The cash flow information in the context of future accounting rules for small businesses

In Romania, the presentation of Statement of cash flows is compulsory only for certain entities, while cash flow information represents an essential component of analyze. The main objectives of our study are: (i) to identify which companies should prepare a Statement of cash flow using just the turnover for the main criteria; (ii) to identify, in direct relation with the size of the company, the real users of information provided by financial statements; (iii) to identify the purpose of cash flow information in the financial management of the entity and the main users of this information; (iv) to identify if the economic field needs simplified accounting regulation. We hypothesize that, although an entity should prepare a cash flow statement just if it is compulsory, the need for this kind of information will determine the potential users to require information based on a cash-flow analysis. Even thought our study was focused on the cash flow information (like financial statement or like relevance of inflow and outflow of cash) at enterprise level, the conclusions revealed can be extended. The small businesses do not need sophisticated accounting and reporting regulations. The accounting regulatory regimes must recognize differences between larger and smaller enterprises and between those that are listed and unlisted and/or non publicly accountable.