Accounting and Auditing of Intellectual Property in Albania

Intellectual property is a primary source of value added growth and earning power for the business. In the modern business world there is a general shifting from physical assets towards intellectual property assets such as patents, trademarks, industrial designs, trade secrets , copyrights etc. As the importance and value of these assets for the business is increasing the accountants should take them in consideration more seriously. We will briefly list the accounting and auditing methods used in developed countries for the intellectual property together with the gaps and challenges that the adoption of these standards represent for the accountants and managers. The comparison of these standards and methods with the development made in Albania in this field will be in our main focus.The accounting and auditing practices and challenges of intellectual property for the small medium enterprises in Albania will be another important topic related to the dominant role that SMEs has in the Albanian economy.The research aim is to reveal how the Albanian certified accountants and audits are using the IAS and IFRS for the intellectual property and the difficulties they face to adopt and use these standards in their financial reporting.The methodology used in the preparation of this paper will be that of the utilizing the foreign and national literature, and the utilization of the questionnaires and interviews with the certified accountants and audits as well as the finance departments of selected businesses in Albania.