THE CONCEPT, RECOGNITION AND MEASUREMENT OF PUBLIC ASSETS: SPECIAL MENTION TO PORTUGAL

Abstract

As a result of the Governmental Accounting reform in Portugal, and consequently the implementation of sectorial governmental accounting plans, the patrimonial accounting received importance in this accounting system, being needed to define the elements and the value of the patrimony of each public entity. The classification of the patrimonial elements as assets became one of the concerns of those entities, being necessary to define accurate criteria for their recognition and measurement. These criteria, with a group of concepts of the elements of the financial statements, are part of the conceptual framework necessary for the Governmental Accounting in Portugal. From the concept of asset of the companies and from their recognition criteria, and considering the particularities of the public entities, we will be able to define a concept of public asset, as well as criteria, for its recognition and its measurement, to which an element must obey so as to be reported in the balance-sheet of a certain public entity, and in that way being part of its patrimony.