Accounting Practices Comparison

Composed of a clear and objective comparison of the several International Accounting Standards (IAS), US-GAAP and Brazilian accounting rules.

Preface

KPMG is one of the largest auditing and advisory organizations in the world with offices in over 150 countries.

We assist our clients in establishing accounting practices that are in accordance with international or individual country accounting practices. Accordingly, we have developed a comparative study of international, US, and Brazilian accounting practices. This is a summary and does not identify all differences contained in the original texts that were consulted during its preparation. Furthermore, its use should not preclude research in the original literature or consultation with professionals in the area.

The convergence of accounting practices in the international ambit has become the reality at the start of this century, and has occurred within a context of globalized markets and the increasing presence of foreign capital in Brazil.

International bodies, including IASC, IOSCO, UE and SEC, have sponsored the process to converge accounting practices, viewed as valuable tool to achieve important factors such as synergy between the markets, the flow of investments at global levels, etc.

Within this context, KPMG has, for several years, been examining the differing and converging aspects between international accounting practices, Brazilian practices and American practices, this has had an important influence on accounting practices given the significant investment in the country.

International accounting practices (IAS) issued by the International Accounting Committee (IASC), today, constitute a source of reference for worldwide accounting practices. Due to the fact that these practices represent a set of high level standards that are constantly up date with the current demands of the world market, they have gradually been accepted in several countries as local accounting practices, or these latter practices are harmonized with international practices.

What has occurred in Brazil is not different, since Brazilian accounting practices have been revised to be consistent with international practices. The reform of Corporation Law, to be voted by the Parliament, has reflected this tendency, whereby various international accounting concepts, mainly with respect to accounting for financial lease operations, segmented information, cash-flow statements, etc, have still not been included as part of the Brazilian accounting practices.

The professionals from KPMG have a fundamental commitment to accompany the
development of accounting practices within this context for all of the levels described above, and today have a network of contacts and are organized in groups by subject and will contribute to developing standardizing accounting practices within this context.

The combination of our wide client base and our service network in the world’s most important financial markets places us in a privileged position to provide the advice required by our clients seeking to participate in the international financial markets.