Accounting regulation, harmonization and international accounting standards in the face of globalization

Summary

I will try to bring to light from its genesis and subsequent development (1911 - 2014) aspects that describe accounting regulation, the highlights of international standardization, the consequences of accounting regulation, the place of accounting in the field of knowledge and its social function, the opposing interests of international economic power and SMEs, developed countries and the rest mainly from Latin America and in particular Argentina Finally, an alternative for the evolution of accounting is proposed when considering different difficulties in the process of economic globalization and accounting harmonization.

Abstract

I try to put out aspects that describe from genesis and post development 1911 - 2014 accounting regulation the highlights of the international standardization, the consequences of accounting regulation, today's economic-accounting development, instead of accounting in the field of knowledge and its social function, the competing interests of international economic power and SMEs in developed countries and the rest mainly in Latin America and Argentina specialy. Finally, we propose an alternative for the evolution of accounting by considering various difficulties in the process of economic globalization and accounting harmonization.

Rule

Genesis and development of the globalization and accounting process from 1911 to 2014.

The multinational economic power, SMEs, Latin America and Argentina in particular.

The drawbacks and dangers of harmonizing international IASB accounting standards.

1. In a few words

I will try to bring to light aspects that describe the genesis and development from 1911 to 2014 of accounting regulation, the highlights of international standardization, the consequences of accounting regulation, the place of accounting in the field of knowledge and its social function., the opposing interests of the international economic power and the SMEs, the developed countries and the rest fundamentally of Latin America and Argentina particularly. Finally, propose an alternative for the development of accounting considering different difficulties in the process of economic globalization and accounting harmonization.

2. Presentation

Any accounting regulation process requires a theoretical basis that justifies the determination of flexible or rigid reference frameworks in the procedures and practices of preparation and presentation of financial statements. The theoretical core that bases the accounting regulations must result from a broad debate, where the social, political and economic actors affected by its implementation converge.

The economic, social and cultural effects of accounting regulations displace the technical-positivist arguments with which accounting models are intended to be imposed, especially if they are alien to the realities of environments for which they were not intended. Accountants must establish or consolidate the discussion and debate scenarios, in which the epistemological and technical criteria of a regulation that seeks the autonomous and independent development of nations will be determined.

Hegemonic regulation is imposed by international organizations, such as the IASB, FASB, IFAC and IOSCO, among others. Against it, an attempt is made to implement a common accounting regulation for Latin American countries, aimed at supporting the economy of these countries: small and medium-sized companies. The proposed regulation must result from the active participation of accountants and other social actors from all Latin American countries; and have as a goal the defense of national interests, their wealth, culture and heritage, environment, health and well-being of the people.

The autonomous regulation process is not without its drawbacks, difficulties and dangers, according to Gil (2004a.126): «in general, the academic and professional structure tends to behave as a dominant national and regional minority, preferring the adoption of recognized structures ”.

3. Aspects of accounting regulation

The most relevant aspects that influence the determination of the model are presented:

3.1. In recent years, developed countries have shown a growing interest in stock market activity, the number of listed entities and the number of investors who come to these markets to deposit their resources have increased.

3.2. Accounting, despite the discourse of trust and transparency that it exposes, actually presents serious questions:

1. Latin American public companies are sold without an accounting of the value that allows knowing their real circumstances. The indebtedness is increased without knowing the causes; When they are known, they are disguised. The economic projects of national entrepreneurs go bankrupt and fail, despite the fact that they have adopted the best imported management techniques. Latin countries are inserted in globalization, as consumers are subject to fluctuations in prices, such as Debtors are exposed to the interested behavior of capital flows and interest rates.

3.3. International accounting standards, more properly those of financial reporting, respond to the information systems of market economic theories and administrative ones focused on the interests of large companies. They are called "public interest companies": listed companies, pension funds, insurance companies and financial entities.

3.4. These standards are geared towards the protection of global speculative finance capital. Companies, mainly SMEs, require maintenance of operational or physical capital that allows consolidating their structure, growth and expansion, they need it to contribute to national development.

The definition of the capital to be maintained, essential to determine the economic benefit of an organization and the financial remuneration of its owners, is not a simple technical fact. The choice of "physical or economic capital" is required by directors and administrators, as a safeguard of the productive capacity of the company. "Money capital" is weighted by financial creditors and owners with a view to distributing dividends. The «ecological social capital» is used by academics, politicians and NGOs to support the discourse on the survival of the environmental system for future generations.

3.5. There are two types of shareholders: the shareholder-owner and the shareholder-investor. The first is aimed at the constant and permanent profitability of the entity; growth, expansion and profit are of great importance to him; it associates its profit with the dividends decreed annually. Tie your personal well-being to that of the entity.

The shareholder-investor, on the contrary, associates his interest with short-term returns. Their well-being is linked to the immediate results that the entity throws, regardless of whether it disappears or not in the future, whether it grows or income, or decreases and accumulates losses. The life of the entity is indifferent to him. It associates its profit with the increase in the value of the shares in the stock market in the short term; seldom is your interest tied to the decreed dividend, and if it does, it is not for long.

3.6. The capital maintenance orientation (financial and operating) is directly related to the ownership or control orientation. As a hypothesis, it is established that, in the relationship of ownership by property, the maintenance of operating capital is privileged; in the control orientation, the maintenance of financial capital is preferably used.

3.7. The size of the entity-company is directly related to the maintenance of capital; it is hypothetically affirmed that small and medium-sized companies tend to maintain operating capital; large companies, especially those made up of public capital (shares), tend to maintain financial capital.

3.8. From the epistemological conception of the economic-deductive theory of Richard Mattessich, accounting has its reason for being to the extent that it responds to the demands of the particular systems where it is inserted. It would not be possible to prescribe as accounting should be a single approach to accounting procedures and a single interpretation of accounting.

3.9. Accounting is classified, according to the user to whom it is oriented, into external economic-financial information and internal administrative accounting. There is a relationship between the domain-by-control orientation and external economic-financial information. The domain-by-property orientation is associated with administrative or managerial accounting.

4. International standardization. Featured Issues

4.1 Approach

“Accounting, as strategic knowledge, has always been at the service of capital and economic power; now they want to put it at the service of big transnational capital. It has not served to achieve advances in distribution but in accumulation. It has not shown the realities that underlie the exploitation of resources, but has hidden the inequitable processes of wealth allocation ”(Alvarez, 2002, p. 179).

The phenomena that involve globalization, such as the economic, technological and social, generate associations between the different countries of the world and new paradigms in the way of doing business, causing consequences in the economic-administrative areas, as in the case of the accounting area.. Globalization, in addition to allowing financing and investment possibilities, has an impact on the opening of capital markets around the world. This fact has been transcendental to increase the importance and the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS, hereinafter). Proof of this is that some Latin American countries have recently joined the more than 120 countries that issue their financial reports under IFRS.

