Determinants of Earnings Management and Its Implications on the Integrity of the Financial Statements

Abstract

This study aims to estimate and analyze the effect of corporate governance, audit quality, firm size, and leverage towards earnings management and its implications on the integrity of the financial statements, either partially or simultaneously. The research method used is panel data regression analysis. By using purposive sampling method, there are six companies that consistently follow corporate governance perception index (CGPI) program from 2010 to 2015 and listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.The results show that, in the first model, CGPI partially has a significant negativeeffect,auditqualitypartiallyhasasignificantnegativeeffect,firmsizepartially has a significant negative effect, leverage partially has a significant positive effect, on earnings management. CGPI, audit quality, firm size, and leverage simultaneously have significant effect on earnings management. In the second model, CGPI partially has a significant negative effect, audit quality has a significant negative effect, firm size has a significant negative effect, leverage has a significant positive effect, on earnings management. CGPI, audit quality, firm size, leverage, and earnings management simultaneously have significant effect on the integrity of the financial statements. According to these results, the company should maintain and improve corporate governance practices, uses the auditor services that have six quality factors (competence, independence, specialization, audit tenure, peer review, and affiliation), conveypositiveinformationrelatedtothecompanyandapplylowdebtratiowithgood planning. The investor should choose to invest in the companies that implement good corporate governance, using qualified audit services, investment priorities in large companies, and companies with low leverage.