a) Cognitive limitations influence the accountant’s JDM more strongly in operational decisions, while coercive pressures influence the JDM more in decisions about the management of fixed assets (adopt IFRS in whole or in part and how to meet - or not - all that the standard demands). b) There are events in which Limited Rationality and Institutional Pressures influence the accountant’s JDM jointly (as in the calculation of depreciation, impairment test and complementary controls), when this occurs, coercive pressures are determinate to the decision.