LEVEL OF COMPARABILITY OF INTANGIBLE ASSETS OF BRAZILIAN COMPANIES OF THE ELECTRICITY SEGMENT LISTED ON B3

One of the advantages of adopting international accounting standards is the possibility of comparisons between different companies. Therefore, the aim of the study is to verify the level of comparability of intangible assets of companies in the electric segment that are listed on the B3. For this purpose, criteria for recognition, measurement and disclosure of intangible assets disclosed in the balance sheet and in the notes to the financial statements were analyzed. For analysis purposes, the companies were divided according to their main activities: generation; streaming; distribution and generation; and transmission and distribution. The research was carried out with a sample of 43 companies from 2013 to 2016. Regarding the items analyzed in the documents, an item of recognition, three measurement items and five main items of evidence were investigated. For the analyzes, descriptive statistics were used and, to verify the comparability, the Herfindahl index (H). The results indicated that the amounts recorded in intangible assets were discrepant, and all had concessions. When comparing, the H index for the method of valuation of intangibles was around 0.50 in the analyzed years, indicating that when choosing two companies randomly the probability of adopting the same method is 50%. For the recoverability test, it was higher than 0.50 in all years, and in 2013 it reached 0.646.Thus, it can be concluded that the companies analyzed presented indices that indicate a median comparability in the period investigated, indicating that there is no standardization in the accounting choices applied by the companies.