European countries adopted IFRS in 2005 and there are several studies that refer to the processes, consequences, difficulties and results in the financial indicators that caused such adoption. In Latin America we are at a crucial moment in the history of accounting, since in 2009 and 2010 the first financial statements under IFRS were published in Chile and Brazil; On the other hand, in Argentina and Mexico this broadcast began in the first quarter of this year 2012. It is an exploratory and documentary investigation that has the purpose of providing a reference of the progress that twenty Latin American countries have had in their processes convergence and / or adoption of IFRS.It shows the characteristics and conditions of these countries to begin to write recent accounting history in terms of international standards. The countries that make up the study are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. With the data collected, the countries were grouped according to the affinity they have in their adoption / convergence processes. To detect this affinity, three variables were used which are: Stock Market, Obligated Companies and Adoption / Convergence. Said variables were selected by means of a factorial analysis and later an affinity diagram with such variables was made.The countries that make up the study are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. With the data collected, the countries were grouped according to the affinity they have in their adoption / convergence processes. To detect this affinity, three variables were used which are: Stock Market, Obligated Companies and Adoption / Convergence. Said variables were selected by means of a factorial analysis and later an affinity diagram with such variables was made.The countries that make up the study are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. With the data collected, the countries were grouped according to the affinity they have in their adoption / convergence processes. To detect this affinity, three variables were used which are: Stock Market, Obligated Companies and Adoption / Convergence. Said variables were selected by means of a factorial analysis and later an affinity diagram with such variables was made.Uruguay and Venezuela. With the data collected, the countries were grouped according to the affinity they have in their adoption / convergence processes. To detect this affinity, three variables were used which are: Stock Market, Obligated Companies and Adoption / Convergence. Said variables were selected by means of a factorial analysis and later an affinity diagram with such variables was made.Uruguay and Venezuela. With the data collected, the countries were grouped according to the affinity they have in their adoption / convergence processes. To detect this affinity, three variables were used which are: Stock Market, Obligated Companies and Adoption / Convergence. Said variables were selected by means of a factorial analysis and later an affinity diagram with such variables was made.

4.2 Theoretical Environment

International Accounting begins with the first works of Hatfield and in 1911 the comparative studies of accounting practices in different countries arise. Through these studies, it was possible to determine that there is accounting diversity, that is, each country develops a set of accounting practices regarding the disclosure of financial information, valuation methodologies, the ways of structuring financial statements, the different names of the accounts, to name a few. Once the markets began to be more global, these differences went from being a mere object of comparative studies, to being a problem for the operation between companies from different countries.Thus arose the first reconciliation practices between financial statements issued in local standards and US GAAP (US GAAP) and the rest of the world, since this was until a few years ago one of the main economies in the world. Reconciliation expenses, the time to prepare these reconciliations, as well as the material differences that were detected between the financial statements between some local GAAP and the other, led to the emergence of the first international standards in the 1970s..They promoted the emergence of the first international standards in the 1970s.They promoted the emergence of the first international standards in the 1970s.

The evident diversity of accounting practice that became apparent through the first comparative studies that gave way to international accounting needed a more in-depth explanation, since until that time accounting was understood as a standard technique that little or no nothing could contribute to the understanding of society. However, this diversity rather reveals the symbiotic relationship between society and accounting.

The accounting systems models respond to an inescapable reality: accounting is an institution in constant evolution. This evolution is explained through the interrelation of various internal and external elements that describe the system itself, as indicated by the fact that they are directly linked to the development of accounting in each country. These elements in their interaction, over time, generate the diversity of accounting systems that are observed around the world. From these studies arises the theory of accounting systems, which currently consists of a series of explanatory models regarding the variables that describe accounting systems, as well as the ideas that support it. Accounting models are defined as: a set of factors intrinsic to the system itself that,Through the modeling of which they are the object through their own interrelationships and external influences, they form a properly structured whole, capable of satisfying the needs assigned to the accounting function in different areas, according to authors. like Morales and Jarne, The study of accounting systems gained greater relevance in the 1970s when the IASC2 emerged as the body in charge of issuing the first international accounting standards. In this way, it seeks to generate a basis for the development of accounting, considering a set of guiding principles and standards. This is how professional practice sought to develop a set of widely accepted standards. At the same time, academia and research on accounting systems showed their diversity, international standards raised the need for convergence and the International Accounting Standard Council,currently known as the IASB (International Accounting Standard Board), the standardization of accounting systems as a way to generate greater development in the stock markets and capital movements in countries, to mention some of the most obvious benefits. However, the diversity of systems and the convergence of systems pose a gap that is difficult to overcome

As was observed through the first studies in developed countries, especially in Europe, regarding accounting harmonization, as a way of reaching a certain consensus regarding those issues that should give way to a set of best practices that allowed each accounting system to evolve towards a common accounting system, showed the difficulties that this implied (Doupnik and Perera, 2007). Along these lines, the first Directives of the, at that time, the European Economic Community (IV and VII Directives) (Morales and Jarne, 2006) emerged. However, given the lack of consensus and advances on the subject, added to the pressure of information systems whose advances allowed us to know data and information around the world in real time,By making the development of capital markets reach a development never seen before, they put pressure on regulatory bodies, mainly those supra-national bodies that emerged from Bretton Woods (World Bank, United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank, etc.) to the acceleration of the accounting regulatory harmonization process (Richardson, 2009). In reality, said harmonization was not concluded, producing instead the implementation of a system of Anglo-Saxon character and origin, which are the international accounting standards, today IFRS-IFRS, which are being implemented around the world.Inter-American Development Bank, etc.) to accelerate the accounting regulatory harmonization process (Richardson, 2009). In reality, said harmonization was not concluded, producing instead the implementation of a system of Anglo-Saxon character and origin, which are the international accounting standards, today IFRS-IFRS, which are being implemented around the world.Inter-American Development Bank, etc.) to accelerate the accounting regulatory harmonization process (Richardson, 2009). In reality, said harmonization was not concluded, producing instead the implementation of a system of Anglo-Saxon character and origin, which are the international accounting standards, today IFRS-IFRS, which are being implemented around the world.

According to Chua and Taylor (2008), there are several countries that have developed their own Accounting standards for years, however the adoption of IFRS has occurred in the last two decades. When analyzing the permanent growth of IFRS implementation, they conclude that this is not only due to economic reasons, but also to political and social aspects, determining factors in the convergence of accounting standards.

Larson and Street (2004) analyze the progress in the process of adopting IFRS in countries of the European Union. Based on a study carried out by the large international auditing firms, the main obstacles to conversion are the nature of particular international standards and the fiscal orientation of the accounting systems of each country. Additionally, the low development in the capital markets of some countries, the lack of guidelines for the first adoption of IFRS and the limited experience in the treatment of some transactions are important challenges that these countries had to face.

Until 2003, the European Union studied in many ways the distinctive aspects of the accounting cultures present in the member countries in order to tend towards the harmonization of systems. Over the years, said investigations about the divergences in the models were surpassed by the tendency towards accounting homogenization. The need for global information that would serve the financial flow of a market was stronger than the differences. The will of globalizing processes was imposed, given the strong interest, mainly from developed markets, to invest anywhere in the world, without the permanent barrier of trying to understand what the financial statements of the country in question really said. (Doupnik / Perera, 2007).This process was already evident in early 2000 when the European Union decided to implement a set of international accounting standards, at that time the IASs as the way to homogenize the financial-accounting information of the companies in the region. This germ was quickly accepted by several countries outside the European zone as it is seen as a fundamental step towards international business that any large company in the world today aspires to reach.This germ was quickly accepted by several countries outside the European zone as it is seen as a fundamental step towards international business that any large company in the world today aspires to reach.This germ was quickly accepted by several countries outside the European zone as it is seen as a fundamental step towards international business that any large company in the world today aspires to reach.

After the Enron, Worlcom, Xerox cases in 2001, it not only brought about the closure of Arthur Andersen, but also generated a loss of credibility that the American accounting practice had. This situation served so that the convergence process led by Europe had a boom in the world. Although the United States still maintains its own standards (US GAAP), there is a desire to promote the development of a global standard that is more in line with the comparability of financial information and capital mobility that was proposed from the beginning of the processes convergence in the world.

Given the importance of the convergence process at the global level led by the European Union, it is taking shape in the world, and even when the position of the United States did not merit at that time it maintained its leadership on these issues, an agreement is formed between both trading powers in order to create global standards. The Norwalk Agreement had a 2012 start date, however, a series of successive obstacles and delays have meant that this process has not yet consolidated. Even so, the IFRS each year has more adherents to the detriment of the scope of US-GAAP in the world.

