vol. 12 núm. 22 (2014)

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, signed in the U.S and which is currently in force in this country, is of vital importance for companies which are governed under it, for their credibility and functioning with other entities as well as for those organizations that are listed in the stock exchange market and which are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC].Throughout this article we will examine the structuring of the Sarbannes-Oaxley (SOX) Act, its aims and the importance it has in the North American context. Similarly we will analyze the regulation structures and the sanctions for professional and entities which do not meet the requirements established by this regulation.The final aim of this work is to analyze if a SOX law could be applicable in the case of Colombia, since in our country the constant cases of corruption in enterprises in which professionals are neither responsible nor ethical makes it plausible to adopt such a law, which regulates companies strictly. For this it is necessary the creation of a commission which investigates how to train professionals in order to adopt and put this law in practice; secondly, it is essential to have sanctions that can be given to entities and professionals in order to prevent corruption scandals, thus, protecting confidence in these entities listed in the stock exchange market and which belong to different industries.

This paper intends to make an overview of the more relevant aspects that have shaped the accounting field, from a new approach to its history where historical events are not seen as static, but as having an impact in their context. Therefore it is very useful to assess history in order to understand the present context and its conditions, with a critical point in the history of accounting in the Colombian context, to rescue the general or causal consequences of the current state of accounting and the general economiccontext.

Management decisions within the framework of business activities have an impact on nature, causing transformations which make evident social, cultural, economic and political changes inside both, communities and the territory. These changes can be observed by the expansion of the palm border in the country’s northern region, where during the last two decades extensive crops have generated enormous transformations in the landscape structure, linked together with the social structure alterations in the region.

The transition from costs accounting to management accounting was a process of changes which took place in a highly unstable environment and which required new types of information for organization management. Moreover, certain parameters used by organizations are altered by the globalization and standardization processes which are rapidly approaching our environment, forcing the design of specific financial measures focused on specific users. This document is trying to answer the following questions: How has management accounting been introduced into the dominant paradigms in accounting? How has it developed into its current state? In this context, the applicability of some of the methods proposed by management accounting is explored, at least in terms of theory.

Companies must consider the determination of the cost of their product or service as an important aspect of their strategic processes, that’s why using the different costing methods is essential for the training of students of Public Accounting. The aim of this article is to return to a didactic way of teaching the relations existing between cost behaviors, production capacity and costing methods, while at the same time describing the origin, relations and main similarities and differences between direct or variable costing methods and full or absorption costing methods. Using an example which combines the abovementioned methods, it is concluded that each of them has different uses and therefore it is impossible to say which one is better than the other, but the selection of the method will depend on what the organization is seeking with the determination of cost.

The atmosphere of “normalcy “ or overcoming the problem of public debt in Latin American countries, due not only (and perhaps not primarily) the implementation of adjustment measures since the 80s, but the use of new forms of measure, value and represent the public debt. The paper presents the main changes that have occurred in the operating management of public debt in the field of accounting and public debt have been adopted to varying degrees by the countries of the region.The objective of the paper is to present an analysis of the specific ways in which the guidelines on accounting for debt have affected debt indicators, and therefore reoriented under management of public debt. Furthermore these changes have been promoted by the International Financial Institutions (OFI) as part of the recommendations seek to implement them in the various countries in debt management.Uses an analytical presentation on the main lines that dominate the accounting for debt in fiscal accounting systems in the last thirty years and how these have evolved and the potential consequences on debt indicators.

This document proposes a theoretical understanding of the meanings of accounting knowledge through the presentation of the various theories and research proposals which have been part of the accounting thought throughout history. In the same way, it suggests the inclusion of the “Teaching Practices” concept which has had a great impact and transcendence in the field of education, in order to propose a descriptive qualitative research study designed to understand teachers’ performance in the classroom of the Faculty of Public Accounting of Santo Tomás University, their methodological strategies and their opinions about knowledge training and theaccounting work of future professionals. This goal was achieved through classroom monitoring, syllabus analysis and interviews with teachers who took part in the research. Among the main findings are the personal interest and concern of the teachers to include in their classes the necessary theoretical foundation for further technical applications and also how their methods are consistent with their professional and academic stance.

This document describes some approaches from recent literature to insider training and corporate governance mechanisms to prevent and decrease it inside the organizational culture. The article reviews the most recent concepts on the subject and describes some of its limitations in the current regulatory and economic context of the country. It also indicates how the proposals for corporate governance represent a solution to the problems raised by insider trading.

Editorial