4. Conclusions
This article discusses the use that a business family made of accounting reports to achieve a successful intergenerational transfer, understood as one that is instrumental to the longevity of the family’s firms. Its main contribution is the idea that accounting information can facilitate intergenerational transfers because it helps preventing conflicts within the business family, thus increasing the possibility of success. The case here studied shows the owners’ trust in accounting data as a tool to clarify the patrimonial situation of the firms and of the different members of the business family. This way, the business family successfully overcame the process of intergenerational transfer and laid the foundations for future successes. In this line,the paper fits in the line of research that uses accounting history as a helpful tool to obtain data to improve the analysis of business history. In the second place, after analyzing the case from the point of view of the theoretical approach selected, this article evidences the role played by accounting information in the preservation of the family’s SEW during the renewal of family ties through dynastic succession, given that intergenerational sustainability is considered a central aspect of SEW.Along the process of distribution ofthe pro indiviso and the reorganization of business, the data provided by accounting reports were used to facilitate the preservation of the family’s unity, guaranteeing equal treatment to all the heirs and to their bond to the family businesses. In other words, this work presents the use of accounting information in relation to the SEW dimension that has been least studied from an accounting perspective.
