Recognition and measurement of human capital expenditures – impacts on company's performance measurement

Abstract

Both internal and external users of financial statements use ratio analysis as a main tool in decision-making processes. Great numbers of financial ratios are based on 'ideal' balance sheet structure. Thus, growing companies with great proportion of unrecorded intellectual capital raises this kind of analysis as doubtful. The aim of this article is to provide empirical evidence concerning impacts of different ways in recognising and measuring human capital expenditures on financial statements analysis as company's performance measure. Research hypothesis implies that in high-tech industry, financial performance depends on human capital investments, so companies investing in human resources will obtain greater financial results. Consequently, financial statement analysis will provide truer and fairer view of company's performance if human capital expenditures are capitalised in balance sheet rather than recognised as expenses in profit and loss account. Verification of empirical evidence will be provided through the sample of Croatian large high-tech companies.