Pressure from multinational companies led European Union countries to adopt IFRS. Using a sample of 242 companies from 11 countries, they analyzed financial ratios to determine whether all countries had been impacted by the adoption of IFRS in the same way. Through a cluster analysis, four groups were identified, two of which only have one member (Greece and Portugal). In the case of Greece, for reporting negative ROE and ROA results, and in the case of Portugal, for reporting financial ratios with extreme values. In the group made up of Spain, Finland, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, the effects of adoption were greater. The impact on the financial ratios of these countries comes mainly from changes in accounts payable and current assets.Bova and Pereira (2012) analyze the adoption of IFRS in Kenya. They consider as disadvantages of adoption, the costs that this process entails, as well as the lack of adaptation of IFRS to the specific characteristics of each country. When comparing a sample of 42 public and private companies, they concluded that the public ones report their financial statements with greater adherence to IFRS. It was also found that compliance with said regulations is higher when it comes to companies with foreign capital. The above results are due to the demand for quality information and globalized standards. Black (2012) summarized six investigations on opportunities and challenges when converging or adopting IFRS in Nigeria, Australia, Germany, France, among others.The report indicates that among the main challenges are the time to carry out the implementation of IFRS, cultural characteristics, as well as the level of development of each country.

Comparing the adoption of IFRS in Nigeria, a developing country, and Australia, a developed country, it was shown that one of the main differences is the lack of accessible information in developing countries. On the other hand, it was identified that when the country's economy is stronger and more stable, the government is more likely to require compliance with IFRS. In the particular case of Australia, it was identified that the main problem was the interpretation of the accounting quality reported by the different companies. When analyzing two developed countries, Germany and France, which have used IFRS for several years, it was shown that the comparability of financial reports issued recently has decreased with respect to those issued in the first years of adoption. On the other hand,The opinions of investors of companies from seven European countries reveal that the adoption of IFRS had a positive impact on the financial performance of companies.

As for the Latin American countries, they have initiated an internationalization advance in the matter of accounting regulations in recent years, the vast majority being in a process of convergence or adoption of IFRS.

Palacios (2005) carries out an accounting harmonization study in Latin America that reveals the particular interest of converging to IFRS and the characteristics related to it in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Vílchez (2008) describes the degree of progress in which some American countries are in the use of IFRS, the most frequent being cases of adoption. It indicates that the adoption has been selective, out of date or optionally applicable. Gómez and De La Hoz (2011) carry out an empirical study on the harmonization of IFRS in the accounting practices of entities that are listed on the Caracas Stock Exchange. They conclude that there is a significant harmonization of more than 70% between what the study entities already apply and IFRS.

On the other hand, there are studies that analyze the impact on financial indicators that the adoption of IFRS had. Yañez et al. (2010) analyze 16 Chilean companies that early adopted IFRS. When comparing accounting figures for the first quarter of 2008 (local regulations vs. IFRS), they identify that the main impact was on equity and on the presentation and interpretation consequences caused by the use of the fair value concept.

Vásquez (2012) compares the medians of the main financial ratios and accounting figures calculated under Mexican standards and international standards. The results show that there is no statistically significant difference in the financial indicators when comparing the application of both standards in the same periods. It also finds that the main adjustments are in equity due to the use of the revaluation model in the valuation of property, plant and equipment, and also due to the elimination of accumulated inflation from previous periods.

4.3 Overview of the adoption and convergence process by country.

Argentina

The issuance of professional accounting standards in Argentina has been in charge of the Professional Councils (by law). In 1969 the Argentine Federation of Graduate Colleges in Economic Sciences issued two documents: "Generally Accepted Technical-Accounting Principles and Standards for the preparation of financial statements" and "Form and content of financial statements for commercial and industrial companies." In the same year, the Technical Institute of Public Accountants (ITCP) was formed in charge of issuing accounting standards in the country until 1973. In that year, the Argentine Federation of Professional Councils of Economic Sciences (FACPCE) was created, on which the Center depended. of Scientific and Technical Studies (CECyT) that was in charge of issuing the accounting standards, called Technical Resolutions.Currently this center carries out research activities, but not broadcasting. The FACPCE currently has an Accounting and Auditing Standards Issuing Council (CENCyA), created in 2010 and made up of representatives of the councils, audit firms, companies and academics. The CENCyA has the leading role in the preparation of draft projects and technical pronouncements (Fowler Newton, 2011). The adoption of IFRS was proposed by the Chamber of Corporations and the professional bodies of Economic Sciences. Said proposal was accepted by the National Securities Commission (CNV) through the General Resolution of file No. 1247/2007 (MEFPCNV, 2009).created in 2010 and made up of representatives of the councils, audit firms, companies and academics. The CENCyA has the leading role in the preparation of draft projects and technical pronouncements (Fowler Newton, 2011). The adoption of IFRS was proposed by the Chamber of Corporations and the professional bodies of Economic Sciences. Said proposal was accepted by the National Securities Commission (CNV) through the General Resolution of file No. 1247/2007 (MEFPCNV, 2009).created in 2010 and made up of representatives of the councils, audit firms, companies and academics. The CENCyA has the leading role in the preparation of draft projects and technical pronouncements (Fowler Newton, 2011). The adoption of IFRS was proposed by the Chamber of Corporations and the professional bodies of Economic Sciences. Said proposal was accepted by the National Securities Commission (CNV) through the General Resolution of file No. 1247/2007 (MEFPCNV, 2009).The adoption of IFRS was proposed by the Chamber of Corporations and the professional bodies of Economic Sciences. Said proposal was accepted by the National Securities Commission (CNV) through the General Resolution of file No. 1247/2007 (MEFPCNV, 2009).The adoption of IFRS was proposed by the Chamber of Corporations and the professional bodies of Economic Sciences. Said proposal was accepted by the National Securities Commission (CNV) through the General Resolution of file No. 1247/2007 (MEFPCNV, 2009).

The FACPCE, through Technical Resolution No. 26 (2009), established the mandatory application of IFRS as of 2011 for companies authorized to make a public offering of their negotiable securities; having as a transition period the year 2010.

Said resolution also contemplated the voluntary adoption of IFRS by the companies that were not obliged but did not allow the early application of this regulation. Subsequently, Resolution 26 was modified and the year 2012 was established as the final date of adoption and early adoption was allowed from 2011.

The main challenges Argentina has faced in the adoption of IFRS are: training, changes in information systems, application of certain standards, adequate internal control, disclosure of a greater amount of information in the notes to the financial statements (PwC, 2008) Resolution 26 and the year 2012 was established as the definitive date of adoption and early adoption was allowed from 2011.

The voluntary adoption of the IFRS for SMEs was made known by the FACPCE through draft 19 of technical resolution. Subsequently, Technical Resolution 26 included the option to adopt such a body of standards, for any Argentine entity that is not required to use IFRS, with the same modification of 2010 that changed the adoption date to 2012 (Kerner, 2012).. In this sense, apparently the FAPCE made the right decision but I think it left the door open for its full application.

International regulations, according to the IASB from which the other models (UNCTAD-ISAR and IFAC-IPSASB) are derived, do not recognize the multi-paradigmatic, teleological and axiological nature of accounting. Mattessich (2003) highlights that international regulations are only one of the possible interpretations that accounting has. The intention of universalizing the IASB interpretation for all environments ignores that accounting regulation must respond to a logical-deductive itinerary, which cannot be transferred from one environment to another.

The unification of the accounting procedure based on the IASB proposal, the multiplicity of users of accounting information and the varied range of needs and existing environments are unknown. This proposal responds to specific users, specific needs and specific business development. These conditions are not exactly similar to those in underdeveloped countries.

