Impact of Accruals Quality on the Firm's Cash Holdings: A Cross-Sectoral Evidence from Iraq

Abstract

This research aims to study the concept of the quality of accounting accruals and ways of measuring them, determine the quality levels of accounting accruals across the different companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange, and show their impact on cash balances. The research sample included many companies, including 69 companies from all nine sectors listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange for the duration of (2010-2018). The problem and hypotheses of the research focused on whether the quality of accounting accruals impacted the Company's cash holding levels. The hypotheses of the study have been verified and proven. A set of conclusions has been reached, the most important of which is an essential variation in the quality levels of accounting accruals of companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange, whether within the same sector or between the different sectors listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange. The results of the research also showed that companies operating in the financial services sectors in Iraq are characterized by high-quality accruals and high levels of cash holding ratios compared to companies from other sectors with non-financial services as a result of the sensitivity of financial operations and the low personal estimates of optional accruals. The results also showed that companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange tend to hold low cash balances when they have a high quality of accounting accruals compared to companies with low benefit quality that show that they maintain high levels of cash balances. Therefore, attention should be paid to educating investors and creditors on the Iraqi Stock Exchange to understand and interpret the accounting figures and information contained in the reports and financial lists of Iraqi companies and the use of financial analysts and accountants in this field.