Nehmotný majetok podľa súčasnej právnej úpravy v Slovenskej republike a v nadnárodnej harmonizácii účtovníctva
ACCOUNTING FOR INTANGIBLE ASSETS WITHIN THE CONTEMPORARY SLOVAK AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Summary/Abstract: Harmonization of accounting, which is focused on the narrowing the gaps between the accounting systems of the various countries. For Slovakia, which is currently in the cession process to the EU, the most predominant issue is to harmonize accounting system with the international accounting standards. New accounting legislation (in force as of 2003) has introduced further convergence of various issues between the Slovak statutory accounting and international financial reporting environment. This paper is thus focused on providing a comparative analysis of the intangible assets as a basic ele-ment of the financial statements, its scope, ways of measurement and amortization both under the provisions of the Slovak accounting framework and international accounting standards.Intangible asset represents a specific sort of assets, which contributes to the income even if it is not diminishing its own value. Under the Slovak legislation, intangible assets are represented by: formation expenses, development costs, software, property rights and goodwill. There are few basic recognition criteria – intangible assets shall be specifically identified, they should be employed (within in enterprise) for a period of more than 1 year and its cost of acquisition shall exceed 50 000 SKK. However, an entity may decide that if the period of employment exceed 1 year, intangible assets might be recog-nized even if their value is less than 50 000 SKK. From the point of view of International Financial Reporting Standards, standard IAS 38 is applicable in dealing with and accounting for intangible assets. Under the provi-sions of this standard, intangible assets represent identifiable non-monetary assets, which is not tangible and is held for the purpose of manufacturing, selling of merchandise (or providing the services), for a lease or for an administrative purposes. It is asset controlled by the enterprise, which is a result of past events and from which future economic bene-fits are expected. Unlike the Slovak statutory accounting, IAS 38 accounts for intangible assets based on a more general and a complex approach.Finally, recognition of intangible assets is deeply affected by choices of appropriate measurement bases. Under the Slovak accounting legislation (which is, from this point of view comparable to provisions of IAS 38), intangible assets are measured at cost. IAS 38 allows revaluation of intangible assets to its fair value, a treatment which is currently prohibited by Slovak accounting legislation.Intangible assets shall be amortized systematically, based on the best estimate of their useful life, which (under IAS 38) shall not exceed 20 years. In Slovakia, its useful life shall not exceed 5 years from the date of the acquisition. Even though the convergence process is on its way, there are some urgent topics which require increased attention. These are the top-issues in the aforementioned agenda:

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