The accounting regulations in our country were modified in 1993 through Decree 2649, which gave clarity on some regulations that were not incorporated in Decree 2160 of 1986, said regulations that point towards the technical definition of the rules, concepts and regulations Conditions for the preparation and preparation of financial information has in its essence the conceptual structure of the document published by the IASC on the preparation and presentation of financial statements in April 1989.
Actually, the modifications incorporated into the Colombian regulations do not involve significant changes, they only modified, subtracted and added concepts that allowed adaptability in the national context, taking into account our reality and the relationship with the international community of the moment.
Introduction
We can appreciate the similarity of Colombian accounting standards with international standards in the following table:
The accounting information pursues similar objectives in the two models, the differences are not very pronounced as we can see below:
| International Model | Colombian model |
| The objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, performance and changes in financial position. | Know and demonstrate the resources controlled by an economic entity, the obligations it has to transfer resources to other entities, the changes that such resources have experienced and the result obtained in the period. |
| The financial statements also show the results of the administration carried out by management. | Evaluate the management of the administrators of the economic entity |
| The financial statements also show their responsibility in managing the resources entrusted to it. | Exercise control over the operations of the economic entity. |
| Predict cash flows. | |
| Support managers in the planning, organization and management of business. | |
| q Decide whether to buy, hold or sell financial equity investments. (Foreword) q Assess the security of the funds loaned to the company. (Foreword) | Make investment and credit decisions. |
| Determine Tax Policies (Foreword) | Justify the determination of tax charges, prices and rates. |
| Prepare and use national income statistics (Foreword) | Assist in the creation of national statistical information, and |
| Contribute to the evaluation of the benefit or social impact that the economic activity of an entity represents for the community. |
Basically, the only substantial difference that we find in the objectives is the evaluation of the security of the funds loaned to the company, which is not contemplated in Decree 2649/93 and the evaluation of the social impact is absent in the IASC model of 1989.
The fundamental hypotheses set forth by the IASC were applied by Colombian legislation as follows:
Accrual or accrual basis, refers to the recognition of economic events at the time and occurrence and not when money or another equivalent to cash is received or paid, this hypothesis is what Decree 2649 calls accrual accounting.
On the other hand, the ongoing business is another fundamental hypothesis of the international standard that for the Colombian case is incorporated as “Continuity” in the basic standards Art. 7.
The qualities of the information, as well as the objectives and the fundamental hypotheses, are very similar as we can see in the following diagram:
Qualities of accounting information or qualitative characteristics of financial statements
The issuance of Decree 2649 of 1993 significantly shortened the differences between National Standards and International Accounting Standards, since much of this decree was inspired by International Standards.
But the differences have been widening again as the regulations of Decree 2649 remain static and IFRSs have been developed.
Some important differences are:
Fair value The International Standards in the measurement of the elements of the financial statements have been directed towards the fair value (Fair Value) including it in some standards as mandatory and in others as optional. While the Colombian model mainly uses the traditional historical cost or the historical cost adjusted for inflation.
Various valuation criteria. Both the national and international models recognize that using a single valuation criterion for all the elements of the financial statements does not adequately satisfy the needs of the users and therefore they have been simultaneously using different measurement criteria in the different elements of the financial statements having take into account their role in the entity's economic activity.
Basic financial statements and their disclosures. The International Standard does not consider the Statement of Changes in Financial Position as basic, while the Colombian standard does.
There are also significant differences in the requirement for essential disclosures or notes to the financial statements.
Principle of clean heritage. There are important differences in determining the net profit or loss for the period, in relation to the recording of fundamental errors and changes in accounting policies, International Standards record these operations retrospectively through equity correction and presentation of financial statements for the years. previous corrected. In Colombian standards, these changes are prospective and must be recognized only in the Income Statement.
conclusion
Decree 2649 of 1993 established the regulations for the application of accounting in Colombia, said regulations repealed Decree 2160 of 86 and is currently in force, the provisions prescribed in this regulation were incorporated according to the pronouncements of international organizations such as the IASC in the document "Conceptual framework for the preparation and presentation of financial statements", a document published in July 1989 and on which the bases for Colombian accounting regulations were laid. The differences between the Colombian model and the international model were minimal, only that international regulations evolved according to changes in the economic environment while Colombia continues with the regulations of that time,This does not allow it to have the elements that the financial statements must integrate so that they are recognized and measured in a uniform way in all the countries of the world and in this way incorporate our companies in global scenarios in a competitive way.
If the financial information does not comply with basic universal principles of quality, transparency and comparability, it is not reliable before the international community and will leave us out of the global market.
Bibliography
DECREE 2649 OF 1993. General Accounting Regulations.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS. IASC Council. April 1989.
WHITE, Luna Yanel. International Accounting Standards vs. National Standards. Binational and Caribbean meeting of public accountants. Riohacha August 13 to 15, 2003.
