Capital maintenance for dummies

Companies´ capital and retained profits are like salaries: constant items.

When your salary is not inflation-adjusted, its real vlaue is destroyed at the rate of inflation. We all know that. No-one disagrees. Not even Market Monkey :-)

Exactly the same is true for companies´ capital and retained profits.

No-one inflation adjusts companies´ capital and retained profits during low inflation.

Result: SA accountants unknowingly destroy the real value of companies´ capital and retained profits by not inflation-adjusting them.

This amounts to about R200 billion for SA per annum.

When SA accountants inflation-adjust companies´ capital and retained profits they will boost the SA real economy by at least R200 billion PER ANNUM forever - year after year after year.

They will not create new real value out of nothing by just passing some accounting entries. They will boost the SA real economy BY NOT DESTROYING EXISTING REAL VALUE as they unknowingly do at the moment in all SA banks and companies with their stable measuring unit assumption. They value capital and retained profits at historical cost. They refuse point blank to inflation-adjust them.

You all work so hard to create that capital and retained profits and make SA grow. SA accountants unknowingly and unintentionally quietly simply destroy their real values at the rate of inflation right under your noses - year after year after year.

Inflation-adjusting capital and retained profits during low inflation was authorized by the International Accounting Standards Board 20 years ago. It is compliant with International Financial Reporting Standards.

That would be wonderful for everybody in SA, wouldn´t it?

Stronger banks and companies meaning a stonger economy with more investment capital available meaning more jobs and more growth.

Kindest regards,

Nicolaas Smith