Financial Accounting Controls and Financial Reporting Quality: An Empirical Analysis of Public Educational Agencies in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined financial accounting controls and financial reporting quality: an empirical analysis of public educational agencies in Nigeria. This study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive survey design because it provides a clear outcome and the characteristics associated with it at a specific point in time. The target population for this study constituted the total number of employees in the accounting/finance, administration, and operations departments in the four educational examination agencies. The number of staff in the accounts/finance, administration, and operations departments in the four regulatory agencies totaled one hundred and thirty-seven (137). The sample size derived with the Cochran sample size derivation statistic yielded one hundred and one (101). For this study, primary data was employed. The data were collected with the aid of a questionnaire that was properly drafted using the 5-point Likert scale for the questionnaire. The study adopted the use of frequency tables and percentages to analyze the questions and employed linear regression with the application of the ordinary least squares to test the hypotheses of the study. The major findings that were extracted from the analysis reveal that detective accounting controls have a significant effect on the financial reporting quality of selected educational regulatory agencies in Nigeria and preventive accounting controls have no significant effect on the financial reporting quality of selected educational regulatory agencies in Nigeria. It is therefore the recommendation of the study that regulatory agencies should sustain the use of detective accounting control systems through proper optimization and regulatory agencies should ensure they make consistent periodic financial reconciliations as a complement to preventive accounting control.