Accounting constant items never updated at historical cost destroys their real values

The third economic item is a constant real value non-monetary item.

Constant items are real value non-monetary items with constant values over time.

Examples are issued share capital, retained earnings, all other items in shareholders´ equity, trade debtors, trade creditors, taxes payable, taxes receivable, all income statement items, etc.

When constant items are never updated, their real values are destroyed by accountants implementing the stable measuring unit assumption.

Accountants normally update or inflation-adjust some income statement items, eg. salaries, wages, rentals, etc in all low inflation economies, including in SA.

The only way the real value of shareholders´equity can be maintained under Historical Cost Accounting is when 100% of the original updated real value of all contributions to shareholders´ equity are invested in revaluable fixed assets that are continuously revalued via the Revaluation Reserve.

It is very unlikely that any company invests 100% of the original updated real value of all contributions to shareholders´ equity in revaluable fixed assets.

This means that the real value of all retained earnings in all banks and companies are unknowingly being destroyed at a rate equal to the annual rate of inflation by SA accountants implementing the stable measuring unit assumption.

This amounts to about R200 billion per annum in the SA economy.

To be continued ......

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