Mattessich's proposal, aimed at elucidating the difference between general accounting theory and interpretations, invalidates the attempt to universalize accounting language in technical aspects. The Conditional Normative Theory, CoNAT, and the Conditional Normative Methodology, CoNAM, make it possible to identify their positive and normative components in accounting.

From his earliest works, Richard Mattessich developed the distinction between the cognitive component of accounting and the instrumental component. The first, the general theory, can be developed in two different and non-exclusive languages: the axiomatic and the semantic. In this theory empirical-positive validation is used; You can, within your options, use Popper's methodology of falsificationism (Mejía, Montes and Montilla, 2006). It is built with the help of the inductive method and aims to identify the universal characteristics of all accounting systems.

The second field, known as interpretations, is normative. For its development, it uses the deductive method in two directions. The first must respond to the elements of the General Accounting Theory; the second, named by Tua (1995): as the deductive logical itinerary, responds specifically to a methodology used in the construction of accounting principles. In this case, the latter are called: instrumental hypotheses, they must be congruent with the features of the environment, the objectives, the characteristics and the requirements of the accounting information. This whole approach is called the "teleological of accounting"; Tua qualifies it as the third research subprogram in the issuance of accounting principles in North America, attached to the Cañibano legalistic program.

The validation of the component of Mattessich's interpretations is teleological, instrumental or deontic in nature, it can even be said that it is axiological. The concrete rules of practical application (accounting principles) are validated by their ability to respond to the demands of the environment where they must operate. For different environments, with different users and needs, there must also be different rules that respond to those goals.

The expression -Itinerary logical deductive- is coined by Tua (1983, 1995, 2003), inspired by Mattessich's proposal. The following construction has in it a theoretical reference. The Itinerary described below is an alternative proposal. It tries to substitute and exclude the uncritical and unthinking adoption of international standards by international organizations. It is radically opposed to the transfer of models that impede the self-determination of underdeveloped peoples.

The deductive-semantic description of an accounting system must follow the following logical path:

Delineate the essential features or characteristics of the environment in which it will operate.

1. Associated with the economic, social and cultural conditions of the environments. They are based on the environment. They are empirical, rebuttable, factual and not universal propositions.

Description of the essential features or characteristics of the accounting system itself.

1. Definition of the objectives of the accounting system. Determination of the characteristics of its information. Determination of its requirements.

Derivation of rules for practice.

1. Standards associated with objectives Teleological-instrumental orientation and pragmatic validation.

To amalgamate the regulatory processes, the following guidelines are proposed as a professional strategy:

• Strengthening accounting professional, union and academic organizations around a macro-project that considers the national development of Latin countries Promote theoretical-epistemological training in accounting and technical education Develop empirical studies that allow describing the situation business and accounting of the geographic area under study Determine, in conjunction with society (companies, universities, unions, etc.), which are the users and the accounting needs required by national development Develop a common accounting model, which consults the reality of the Latin American nations and that responds to their conditions. Build the model with the participation of all sectors of society.The construction of its own accounting model cannot be an isolated structure of the entire system, it requires national commitments to the economic model aimed at consolidating a Latin power, free from interventionism and manipulation. Nor can the existence of a globalized world be ignored, the national-Latin interest should be privileged, over the profit-making desire of international speculative finance capital.

5. Consequences of accounting regulation

International accounting is part of the agreements of the New International Financial Architecture; its role in capital accumulation and its current role in inequitable distribution processes have been vital for the development of speculative capitalism. The use of accounting information is increasingly important in the decision-making of its users.

The conciliation agreement between bidders and applicants of economic-financial information yields different results in all companies. Each environment-nation has as much of some as of others, between all they determine information needs. This reality rules out, a priori, the prescription of an accounting information structure that is equally applicable throughout the world. The common characteristics of the Latin American countries allow the construction of a common accounting model that is flexible and allows the insertion of issues specific to each country.

The preparation of information according to the needs of users, implies costs that companies must assume. The cost-benefit relationship must be respected: entities would assume the cost of preparing and presenting said information if, and only if, the benefits of using the information are greater than the cost of producing it. In each country, the entities have different points of determination of the characteristics of the information, its requirements, objectives and conditions of preparation and presentation.

If the entity is understood as a cell of society, the objectives of the first are subordinate to those of the second, the entity would be understood as a citizen entity. It is wrong to understand the accounting and the information you put together as a product for neutral purposes. On the contrary, financial information is a directed and intended knowledge, it allows planning, implementing and developing specific situations that favor certain groups and their interests. The accountant determines which interests he is responsible for defending, those of speculative capital or those of the national interest.

A standardizing process that recognizes the economic effects of the accounting standard should integrate into it all groups of users whose legitimate interests may be affected by accounting. No one is indifferent to factors that affect their well-being, those affected will try to control the factors that can affect them, say Pina, 1988, citing Gerboth, 1973.

Pina also takes up the words of Zeef and Bala, when defining economic effects: such as the impact of financial statements on the behavior of decision-makers in business, government, unions, investors and creditors. It is argued that the resulting behavior of these individuals and groups could be detrimental to the interest of other affected parties.

For Pina (1988), in the accounting literature there are many examples of pressures that have been produced on bodies that issue accounting standards, throughout these decades (…) by sectors of society that have felt threatened by the effects that could have a certain accounting pronouncement. A similar consideration supports the Rochester School (Watts and Zimmerman, 1986) but reaches divergent conclusions.

Nor is standard setting a neutral process. Regulatory bodies are aware of the consequences of their pronouncements on the decisions of their users. From the bias in the composition of the standardizing bodies, rules are derived that reflect the interests of a greater number of users or a reduced group of stakeholders. The presidency and secretariat of the IASB, from its founding on June 29, 1973 until today, has not been occupied by a member from an underdeveloped country.

Regarding the weight of the economic effects in normalization, we find various proposals. Some believe that the issuance of accounting standards should be done in the context of a conceptual framework and a logical coherence plan to achieve objectives; These give primacy to technical aspects in the long term. At the other extreme are those who consider that accounting regulation is a matter of economic policy, becoming its instruments, as a way of putting accounting at the service of national goals, eg Pina.

Accounting practice can never be neutral, when chosen from a set of theoretically consistent alternatives, what is done is to choose between different individual preferences and different alternative economic effects. From an epistemological point of view, this situation is presented by the normative nature of accounting; the presence of value judgments is not only necessary, but inevitable.

In the process of harmonization in the international environment, several forces concur, the Latin American countries seem to live today what Tua (1983) had presented as the dynamics of developed countries:

In other words, the process of genesis of the accounting standard transcends national borders and is situated on a broader plane, as an effect and, at the same time, as a cause of the internationalization of commercial activity; the development of accounting standardization tends to create a body of generally accepted principles, to be used in large geographic areas that go beyond the scope of the respective countries. Thus, we speak of international accounting law, a kind of lex mercatoria of financial information, of coercivity all the greater the more it penetrates into legal institutions, while at the same time international accounting is also frequently referred to as a discipline worthy of being included. in the study plans.

Álvarez, Gil, García, Martínez and Valencia (2004) formulate the need to return to ethical foundations in the processes, not only of accounting regulation, but of all the dynamics of the economy. It raises the need for regulation supervised or directed by ethical principles, not by self-regulation encrypted by the lucrative-financial ambition of speculative capital

A more than interesting perspective on Accounting is given to us by the French thinker and philosopher Michel Foucault, who affirms that modern accounting (or double-entry accounting) is related to power. That it is modern accounting that can be denoted under the concept of a power device is due to the fact that it is this form of accounting, and not the ones before it (memorials, advanced memorials, accounting by simple entry), which is loaded of a number of elements and tools that enable aspects such as control, surveillance and discipline of subjects.

