A importância da compreensibilidade da informação contábil para o efetivo controle social

Abstract

The exercise of citizenship and social control are directly linked to the awareness of individuals regarding the use of public resources and the way in which their leaders are accountable to the population. In this way, social control is carried out through the active participation of society during public hearings when there are processes for preparing and discussing plans, the law on budget guidelines and budgets. In this context, the understanding of the disclosed accounting data ensures that the information on accountability will be interpreted, allowing for a debate on how the demand of the population can be legitimately demanded. Therefore, this study aimed to verify how the accounting information made available on the transparency portals is being understood by the population of Maceió. Initially, we sought to describe the role of public accounting in Brazil parallel to the role that the accountant plays as a function of society, thus allowing us to understand how society perceives the information being made available, linking this to what the legislation determines. Subsequently, in order to concern the objective of the work, a descriptive, quantitative and field research was carried out, in which a questionnaire answered by 96 random people from different social classes and levels of education was used. Data analysis occurred through tabulation in spreadsheets, which allowed to reach the frequency and percentage of responses, facilitating the interpretation of the respondents' perception. The results showed that despite the greater number of respondents having little or no contact and understanding about the accounting information available on the transparency portals, most agree that it is necessary for the population to actively participate and remain informed about the use of public resources, as well as agree with the disclosure of accounting information in fast means of communication, which use less technical language. Therefore, information on public accountability is essential to citizens, and it is essential that the content of accounting information be simplified and better disseminated so that social control can be practiced actively and correctly.