IFRIC 12, ICPC 01 and Regulatory Accounting: Influences on Formation of Tariffs in the Electricity Sector

The objective of this study was to investigate to what extent the IFRIC12 and ICPC01 accounting characteristics can influence in the formation of tariffs in the electricity sector in Brazil. The choice of this sector is justified by its economic relevance, its importance for the development of the country and mainly because it uses specific regulatory accounting rules. With a purely qualitative approach - justified by the incipient stage of the current research in this area – we conducted a theoretical study, focusing on qualitative information, through research of the literature and documents. The results show that the pricing model may change under the IFRIC 12 and ICPC 01 standards, which makes the effective application of these accounting standards in the environment regulated by the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) a difficult and complex task. The study also indicates that the main difference between the regulatory accounting system promoted by ANEEL and the international standards is the impossibility of recognizing regulatory assets and liabilities under the latter system. Therefore, the Brazilian electricity sector is one of those that may have its financial statements most affected by the convergence of Brazilian accounting standards to international standards.