ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND TREATMENTS OF CONTINGENT
      ASSETS AND LIABILITIES IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS


                  Iuliana Cenar, “1 Decembrie 1918” University of Alba Iulia

ABSTRACT: This paper aims to approach an issue that is less common in public institutions,
namely the accounting policies and the accounting treatments of contingent assets and
liabilities with the goal of sustaining the quality and completeness of financial accounting
information, being a culture oriented towards the constant improvement of information
quality, without limits to regulating prescriptions. The approached aspects are the following:
the role of accounting policies, having as a reference system the accounting standards/rules
and the professional reasoning; the need for specific accounting policies; the
conceptualization and features of contingent assets and liabilities; the theoretical
circumstances in which they are recognized, evaluated and presented in notes to the financial
statements; the potential scenarios for the practical applicability of theoretical foundations
regarding these probable, uncertain “elements” in public institutions.

Key words: contingent assets, contingent liabilities, accounting policies, probability, risk assessment

JEL Codes: M41