A percepção dos analistas de mercado de capitais sobre a utilidade da demonstração dos fluxos de caixa

Abstract

The Statement of Cash Flows (CFD) is an accounting instrument that has much to contribute to the decision-making process. It should be used as one of the main sources to obtain information on the movements of cash and cash equivalents in a given period, since it is prepared in accordance with Law 11638/07, obeying accounting principles and meeting the requirements of quality accounting information. DFC can be consulted and analyzed by all users, whether internal or external, who want to know the financial information flows of a company. Public companies are obliged to present the DFC, either by using the direct or indirect method, and thus allow the stakeholders to evaluate the information disclosed. One of the stakeholders that is part of the external user group is the professional who serves as a capital markets analyst. It is a group of professionals who influence the analyzes and indications they carry out for individuals or companies wishing to apply their financial resources in the capital market. Thus, the present research has as objective to evaluate the perception that the capital market analyst has about the DFC, regarding the qualities of the information present in the statement. In order to reach the objective, the qualities of the accounting information were presented which, according to Hendriksen and Breda (1999), justify their usefulness to the decision-making process. The concepts adopted were those established by CPC 00. According to CPC 00, the Relevance qualities (predictive value, value as feedback and opportunity), Reliability (verifiability, representation fidelity and neutrality) and Comparability were evaluated. Based on the bibliographic review on the quality of the accounting information and the history and relevance of the DFC, the questionnaire was specifically designed to meet the research objective and applied to certified professionals who act as capital market analysts. the degree of relevance of the accounting information from the DFC to the capital market analyst in order to ascertain whether such information is material or necessary for the knowledge of the company and its cash transactions. 386 questionnaires were obtained. The questionnaire was prepared and accessed, through the electronic model, through the internet, by the research services offered by Google. It was possible to verify in the survey that the analysts make little use of the DFC and presented little importance on the information present in the statement. That is, the answers obtained through the questions presented showed a low power of influence of the DFC as a possible tool to attest to most of the qualities of the accounting information. Under another analysis, we may consider that most capital market analysts do not evaluate DFC as a useful demonstrator for the decision-making process. In comparing the information obtained in the responses with the respondents' profiles, in general, market analysts with more experience have claimed to have greater knowledge on CFD and analysis of the financial statements, as well as demonstrated to give more importance to the quality of the accounting information than the younger ones. Analysts belonging to the other age groups generally have knowledge in DFC, but do not consider them useful when questioned about the quality of the information. The research provided an understanding that DFC is known by these professionals, but the qualities of information do not are completely perceived by them specifically in this demonstrative. With this, it is possible to suggest a greater discussion about the presentation of the functionalities of the DFC and how their flows can meet the informational needs that this group of professionals has about the companies. The greater contribution of this research is to have been carried out and applied only to active capital market analysts and that in their professional activity perform analysis of the financial statements of publicly traded organizations.