A contabilidade como instrumento de prestação de contas dos partidos políticos no Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

Accounting is an applied social science whose main purpose is to transmit relevant information to its users, it is also present in political parties, and has the intention of facilitating the dissemination of information to the population, contributing to more transparency of the public resources used by the political parties, as well as inhibiting possible fraud. In this work, we seek to analyze accounting as a tool for providing accounts of the 5 largest political parties in the number of affiliates in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, from the years 2012 to 2017, noting which accounting statements are decisive in accountability and whether they directly influence the approval of these accounts. From qualitative exploratory analysis, we could see that just the correct presentation of the financial statements does not lead to the approval of the accounts. However, the absence of some of these statements can lead to and/or influence a disapproving opinion. In addition, it was possible to conclude that the accounting statements that are decisive for the approval of the installments of the political party accounts are: the balance sheet and the income statement. Finally, we argue that accounting as part of political parties is a great victory for the population, as it manages to obtain more information on how public resources are spent, as well as for accounting professionals, because it is a new branch to be explored, as well as for the political parties since their finances will be much more organized.