From a legal standpoint, contingent assets and liabilities are non-designated heritage assets,
which is why they are not included in the assets or liabilities of the heritage, being recorded in offbalance
sheet accounts, called also special accounts or accounts with intermediary function. These
accounts are part of Class 8 of the Chart of Accounts (Bengescu M., 2006).
According to article 21, paragraph (1) of OMPF 3055/2009 for the approval of accounting
regulations complying with European Directives, the off-balance sheet items include contingent
assets (account 807 “Contingent Assets”) and contingent liabilities (account 808 “Contingent
Liabilities”), which is a fact that induces the idea that contingent assets and liabilities are not the
same thing as the transactions reflected with the help of off-balance sheet accounts.
This last statement is also supported by M. Boulescu, who states that “off-balance sheet
items include:
- rights, obligations and goods that can’t be integrated in the assets and liabilities of the
entity;
- contingent assets and liabilities”.
The second place held by public institutions in the reforming accounting process justifies, at
least partially, the absence of any reference to contingent assets and liabilities from the legal
document that regulates the organization and management of their accounting (O.M.P.F.
1917/2005).
Regarding the off-balance sheet items, the mentioned legislative document states the
following: “Accounts in group 80 – Off-balance sheet account – can be developed in terms of
introducing specific accounts at the proposal of those institutions with the approval of the main