It is evident that from the Foucauldian perspective it can be thought that accounting has sought and has been committed, since the beginning of the 20th century, to the construction of efficient nations that call for devices to build useful and efficient individuals.

Undoubtedly, interpreting Foucauldian, accounting has contributed to the consolidation of practices that, such as the budget and standard costing, allow the docilization of the people involved in the company and, consequently, the direction of their behaviors towards the purposes of the company.

This makes it possible to emphasize the interpretation that accounting works, under instrumental rationality and, indeed, under the discourse of efficiency, as one more of the devices of capitalist power or, in other words, of the government of men: first, because it allows to monitor, control and discipline individuals, on the one hand, through the visibility offered by their figures on the performance, behavior, actions and results of individuals; on the other, through tools such as standard costs and budgeting, which determine for individuals what they can and cannot do through efficiency standards and norms of behavior that are related to the company's objectives. This, in effect, allows us to consider that modern accounting works like a panopticon,but not in terms of architecture but of social practice that, on the one hand, makes the activities and results of people visible and, on the other, allows modifying the behavior and channeling the behavior of individuals to discipline them and, even more, to to self-discipline. Second, because by calculating costs it is determined what things (health services, education, etc.) can be made available to men and how much can be distributed to them. Third, because it produces both individual and collective subjectivities.because by calculating costs it is determined what things (health services, education, etc.) can be made available to men and how much can be distributed to them. Third, because it produces both individual and collective subjectivities.because by calculating costs it is determined what things (health services, education, etc.) can be made available to men and how much can be distributed to them. Third, because it produces both individual and collective subjectivities.

Thus, it can be pointed out that accounting, in accordance with what could be called the strategic objective of building efficient human resources, and through its practices and figures that produce visibility over individuals, makes it possible to control, discipline, monitor, direct, normalize, in other words, govern the lives of men: their behaviors, their actions, their results, their performance, their working life.

In other words, accounting -of course, among other practices such as scientific administration and, why not, management- enables the capitalist power to exercise a modern subjection of the individuals involved in the company and, in this sense, the production of new subjects: efficient subjects, ethical-rational subjects and calculating subjects.

It is important to point out that the needs of the capitalist company have led accounting to legitimize the interests and the logic centered on an efficient market that requires useful, docile and manageable individuals. It is under this panorama, then, that it can be considered that accounting contributes to the government of men or, in other words, to the direction of their conduct towards the efficient achievement of the aims or objectives of the company. In other words, it is under this panorama that accounting can be considered to contribute to the construction of what capitalism seeks and refers to as the governable person.

The discussion about the relationship between accounting and power and, in this sense, is linked to the perspective that considers that accounting, contrary to what is frequently believed, is neither neutral nor objective, but rather, that it is an instrument that responds to the needs and purposes of capitalist power.

Going back to ethical foundations gives us the opportunity to clarify what the purposes of political and economic systems are, and to guide actions aimed at eliminating anomalous behaviors whose presence produces harmful effects for social conglomerates; especially for those who depend on the decisions of political and business managers, who are the majority of the members of society. Likewise, it allows us to determine what is the role played, whether in principle, an ethical behavior of a company, a professional, or an ethical orientation in regulation. To the extent that we adopt an ethic that accounts for the pursuit of well-being for the majority, we will be denying the advisability of adopting polyvalent ethics, in light of whose postulates,any behavior is defensible and convenient for the political-economic system.

The proposal described in the previous paragraph by Álvarez (2004) suggests, in conclusion, the construction of an accounting model for the different countries, which responds to their interests and conditions. Globalization is not denied, internationalization and an intention to participate is recognized, but in conditions of dignity and not as a mere instrument of thoughtless transfer of imported models.

6. Current economic-accounting development

6.1 For Max-Neef, economics, which originally derived from moral philosophy, suddenly lost much of its human dimension, was replaced by fanciful theories and technical trivia, incomprehensible to most and useless to all except perhaps for their authors who usually win prizes for having produced them.

6.2 And Max-Neef continues, the forms of socio-economic and political organization currently in force in the world are essentially opposed to the achievement of a tripartite harmony between nature, human beings and technology.

6.3 Milton Friedman, at the Mont Pélerin meeting, together with K. Popper, F. Hayek and V. Mises and others, is part of the ideologues of neoliberalism; presents three stages in the development of political-economic thought in the West: the Adam Smith tide, the Fabian tide, and the Hayek tide. He signaled the advent of a new tide, characterized by "the new use of markets and a more limited government", the force of the market and business is above governments, less and less autonomous in their decisions.

6.4 In terms of economics, the neoliberal model is self-denying because it concentrated wealth in the few North American and European multinationals, while the Third World economies were bleeding from their low levels of competitiveness and specialization in production Trade balances of the poor countries continued to be negative because during the boom in market liberalization they had to substitute national production to buy it from the emerging markets of the countries, Vaquez, 2005 tells us.

6.5 The engine of development of economies guided by the neoliberal model is profit maximization. An alternative orientation, such as the one contemplated in the triple line of results (economic, social and environmental), is an obstacle to the alleged capitalist progress.

6.6 For underdeveloped countries, and in particular Latin American ones, achieving economic development in accordance with the basic criteria of dignity requires reorienting the national economy. The systems of these countries need to turn towards the construction of a common economic model that refers to their reality; This results from studying national conditions and from the construction of local development alternatives.

6.7 In order to speak of the own accounting model, from which the common Latin American model is derived, reference must first be made to the own economic model. The failure of the national economy, and that of other underdeveloped countries, leads to rethinking the economic guidelines and revising the postulates that support the single economic model:

6.7.1 The presumption that each supply creates its own demand is falsified, Say's law is not fulfilled, eg in the Colombian economy. The indiscriminate liberalization of the markets leads to falls in effective demand and in growth rates. A selective intervention should be applied aimed at expanding demand in places where there are excess supply in order to increase economic activity.

6., 7.2 The trade relations of the Latin American countries are not given by their relative advantages but by absolute ones. The greatest possibilities for industrial exports are not in the activities that use the most abundant factor (unskilled labor); they are in the areas of complexity that were previously developed in advanced countries.

6.7.3 The distribution of income depends more on the economic organization, than on the level of income per inhabitant. Advances in equity depend on the ability to create an institutional framework that corresponds to the realities of the country. Its central elements are the regulation of markets exposed to large monopoly powers; the establishment of dams to prevent the most powerful sectors from appropriating the benefits of knowledge and technology; selective openness and industrialization policy aimed at reconciling the domestic market, high added value exports and industrial development led by complex chemical and metal-mechanical activities; and the adoption of a public policy aimed at correcting inequalities in results.

6.7.4 The application of its own economic model must have, to guarantee its empirical feasibility, an enabling environment at the international level. The regional integration of countries that participate in the same objectives and that, at the same time, suffer from the same or similar socioeconomic problems, should be sought.

7. Place of accounting in the field of knowledge and its social function

Regarding the scientific, social, empirical and applied status of accounting, it can be located under the following assumptions:

7.1 Accounting is a social, applied, cultural, empirical and pluri-paradigmatic science.

7.1.1 In society, accounting performs a (social) service function. This function is jeopardized unless accounting remains, above all, technically and socially useful. This indicates that it must respond to the changing needs of society and must reflect the cultural, economic, legal, social and political conditions in which it operates. Its technical and social utility depends on its ability to project these conditions, as understood by Choi and Mueller, 1992.

