There exist various forms of measuring a company's equity and income; starting from the Historical Cost, based on past transactions, passing by the Current Cost, considering the replacement of the production factors that are being consumed, valuating each asset and liability at its Net Realization Value and arriving at the Present Value of Future Cash Flows. At bottom, all of them consider one single object: cash; sometimes the cash that has happened, sometimes the cash that will happen shortly, sometimes the cash that will occur if assets and liabilities were sold, the one that is expected from future transactions etc., each information being valid for a different necessity. Consequently, they are not alternative models, which obligatorily imply the elimination or non-adoption of the others; they can simply be treated as complementary. The only factors that, in the long term, can make the measurement of income diverge are: inflation and opportunity cost. And the not-use of these two factors continues being an unforgivable error of us, Accountants. For the former, we have simplified and complex methods (the "legal" model and full price-level restatement, for example). For the latter, on the other hand, we did not even apply the Interest on Own Capital, and still less that parcel related to risk, which actually points out that the situation is more complex (but not unworkable - remember the 'common' EVA®). In sum, the entire income is or implies the figure of cash; all of the valuation forms, in the end, arrive at the same income and at the same cash, only facing the problems of inflation and opportunity cost. The different concepts and valuation principles of equity and, consequently, of income, are totally complementary; none of them possesses all of the information, usefulness and quality desired by the users. They should be treated as one helping and complementing the other, and not as mutually exclusive. What about devoting more attention and action to these aspects? And especially to inflation and opportunity cost?
valuation principles or methods; entry values; exit values; opportunity cost; risk; income; equity