DO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS PROVIDE ADEQUATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE CAPITALIZATION OF COSTS RELATED TO INTANGIBLE ASSETS?: AN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON ITALIAN LISTED COMPANIES

Abstract

The aim of our research is to verify if Italian listed companies financial statements provide adequate information about the capitalization of costs related to intangible assets and if the information provided are reliable. Moreover, we investigated if they merely comply with law or provide additional information on cost capitalization and reveal if internal control systems (especially managerial accounting systems) or other information systems are applied to support the measurement process and the cost control, thus guaranteeing the verifiability and representational faithfulness of the information disclosed. This paper is an empirical analysis and is concerned to investigate the financial statements of 250 Italian listed companies.

Keywords

• Managerial accounting systems; Intangibles; Capitalization; Measurement
• IAS/IFRS