Ammortamenti e capital maintenance nella nuova disciplina dei bilanci universitari.

From year 2015 on, Italian public universities will be obliged to prepare, approve and publish accrual financial statements. D.Lgs. 18/2012 and D.I. 19/2014, two Italian new laws, provide financial statement schemes, accounting postulates and valuation criteria, most of which are similar to those already being observed by private business entities. A material quantitative part of such financial statements assets is expected to match with properties and equipment figures, which, in turn, should determine significant amortization charges to the income account. The above new laws also provide for government grants to be accounted for as “deferred income” (whoever the supplier of the grants), that is in a way which is similar to the one prescribed by IAS 20 (par. 20.24); one of the effects of this accounting standard being the one of sterilizing the economic impact of the amortization charges on the entity results. If such a consequence may be in line with the financial capital maintenance principle in the perspective of a business entity whose shareholders do not coincide with those who disbursed those grants, the same can’t be said for a public entity whose equity belongs to the same Government Institution from such grants come from. Indeed, in this last case, those grants should be considered as a part of the equity to be maintained. What is more, in relation to public interest entities, a “physical” capital maintenance perspective may be deemed to be more appropriate than a “financial” one, since the scope of the foundation and the support of such entities by Government Institution is usually one of delivering an important public service to a community, whose capacity should not be impaired.