7.1.2 An information system that does not foresee social factors cannot lead to making a good decision, and, although this may be very complex, a more realistic model should be developed that contains three dimensions, considering, in addition to the relationships quantity-price, social and physical resources, for authors like Franco, 1996.

7.1.3 Hendriksen proposes accounting as: a multiparadigmatic science, that is, with different paradigms and different scientific communities. Two options can be presented:

• That paradigms dispute with each other for the search for monopoly. That paradigms coexist in an inclusive, complementary and non-exclusive way.

7.1.4 Hendriksen himself also exposes the following approaches or paradigms: an approach based on deductive reasoning and axiomatic approaches, inductive approaches, the ethical approach, the use of communication theory, the application of relationships based on behavior, interest in sociological factors, a macroeconomic approach, the pragmatic, the non-theoretical, the theory of accounts, and the eclectic.

7.1.5 In the section "Accounting, a multiple paradigm", Belkaoui (1993) identifies the following accounting paradigms: "inductive-anthropological, deductive-true income, utility of the decision-decision model, utility of the decision-behavior market aggregate, utility of individual user-decision and information-economy.

7.1.6 Montesinos uses the language of Imre Lakatos and identifies five research programs in accounting:

• legal-personalist, contista-neocontista, economic, mathematical and formalizing endeavor, and the introduction of behavioral aspects and the communicational conception.

7.1.7 Mattessich (1988), in the article An applied scientific examination for a methodological structure, based on the examination of Lakatos, Balzer, Stegmüller, Bunge and Laudan, studies the possible applications of the concepts of philosophy of science in accounting. It features three research traditions: management program; valuation-investment program; information-strategy program.

7.1.8 With the term «Accounting Research Program», Cañibano (1979), and Cañibano and Gonzalo (1996), present three accounting programs and eleven subprograms as follows:

7.1.8.1 Program-legalist.

Subprograms: legal codes and norms, determination of principles1 and conceptual framework.

7.1.8.2. Economic-program.

Subprograms: search for true profit, utility for the decision maker, positive accounting theory.

7.1.8.3 Program-formalized. Subprograms: the axiomatization of accounting, circulatory analysis, agency theory, the CAPM / HEM model, and the information economy.

7.2 Accounting is an independent science, with interrelations with other sciences since some areas of its object of study are concurrent for other disciplines defines it, García, 2001.

7.2.1 Accounting has a common material object to the economy, economic reality, but its own formal object: qualitative and quantitative knowledge of this reality. For Requena 1981, accounting, despite being an autonomous science, is also science of relationships.

7.2.2 Economic theory of accounting: accounting has four relationships with other sciences: essential, formal, instrumental and teleological relationships. Such relationships are framed within autonomy and independence, indicates Fernández 1970.

7.3 Accounting has two elements: a multipurpose and multipurpose general theory and Interpretation or application, which, with the help of deduction, derive from the general theory various accounting systems (Mattessich, 1956, 1964, 1978, 1995).

7.3.1 Accounting has two components: basic assumptions that manifest the general characteristics of all accounting systems, the General Theory, and hypotheses that guide specific purposes (Mattessich, 1995; García, 2001; Cuadrado and Valmayor, 1999; Tua, 1983 and 1995; Tua and Gonzalo, 1988).

7.3.2 Accounting proposes the creation of accounting systems in response to particular needs but always based on the General Accounting Theory (García, 2001).

7.4 Accounting must measure, recognize, analytically systematize and reveal information that satisfies the interests of different users, in different environments, under different conditions and at different times.

7.4.1 A fundamental concern of the FASB, just created and before its standard setting process, was to answer the following questions: Who needs financial statements? What precise information (needs)? What information is needed by Can the user provide the accounting? What structure is required to facilitate it? In other words, what are the classes of users (Tua, 1983).

7.4.2 “Accountants have a responsibility (…) to help preserve fairness between different groups: not only providing services to our clients, but also to all users of financial statements. It is worth saying that we defend the public interest ”(García, 2001, p.135; citing Devine).

7.4.3 The regulation must consult with the environment about its information needs; It should be understood that «the company is immersed in an interactive process with a set of heterogeneous variables that make up the environment in which it operates; there is a phenomenon of osmosis between the firm and the environment since both influence each other ”(Gago, 1996, p. 69). The interrelation environment-company-standard can be deduced.

7.5 Accounting regulation is not a solely technical process. It is an intentional process that has historically reproduced the formal legal structure of the dominant structure (today in international relations). But in its prescriptive-teleological orientation it is shown as a theoretical, scientific-technological and strategic process; It requires the active and real participation of the different actors in equal conditions, with respect to the knowledge of the subject, its consequences and the possibility of decision - the valid interlocutors in an ideal communication community of Jürgen Habermas.

7.5.1 “Any international economic institution not subject to superior political power, even if strictly confined to a particular field, could easily exercise the most tyrannical and irresponsible power imaginable. The great powers will not be willing to submit to a higher authority, but they will be in a position to use these international institutions to impose their will on the small nations within the area in which they exercise their hegemony ”(Hayek).

7.5.2 «If accounting is to provide information for decision-making to different types of users, it is essential to consider within its domain the issuers and recipients of said information, as well as the eventual regulators and reviewers of certain types of reports that pursue specific objectives »(García, 2001).

7.5.3 «Perhaps academics have misinterpreted the essence of accounting or provided an incorrect methodology to address the particular problems of our discipline, or the political forces of particular interest groups challenge any efforts made by scholars to materialize norms and coherent and socially fair accounting systems ”(García, 2001).

7.5.4 «The positive accounting theory (Rochester School) is also based on the theory of the regulation of the State, considers the political process as a competition between individuals with their own interests for the transfer of wealth. The political process uses the accounting figures, especially the accounting result, to justify the intervention or regulation of the companies ”(Wirth, 2001, p.21).

7.5.5 "The establishment of accounting standards for the preparation of accounting statements for general use is the product of a political process, in which accounting arguments are used that vary according to the objective that each of the parties tries to achieve" (quote from Watts and Zimmerman, 1979, in Wirth, 2001, p.27).

7.5.6 «Accounting theory does not end with the production of reports about reality previously defined, or defined theoretically, but should include its recipients or recipients, who are those who need to modify or act on reality (…) The need for information to solve specific and immediate problems (…) with mediate ends ”(Wirth, 2001, p.40).

7.6 The accounting professional must play a critical and constructive role in society, where they play a proactive role, seeking national development, with an ethical and socio-humanistic sense.

7.6.1 «The expert, the specialist, knows how to obey, knows how to comply in partial sectors; This logic of submission in machinic sectors of operation, extrapolated to the social sphere, generates an atmosphere of control, domination, inhuman mechanisms for restricting freedom, opening up opportunities, depriving creativity and ingenuity. The expert, the specialist, is part of an artificial techno-bureaucratic machine almost like a useful idiot, with a cognitive imbecility in which his disinterested interest, the disinterested interest in his knowledge is presented as a neutrality and scientific objectivity. here? Is the performance of technology at the service of life? » (Guarín, 2003). This cannot be the role of accountants in today's society.

7.6.2 «The lesson given to humanity by every age, and always despised, of speculative philosophy, which for superficial spirits seems to be so far removed from the business of life and the visible interests of people, is actually the one that exerts the greatest influence on humans in this world and the one that sooner or later subdues any influence (…) »(Hayek, 1997). This appreciation is a response to those who despise the thinking-doing of the accounting researcher.

c. "People are not educated for the free society by training technicians who are waiting to be used, technicians unable to find their own way, because they are convinced that others are responsible for the proper use of their ability or capacity." (Hayek, 1997).

7.7. The standardization of the structure of the accounting profession is due to a political decision by international organizations that do not necessarily represent the common interest (mainly the trend of the Chicago school of economics). Such standardization is not the result of the scientific development of accounting as an applied science.

