Do Spanish accounting standards for NGOs provide an ideal framework for the presentation of transparent financial report? Similarities and differences with international standars applied by the 20 most important NGOs in the world

Abstract

The importance of NGOs has increased lately due to the crisis, but if their role is important, their transparency is too. Specifically, we are interested in knowing of the "quality" of their economic and financial information, both nationally and internationally.

Within the national level we will begin this paper making an analysis of the Accounting Plan of Non-Profit Entities approved in 2011. We are going to study their conceptual framework, principles and basic concepts, regulation, whose compliance leads to -in a logical deductive process- the recognition and valuation of the elements of the annual accounts of these organizations in Spain. This analysis will give us an idea of the potential level of transparency of the national regulation.

The way to study international standards will be carried out from a perspective more practical, observing the different criteria and norms that have being applied by the most important NGOs. To do this, we are going to introduce the 20 most important NGOs in the world, after that we are going to seek and analyze their annual financial reports published on their website, then, we will know the degree of transparency that these reports present. Also, we are going to inquire into their content to try to find out if they collect some specific information for an NGO: about their projects, their degree of compliance, etc.

Finally, we will check if there is any important aspect that is presented by the analyzed NGOs but is not required to the Spanish NGOs.