Disclosure of Intellectual Capital by Digital Companies

The main purpose of the article is to define the essence of intellectual capital as a multi-component factor, analyze the structure and methods of intellectual capital evaluation and assess the feasibility of disclosure of information on it to external users. On the basis of the concept of information and communication technologies application, a segment of digital economy enterprises is selected. 10 Top companies which have had the maximum market capitalization by the beginning of 2019 are presented. Seven out of the ten companies are digital companies which have appeared thanks to digital technologies. With the use of these companies as an example, availability of assets not disclosed in their financial statements, which have great impact on company’s cost is shown. These assets make the intellectual capital. Development evolution of the “intellectual capital” definition essence starting from the mid-1990s is given in the article, when the boom of Internet companies was observed, till the present time, when scientific interest to this definition has occurred once again due to active transition of all the countries’ economies to digital ones. Intellectual capital is an integral factor consisting of many heterogeneous components. The minimum quantity of components of intellectual capital is reflected in the Statement on Financial Position of the company as intangible assets. The largest part of intellectual capital is defined as hidden assets. They are not accessible for an investor, hard to identify and assess. However, they are the ones that make a substantial contribution to the company's cost. Existing by the present moment approaches to structuring intellectual capital is analyzed in the article, and an overview of the methods of intellectual capital evaluation is presented. Preference is given to non-financial methods whose application allows receiving more reliable estimate of the intellectual capital cost. With substantiation of the necessity of development of recommendations on disclosure of information on intellectual capital, attention is drawn to availability of interconnection between intellectual capital and corporate