The role of real earnings management in the value relevance of accounting information in Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose- One feature that should be integrated in financial statements to be relevant to decision-makers is the relevance of the information to the users. When the value and usefulness of accounting information used to gauge business financial performance are undermined by earnings management methods, problems arise. As a result, the information presented may deceive financial statement users about the corporation's financial performance. Because IFRS demands managerial judgment in the accounting process by definition, its adoption may even increase the chance for real earnings management (REM). This study aims to examine the impact of REM to the value relevance of accounting information before and after IFRS adoption. Methodology- The population was manufacturing companies listed on the IDX, with samples 230 firm year observations consists of one hundred fifteen firms year before adoption of IFRS and one hundred fifteen firms year after IFRS adoption. this study used firms’ abnormal levels of cash flows, production costs, and discretionary expenditures as proxies for real earnings management. Using a price model and panel data, the main result confirms that real-based earnings management has an impact on the value relevance of earnings and book value of equity before IFRS adoption, but has no effect after IFRS adoption. Findings- The findings revealed that prior to the adoption of IFRS, real earnings management was employed by companies that had higher earnings value relevance and lower equity book value relevance than companies that did not apply earnings management. After the adoption of IFRS, there is no significant effect of real earnings management on the value relevance of earnings and equity book value. Conclusion- The results show that investors believe that earnings are a signal from managers with the implementation of real earnings management prior to the adoption of IFRS, but after the adoption IFRS, they may not be able to do so. Keywords: Real earnings management, value relevance, accounting information, earnings, equity book value, JEL Codes: M40, M41, M49