7.7.1 «There are circulating, in different contexts, proposals for the standardization of accounting education, organized by economic unions and transnational organizations, which reveal their economic purposes, without further considerations about knowledge, research, teaching, pedagogy, among other aspects that make up the already complex field of education ”(Quijano, 2002).

7.7.2 “Multinational corporations transfer technology across the globe, obtain capital where it is cheapest, often produce where costs are lowest, and develop markets wherever people will buy their products and services »(Choi and Mueller, 1992).

8. Alternative for the development of accounting

The purpose is to build a Latin American accounting model, which can interpret the social, environmental, political and economic reality of the member countries. That this result from a democratic, participatory, free and autonomous work. The work proposal seeks to structure accounting from the Mattessich approach: distinguish between general accounting and its applications, with their respective validation criteria, as supported below.

8.1. General Theory: A positive empirical validation (inductive or deductive), can use a monism, dualism or methodological pluralism for its confirmation, verification or falsification; It depends on the route that is adopted (Ex.: Ayer, Carnap, Popper, Kuhn, Lakatos).

8.2. Interpretations: A normative-deductive validation allows the contrasting of the objectives formulated with the ends achieved after executing the actions that were considered pertinent to achieve them. socio-humanistic).

9. Difficulties of the harmonization process

Countries that have adopted international accounting standards without any reflection and debate have encountered sometimes insurmountable obstacles. Here is a summary analysis of the problems identified by IFAC:

9.1. Date of application of international standards

Countries with languages ​​other than English have problems in the timely application of international standards. When the translation of a standard into a specific language is published, the standard's effective date may have already passed, indicating that its application in this environment will already be overdue.

In certain countries it has been decided to adopt a set of international standards in force on the date of adoption, but the dynamics, changes and mobility of the standards, in a very short time make the approved regulation obsolete in the face of new international regulations.

9.2 Translate international standards

Professionals from underdeveloped countries do not normally participate in the process of discussing draft standards; they are broadcast in English, the discussion processes are short-term; sometimes the draft translation has not been completed when a new draft or standard is officially issued. For example, the draft standard for SMEs was issued in February 2007, the official translation into Spanish only came out until April of the same year, when the council was already beginning its review. The IASB website published it in May (Romanians fared worse, its translation was published in September). The deadline for submitting comments remained the same for everyone: October 2007.

The regulatory bodies in accounting and auditing matters (IASB-IFAC) are private entities, their literary and technological production is protected by copyright. Whoever wants to use or translate your information must have the authorizations of the issuing bodies, and pay them. The privatization of regulation constitutes a threat to the public sector and an affront to the self-determination of countries.

9.3 Diversity and structure of international standards

International accounting standards (accounting, auditing, ethics, valuation, good governance and education) have a high degree of complexity and require that their application be coordinated by experts on the subject.

The complexity of the valuation processes with historical recognition in accounting systems seems to reach a greater degree of complication with the introduction of fair value, the central axis of valuation in international regulations. Fair value (fair value or fair value) is very useful and can be determined in developed economies, but underdeveloped countries find it an obstacle and, on many occasions, they cannot calculate it.

9.4 Constant changes in international accounting and auditing standards

The changes that occur are frequent, involve significant volumes of material and introduce new techniques and make the process of training experts in international standards more complex. The generalized implementation process of the IASB-IFAC model may find at this point a delay factor that makes the process more costly in effort and money on the part of local organizations, who will not always be willing to assume them if they do not show a cost relationship. -favorable profit.

Non-English-speaking countries have a more complex problem in the adoption of current regulations. If the official regulation issued in its original text in English changes a lot, it is technically impossible for local regulatory or supervisory bodies to guarantee a translation system so agile that it guarantees that preparers and auditors of financial statements can always count on updated standards and translated into local language.

9.5 Accounting for small and medium-sized companies.

The economy in the world is based on small and medium-sized companies. "In Europe, it is estimated that there are more than 7000 public interest entities (large companies) and more than one million private entities (small and medium businesses)" (Wong, 2004). "MSMEs represent 94% of the Colombian business economy, 95% of employment in commerce and 74% of production" (Mejía, 2005). For Latin America, the case of Brazil is very significant: the continent's most important economy has only 49 companies that are listed on the stock exchange. Something quite similar happens in Argentina.

If SMEs represent such an important line in the local economy, it is not easy to explain from a rational logic why they are orphans of an accounting system that responds to their needs. More serious is the fact that currently there is no international organization, with international recognition and capacity, to guide its efforts to fill a void felt for decades in the world economic system.

In 2002, ISAR-UNCTAD developed a set of guidelines for SMEs, known as DCPYMES and reformulated in 2004. These guidelines are an abbreviated set of the IAS in force to date. Such a model does not work for SMEs, it does not even preserve the spirit of the IAS, so much so that the IASB never refers to them. In addition, he does not intend to give up leadership.

Faced with the general request to develop a normative body for SMEs, the IASB began in June 2004 the discussion prior to the issuance of the document, Preliminary views on accounting standards for small and medium-sized entities. In 2007, it issued a draft IFRS for SMEs, received 161 comments up to the 1st. October of that year and launched a "field test" where SMEs from 20 countries participated. In April 2008, the working group met to discuss these last two steps and submit recommendations to the Council. In any case, this standard does not obey the needs and requirements of the conditions of SMEs in underdeveloped countries.

The IASB model for small and medium-sized companies was developed in light of the IAS-IFRS, seeking to preserve uniformity and maintain the spirit of the standards of the stock market model. The model consists of 38 sections, in which it intends to extract all the relevant elements of the conceptual framework, the IAS-IFRS, the interpretations and the application guides.

The text recognizes that this regulation is aimed at preparing general purpose financial statements, aimed at external users; financial information of special use for owners and administrators is not prepared according to the model; the importance of these two users is unknown; what's more, in many locations, they are the only users. The tax authorities of all nations are obliged to deal with them, although initially in Argentina taxpayers must simultaneously present the EECC according to local regulations, at least until today 2014.

IFRS standards for SMEs inexplicably omit concepts of marked and essential relevance, such as the concept of capital and capital maintenance. These criteria are basic, no accounting system can evade them. It is not possible to speak of an accounting system if the orientation of the capital to be maintained is not specified.

The omission can be understood as an alignment with the IASB model. Its IASB framework indicates two concepts of capital and its maintenance: financial and operational. In practice he not only inclines, but openly develops the necessary procedures for the first. The central problem is that SMEs, by nature, function and structure, cannot have the same type of capital and maintenance as listed companies. Pretending to match these concepts is a business categorization error. It is not useful for this type of company, on the contrary, it is highly burdensome.

The previous paragraphs do not indicate that the main problem of the IFRS for SMEs has been the elaboration of a poor summary of the framework, even for those who consider that a less demanding IFRS model is enough for SMEs, the project suffers from conceptual rigor. The problem is more fundamental, the proposal of a model for SMEs requires detailed, participatory and pluralistic studies and analyzes. The solution is not just to summarize the regulatory model for large companies, it is not a smaller model for smaller companies.

The SME standard clearly opts for fair value. It has been established that fair value can become relevant for large companies that are listed on the stock markets, and that are located in highly developed countries where there is specific information on the movement of the value of assets with high precision and ease. Furthermore, the concern for the value of assets at all times is typical of shareholders-investors by profession.

The underdeveloped countries, and particularly the Latin American ones, support their economy in small companies, many of them in the agricultural sector. It is inexplicable that the IFRS project for SMEs does not dedicate an important section to the accounting treatment of this activity. Agriculture is dealt with in a paragraph of section 35; It is an incomplete, unclear text and, in essence, refers to the full application of IAS 41, except for express exceptions.

