Financial reporting about provisions: Evidence from Portuguese listed companies

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Finance from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics

This project provides evidence about the practices of financial reporting regarding provisions namely presentation, recognition, measurement and disclosure in the consolidated annual reports in 2010 and 2009 of Portuguese non-financial companies listed in the Euronext Lisbon. Moreover it updates the findings of previous literature, analyzes the compliance with IAS 37 and identifies its main issues. The findings suggest that there exists room for improvement of provisions reporting in Portugal, as requirements are in some cases not followed in full and there is unclear information, so the research recommends to regulators, preparers and users in order to address those issues.