Different and Common Features of Czech and Portuguese Accounting Financial Statements: Comparative Study of the Selected Aspects

The main outputs of accounting, which are informative for interested subjects of the company, are financial statements. Financial statements are documents showing the financial situation of an accounting entity. In different countries, there may be different requirements for these statements, caused by economic, legal, historical, cultural and social differences. Differences may also result from different requirements for the presentation of information with regard to the size and nature of the activity of the accounting unit. Therefore, it is useful to formulate the objectives of financial reporting in accordance with globally recognized rules. The aim of this article is to find out and evaluate the differences in the regulations and structures of accounting financial statements that are used in the Czech Republic and in Portugal, to find common and different points and to evaluate their objective comparison in the case of use by a company or other interested parties. Particularly the statements of balance sheet, income and cash flows are going to be analyzed in order to find out whether the reporting capacity of the individual reports is comparable at the level of the national economies examined. Given that both countries are part of the European Union and each of them to a certain extent is influenced by international standards that are used in Europe, it can be said that the financial reporting of the two analyzed countries is comparable to each other at the international level.