Relevance of Provisions and Contingent Liabilities in Brazilian Companies

Authors

  • Rafael Bertoldi Pescador Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)
  • Suliani Rover Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22561/cvr.v35i3.8124

Keywords:

provisions, contingent liabilities, Relevance, CPC 25

Abstract

The present research analyzed the accounting relevance, from the perspective of value relevance, of the recognition of provisions and disclosure of contingent liabilities of a possible nature in Brazilian companies, in order to verify if the different form of disclosure impacts on the price company's market. The data were mainly extracted from the Standardized Financial Statements of the companies object of the sample, listed in the Brazil 100 Index of B3, in the period 2010 to 2020, which resulted in a total of 95 companies and 927 observations. The analysis occurs through regressions by OLS and GLS, based on a relevance model of Ohlson (1995) adapted by Collins et al. (1997). Among the results is that provisions have a significant – and negative – association with the market value of Brazilian companies. It was found that the recognition of a provision unit tends to reflect negatively on the market price of the share, in an amount of approximately four units. This finding may be related to the low conservatism of Brazilian companies from an accounting point of view, the constant reclassification of contingent obligations and the uncertainty regarding the magnitude of future disbursements, facts that sensitize the user's perception regarding the potential undervaluation in the recognition of provisions and amplify the effect on the market value of those that have been recognised. On the other hand, the coefficients of contingent liabilities were not statistically significant, which indicates a difference in perception between provisions and contingent liabilities by users, as the latter are subject to lower auditing standards.

Author Biographies

Rafael Bertoldi Pescador, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)

Mestre em Contabilidade pela UFSC, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Campus Universitário – Trindade, Centro Socioeconômico - Bloco G, 3o andar - Sala 2, Florianópolis - Santa Catarina, CEP: 88040-970, (048) 3721-6608. rafaelbpescador@gmail.com

Suliani Rover, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)

Doutora em Controladoria e Contabilidade pela Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Campus Universitário – Trindade, Centro Socioeconômico - Bloco G, 3o andar - Sala 2, Florianópolis - Santa Catarina, CEP: 88040-970, (048) 3721-6608. sulianirover@gmail.com

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Published

2024-12-26

How to Cite

PESCADOR, R. B.; ROVER, S. Relevance of Provisions and Contingent Liabilities in Brazilian Companies. Contabilidade Vista & Revista, [S. l.], v. 35, n. 3, p. 25–52, 2024. DOI: 10.22561/cvr.v35i3.8124. Disponível em: https://revistas.face.ufmg.br/index.php/contabilidadevistaerevista/article/view/8124. Acesso em: 24 dec. 2025.