If certain standard setters and applicators consider that the draft IFRS for SMEs is suitable for these entities, its application requires reading the full text of all IFRSs. The tight summary of the project for SMEs fails to capture the essence and spirit of the IASB's comprehensive regulations. Many aspects of the project lend themselves to multiple interpretations, even those that the IASB expressly prohibits.

In the development of the sections, his central concern for large companies and especially for business groups and their transactions is evident. It can be seen in their chapters, that many of them are intended to prescribe the accounting treatments typical of large entities, so they do not correspond properly to the typical conditions of SMEs.

The common accounting model proposed for Latin America will be based on the needs of small and medium-sized companies. It will constitute an alternative structure, even antagonistic to the system proposed by UNCTAD-ISAR and IASB. The regulation of international organizations, including the one designed for SMEs, will not be able to get rid of the intention of favoring public interest companies (contributors).

9.6 Expert staff in international accounting standards.

In terms of IAS-IFRS-ISA, underdeveloped countries do not have enough professionals with the necessary knowledge to apply them and train other professionals in this skill, and where there are professionals who are experts in the subject, there are very few to face the challenge it represents.

A strong criticism of the governments that promote international accounting standardization processes is that they have not carried out in-depth impact studies, neither sufficient nor descriptive, within each country. Current investigations have been carried out by international organizations. It is necessary to determine if the academic-practical conditions exist to promote, in the short or medium term, a process as demanding as the change in accounting regulations.

If there are great difficulties with standards training (which involves only descriptive-explanatory studies), the problems that will arise with critical, reflective, prescriptive and emancipatory training will be greater. Knowing and applying the standards technically is not enough; It requires, as a first step, a critical vision, the ability to evaluate the relevance or incongruity of the model with business and national interests.

10. Closing

As Gil, Mattessich and Foucault himself affirm, accounting has always been ascribed to power structures, and today more than ever: it is a knowledge that is not used to question but to validate; it is presented as a conservative technique, not a revolutionary one. It is not apt to change but to justify; legalizes patrimonial accumulations, income appropriations, value distributions. It is brought into line with the instrumental rationality that prevails in the economic system and is linked to the structure of property rights and transaction costs that affect incentives and economic behavior, largely leaving aside the interests of the economy. community about people, environment and society, as it does not delve into Liabilities and Assets on these last issues,nor in its Results (destruction and creation of value).

Acceptance of the international standards of the accounting profession is a delivery of autonomy in matters of national regulation, endorses the power of nations to self-regulate and gives international organizations the authority to normalize professional practice. It constitutes a renunciation of each country to build its development model, not only in accounting matters, but also in the economic, social and political fields.

The proposal for the "full and complete" adoption of international standards in underdeveloped countries is a decision that must be the result of a rigorous and prospective study of the impact that the change in accounting regulations and the implementation of the new model may generate in all countries. aspects. Recognizing that the accounting systems of underdeveloped countries lack investigative support, and showing that the vast majority constitute a transfer of foreign models, does not justify the thoughtless and improvised implementation of an international model; the solution may be more damaging than the initial problem.

Accounting research is the only valid and possible path for the development of the profession and the strengthening of its dignity and respect. These aspirations are not based on an exclusive professional status, they rest on the intention of developing a profession at the service of social, cultural, environmental and historical causes. Respect for accounting, as a profession, stems from its ability to respond to the needs of society and to solve the questions that are raised daily.

Education and training in epistemology, accounting theory, universal accounting history, and the history of the development of the accounting profession and regulation in each country need to be strengthened.

Accounting research is developed in two clear senses: first, the search for new knowledge (pure science) that, with nomological descriptive intentionality (positivism), accounts for the conceptual relationship and existing regularities in the flows and accumulation of wealth. Second, research, given by the explanation of social relations and the processes of creation, distribution and accumulation of wealth. The conditions of dispossession and dispossession that occur in the unequal economic relations that characterize the prevailing single (neo-liberal) model must be analyzed. Through its descriptive, explanatory and predictive study, more equitable, fair and ethical models can be prescribed.

The proposed accounting conception takes it away from its condition of faithful servant, useful to the interests of big capital, speculative, plundering and dehumanizing. The challenge of the new accounting is to reveal, through sophisticated models, the complex relations of mobility of capital and wealth. It is up to accounting professionals to remove the veil that covers the capital structure, to make visible the threads of power and the consequences of what is hidden in a financial report, where neophytes will only be able to interpret three macro groups: assets, liabilities and heritage. This second investigative sense, more than applied science, is an interpretative-explanatory-liberating and multidimensional science (economic, social and environmental, etc.).

Understanding, for example, the environment as the global system made up of natural, artificial and cultural elements, and their interactions; the company needs to protect it. Then, the concept of social responsibility of the company was born, which encompasses its relations with its employees, other companies, the State and society in general. Consequently, the exercise of socio-environmental responsibility must be permanent and of systematic compliance. To do this, it is necessary that you set your economic-financial objectives together with the socio-environmental ones and will ensure the fulfillment of both.

We have referred to the influence of the environment on people's lives and it can be said that it was only in the middle of the 20th century that people became aware of the serious consequences that environmental deterioration can bring to man. From that moment, the importance that society gives to the protection of the environment begins to grow considerably. At present the interest and concern for the environment and its conservation is contemplated by many sciences and contemplated in different regulatory provisions. Within this framework, accounting as a human discipline has the responsibility to promote human well-being in general by providing the information necessary for organizations to contribute to sustainable development. For that end,The company has the obligation to inform the different social agents with whom it interacts regarding compliance with its socio-environmental responsibility, and these, in turn, must claim such information. To do this, environmental accounting through the information it provides contributes to the conservation and protection of our environment in the following contexts:

1. Environmental accounting in the national accounting framework, referring to the accounting of natural resources, in which indicators, statistics and reports on emissions, waste generation, etc., are reflected, Environmental accounting as an aspect of management accounting, contributing to the management of companies when determining environmental costs or evaluating investment projects that consider the interaction between the company and the environment, and finally, Environmental accounting in the context of financial accounting, which refers to the preparation of accounting statements for external users, using generally accepted accounting principles and relevant accounting standards.

These three aspects allude to the active social responsibility of organizations, which must inform themselves about the socio-environmental impacts they generate, as well as those of the organizations with which they are related. At the same time, they must communicate to the various interest groups about such impacts. This information is usually transmitted through the reports that accompany the financial statements, the financial accounting-economic information of socio-environmental responsibility and the socio-environmental accounting statements or so-called social balance sheets.

In particular, the accounting doctrine has proposed the issuance of comprehensive social balance sheets that complement the basic accounting statements. These will measure the fulfillment of social and environmental objectives, commonly indicated under the name social cost-benefit. In this way, it would be possible for organizations to disclose and parameterize their actions with all the interest groups with which they are linked and these social reports would constitute a tool that allows the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of compliance with corporate social responsibility in terms of assets and social and environmental liabilities, making management results transparent and building its integral corporate image, especially when we are talking about large companies and companies that significantly influence the environment due to their activity.

The need to build a Latin American action force for joint work is evident, to strengthen the links of exchange and cooperation. In the accounting field, the idea of ​​a standard with common elements for the entire continent, from Mexico to Argentina, is not only a viable option, but also a desirable one. The strategy must be different from that of the IASB; It is not an alliance to strengthen developed countries, it is a union to defend itself from the danger of hegemonic, developed nations and the great transnational capitals that handle the economic power of the world that puts man, society, nature and the environment in the last resort as one more commodity. The Latin coalition (Mercosur-Pacific Alliance) would allow sharing the benefits of the union on equal terms.

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