Hybridization of valuation models in measuring assets under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Abstract

Accounting measurement is the process to establish the monetary values to represent the elements of the financial statements. It is possible to think that this process is supported by a widely accepted theory of the value that provides conceptual and epistemological foundation. However, this is not so in Accounting theory and standards, in which have been proposed and used −and also combined and alternated− models of measurement that do not necessarily capture the same aspects of the economic reality of the business, and that even present opposed value theories. Currently, the amounts to measure the assets in the companies’ balance sheets are the result of a hybridization of diverse measurement models, which makes the statement a heterogeneous mix of different aspects of the entities economic realities. This article presents a theoretical dissertation about the coexistence of different models for the measurement of assets used by International Standards of Financial Reporting (IFRS), and their effects on the comparability of financial information and the recognition of gains and losses arising from the processes of accounting measurement.