ICPC 14: what is missing?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to raise questions about Technical Interpretation 14 (ICPC 14) from the Accounting Standards Committee with regards to the statutory characteristics of Brazilian cooperative societies. We do not aim to provide definitive solutions by exhausting all conceptual analyses and accounting alternatives involving the reclassification of member shares, or "quotas", from net equity to liabilities, but rather to present some considerations with regards to points that are not explicit in ICPC 14. Applying the concept of adjustment to present value (APV) is the main point of this study, which was not taken into account when ICPC 14 was elaborated. Analysis of the statutes of cooperatives indicates, as a common characteristic, the obligation to always pay the redemption of members' quotas in a period of more than one year, and this leads us to conclude that for a reliable representation of the phenomenon it is necessary to recognize the APV of this reclassified liability.