The conservatism, secrecy and financing options from the perspective of Portuguese preparers of financial statements

This study was developed based on the theory of cultural relevance of accounting proposed by Baydoun and Willet [4] from the contributions originally released by Gray [16], which highlights the link between the accounting values and the practices that are materialized in the form, content and the qualitative characteristics presented in financial reporting. The study has examined the existence of association between accounting values and corporate financing options, the existence of association between two of the Gray [16] accounting values, namely, conservatism and secrecy, on the one hand, and financing options, on the other hand, from the perspective of Portuguese preparers of financial statements. The data were collected from a survey conducted on a sample of 431 Chartered Accountants Portuguese during the year 2012, subsequently subjected to multivariate analysis, including factor analysis and reliability analysis. Based on the results of this study it was possible to identify the grouping of items around each of the Gray [16] accounting values analyzed in this study, isolated or associated with issues related to corporate financing.