ANALYSIS OF DISCLOSURE LEVELS OF COMPULSORY AND NON-COMPULSORY ITEMS: A STUDY OF PETROBRAS ACCOUNTING REPORTS

Abstract

Technological advances have made dissemination of information easier, enabling publication of differentiated information for users with different purposes, with the added benefit of low cost dissemination. However, many companies resist revealing non-compulsory information. This resistance reduces companies’ dependence on foreign capital since they tend to divulge information appropriate to the financial markets where they intend to gather monetary resources. With the objective of guaranteeing the quality of information revealed by Brazilian companies, regulatory bodies established a minimum amount of information to be made available by publicly owned companies, through compulsory items like those required by Law number 6.404 of 1976, and non-compulsory items, such as those recommended by Orientation Statements of CVM (Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission), among other items. With this in mind, the present study intends to analyse the level of disclosure oft compulsory and non-compulsory items of the financial statements of Petrobrás, for the period 1998 to 2004. Regarding its objectives, the study entails exploratory quantitative research; its procedures include bibliographic research, seeking legal and scientific orientation about accounting disclosure referent to published accounting demonstrations, and qualitative, in regard to the data analysis. The results of the research demonstrated compliance with all compulsory items, while in relation to non-compulsory items of accounting disclosure, a disclosure level greater than 75% of the recommendations demonstrated by the research was verified. This demonstrates a high level of accounting disclosure, although careful attention should continue to be paid to users’ requirements and to the search for constant improvement in accounting practices. Keywords: Disclosure. Accounting information. Public companies.