The Management Approach on the Disclosure of Information per Segment

Abstract

In November 2006, IFRS 8, a standard concerning the disclosure of information per segment, was issued. This paper aimed to analyze, within the context of the IFRS 8 implementation, the following question: What effect does integrating financial accounting into management accounting have upon the information quality and disclosure level? To that end, 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of the main groups of stakeholders affected by the introduction of an international standard. Dealing with a subjective reality created by the interaction among the interviewees, the study concluded that providing management information, as long as conciliated with the financial accounting, promotes a greater disclosure level, improving economic decisions and forecasting capacity, increasing the company's negotiation power and consistency of practices with different publics. Notwithstanding, disclosing information per segment, based on management criteria, requires more preparation, issuance and auditing efforts, in addition to confronting issues such as information confidentiality, difficulty in analysis and loss of comparability.