SOURCE:

Faculty: Management Sciences
Department: Accountancy

CONTRIBUTORS:

Nwoye, U. J.
Okoye, E. I.

ABSTRACT:

This study focused on the evaluation of the integrity attributable to post-IFRS International financial reporting practices in Nigeria.. Given the lengthy period of adoption and implementation of IFRS disclosure requirements in Nigeria, It is aimed at assessing the integrity of financial data disclosures of Nigerian listed manufacturing companies studied towards ascertaining whether such financial data have been faithfully represented or not. Furthermore, the study determines whether any significant difference exist in the integrity scores of pre and post IFRS financial disclosures of selected manufacturing companies in Nigeria. As a result, the study was empirically designed in line with the principles of Casual Comparative or Ex post Facto Research Design with sole emphasis placed on the secondary sources of data comprising Annual Reports and Audited Accounts of manufacturing companies studied for the years 2006 – 2016, published Journals, published Articles and Text books. A total of 50 manufacturing companies listed on the floors of the Nigeria Stock Exchange were purposively sampled in this study. To this end, key and highly recommended models such as the Benford’s Law and the Beneish Predictive Ratios (B & B Models) were adopted for financial data integrity assessment while relevant statistical tools such as the Mann Whitney U Test, Multiple Regression Analysis, Chow test, Kolmogorov-Smirnova and Shapiro-Wilk analytical techniques were deployed to help substantiate all outcome of initial analyses conducted through the B & B Models. Results obtained showed that Benford’s Law is significantly effective in evaluating the faithful representational quality of IFRS Financial Statements’ disclosures of manufacturing companies. It was also discovered that Beneish Model is significant in assessing the faithful representation of financial data disclosures of pre and post IFRS Financial Statements of manufacturing companies covered in the study. The study thus recommended that Professional Accountants, and Forensic Auditors embrace this digital test model (Benford’s law) towards reducing questionable financial data digit integrity practices among manufacturing companies. It also recommended that close supervisory attention be given by the Audit Committees to red flag issues raised by the Beneish models such as undue deferment of costs, capitalization of expenses, and the earlier recognition of turnover by companies even before it has been earned.