IMPACT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE SNC ACCORDING TO FINANCIAL INFORMATION PREPARERS

The objective in this article is to study the impact of the Sistema de Normalização Contabilística (SNC) – the new Portuguese accounting regulation – on the financial information model, on the profession of Chartered Accountants (CA) and on the companies, from the perspective of the preparers of the financial information. It starts with a literature review of the most significant studies about the impacts and implications of accounting regulation transitions in a harmonization process and about the change in the accounting framework as perceived by the information preparers. For this purpose, a qualitative method is used, based on documentary analysis about the study theme and about accounting degrees. To develop our empirical study, a questionnaire was applied to the financial information preparers in order to collect their opinions about the impacts of the adoption of the new accounting model as specified above. The preparers are very confident in the new regulation, given that it responds to the current financial reporting needs, considers the characteristics and reality of the Portuguese companies, permits comparability at different levels, is more beneficial in terms of information preparation costs, more demanding and modern, improves the quality of information disclosure and entails benefits for the reputation of the chartered accounting profession. Nevertheless, there is a risk of comprehension difficulties among the information users, difficulties for the managers to perceive the consequences of the SNC in their financial statements (FS). Furthermore, the evolution in the reporting model may not be accompanied by changes in business management