Alternatives for the recognition and accounting disclosure of heritage assets in museums of public universities: a study in the Memorial of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco

Abstract

Brazilian studies on the attribution of book value to cultural assets are very recent and are basically limited to specialists in the field of Accounting, who name these assets as heritage assets, that is, cultural heritage assets. Relations of this theme with the area of Museology are quite scarce both in Brazil and abroad, although foreign literature on the subject is more abundant. In view of this gap, the present article aims to discuss the attribution of book value to cultural assets of university museums, through the case study of a collection of precision scales belonging to the Memorial Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE). To achieve the proposed objective, the work carried out a literature review and documentary research on the subject, as well as field research through photographic records, interviews and questionnaires. The characteristics of heritage assets, their forms of recognition and disclosure were studied, considering their insertion in a university museum and the scarcity of experiences in other similar institutions. The data were analyzed in the light of the rules and legislation in force in the area of accounting and Brazilian museums. The result of the research showed that there is no accounting treatment for heritage assets at the UFRPE Memorial, as well as in the entire University, demonstrating a limitation in the management of university museums and suggesting a loss in the valuation and recognition of university heritage assets. Thus, it is suggested to the Institution to develop a joint work (Accounting, Heritage and Memorial of UFRPE) to identify which is the best measurement basis to be applied, so that the recognition and accounting disclosure of the assets already musealized can be done, and that they can, initially, be evidenced in the explanatory notes of UFRPE's financial statements, in order to increase the responsibility their cultural assets.