scholarly journals Is conditional conservatism a source of deviations of financial statements from Benford's Law?

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Tri Nguyen ◽  
Chau Minh Duong ◽  
Nguyet Thi Minh Nguyen

PurposeIn this paper, the authors examine the association between conditional conservatism and deviations of the first digits of financial statement items from what are expected by Benford's Law.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses data of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. The authors measure deviations of first digits from Benford's Law following Amiram et al. (2015) and firm-year conditional conservatism following previous studies (Basu, 1997; Khan and Watts, 2009; García Lara et al., 2016). The authors use multiple regressions to provide evidence for their hypothesis.FindingsThe results show that conditional conservatism is positively associated with deviations from Benford's Law. The findings are robust across different measures of deviations and conditional conservatism. Also, the authors find that the relationship between deviations from Benford's Law and conditional conservatism is more pronounced for firms with debt issuance, and for leveraged firms facing financial distress. Next, the authors’ analyses confirm previous evidence by showing that the first digits of financial statement items of UK listed companies conform to Benford's Law at the firm-specific level and the market level, and deviations of income statements are larger than those of balance sheets and cash flow statements.Research limitations/implicationsThe research makes significant contributions to the literature. First, this is the first study that provides empirical evidence suggesting that conditional conservatism may be a source of deviations from Benford’s Law. Second, the authors provide evidence confirming previous US findings (e.g. Amiram et al., 2015) showing that the distributions of first digits of financial statement items of UK listed companies also conform to Benford's Law.Practical implicationsThe authors’ findings have implications for auditors. Auditors should be aware of “false positive” for material misstatements when using Benford's Law as a risk assessment procedure. While both conditional conservatism and earnings management are related to deviations from Benford's Law, conservatism-related biases could indicate less audit risks.Originality/valueThe authors provide new and original evidence suggesting that conditional conservatism is related to deviations from Benford's Law.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Aviantara

Purpose PT Garuda Indonesia (GIAA) Persero Tbk is the one only pride airline of Indonesian sovereignty. Although the bird achieved abundant international awards and certifications, the bird is dying and needs a remedy immediately. The frequent annual turnover of board executives did not make impact to the financial performance; this seems to be tip of the iceberg, peculiar with the number of restatement over the past decade. Therefore, this paper aims to address the issue through the function of five red flags model which known as Altman Z-score, Sprigate S-score, Grover G-score, Beneish M-score and Dechow F-score. Design/methodology/approach This is exploratory study of univariate analysis using financial distress and fraudulent financial statement approach, while the type of data is secondary taken from Indonesia Stock Exchange during 12 years observation from 2007 to 2018. Findings Altman, Springate and Grover produce strong indication of GIAA’s financial distress; all models score the same distress indication by 14 times. All distress models agreed that only 2011 and 2012 classify to the safe zone when GIAA performed the corporate actions. Beneish scores fraud indication by eight times. Dechow scores slightly higher by nine times. The number of fraud predictions in this research are in line with the number of restatement, which proves the assumption that restatement can be used as a signal of the financial statement fraud. When GIAA categorized in safe zone, both Beneish and Dechow score no to fraud, this indicates the fraud occurence during health period is lower. Research limitations/implications The motivation behind the financial statement fraud is not discuss through this research but from the primary theory of the fraud triangle. Financial distress possesses strong relationship with pressure factor; therefore, exit from financial crisis is one of the best solution to mitigate the financial statement fraud. Practical implications The average of Beneish score is −2,26, slightly above the manipulator threshold which is −2,22. This must be marked as an ample conjecture of GIAA’s fraud inclination and been a highlight for the auditor both internal and external when performing control testing, attestation and other assurance services. Social implications All models in this study can apply to any other corporate issues, especially for evaluating the government company who has loosen the public trust recently in Indonesia such as PT Asuransi Jiwasraya and PT Asabri. Moreover, the pandemic COVID-19 has brought the world to the new unprecedented risk, especially the economic turmoil which lead the possibilities of corporate distress and fraud. By applying these scores, public might have tools as pre-elemenary assessment to serve a decision where to put trust in a company. Originality/value This paper reveals a combination from various models of financial distress and financial statement fraud in order to generate the financial solutions named « DDCC » Debt Restructuring, Debt Conversion, Capex Management and Cost Cutting.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1216-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Afsaneh Lotfi ◽  
Shayan Farhangdoust

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of financial distress costs, corporate growth rate, and flexibility on the interaction between ownership structure and corporate debt policy. Design/methodology/approach The authors test the hypotheses by employing simultaneous equations system methodology with two-stage least squares regression and panel data technics on a sample of 786 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2010-2015. Findings The results indicate that there is a positive and significant relationship between corporate debt level and managerial ownership in the Iranian listed companies. The authors also find no convincing evidence that either the firm’s growth or financial health could influence or moderate this interrelationship. Research limitations/implications The implications drawn from this study are constrained by two primary limitations. First, the present study is conducted in an Iranian setting; therefore, the data utilized for the study only contain companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange. The utilization of listed companies on the Tehran Stock exchange is likely to affect the generalizability of the study in a national context. Second, the authors were unable to extend the sample time period due to some major deficiencies in the Tehran Stock Exchange library and its supplementary software. Social implications Since the fundamental institutional assumptions underpinning the western and even East Asia capital structure models are not valid in the institutional environment of Iran, the findings could provide substantial implications for our understanding of capital structures as well as debt policy literature. Originality/value This is an innovative research in terms of the mutual relationship between debt and ownership structure and the use of equations system to measure the interaction between them.


2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Natasa Omerzu ◽  
Iztok Kolar

Currently, we need to think about the risks in using the financial statements. Abroad, for a long time, in the detection of irregularities in the financial statements, Benford's law test has been used, which is a very simple, objective and efficient digital analysis that can help identify controversial areas. Since, in Slovenia, its use is still unknown and in practice, and it is rarely used, we checked whether the financial statements of Slovenian companies listed on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange pass the Benford’s law test. Our study is original, as no one has ever tested the company's financial statements on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange with this test. We found that the tested data very well matched the theoretical distribution according to Benford's law. If the deviation of the analysed data from the theoretical distribution is very large, this does not mean that this is a possible fraud in the used financial data. Benford's law helps us identify the controversial areas that require our attention and the decision on how to proceed with the audit or possible investigation of accounting data.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Andi Silvan

AbstractThis study takes the topic of predicting corporate bankruptcies. This research dqlam use traditional methods Altman Z-Score and Zmijewski. The purpose of this study was to obtain in-depth information about predicting bankruptcy of companies that are not necessarily directly to bankruptcy, but there is financial distress.Based on the results of research conducted on the four (4) non industrial manufacturing company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI). Obtaining the value z-score represents the average company are in good condition, which means no financial distress. Acquisition value of x-score has a value of less than 0 (zero) which means that the company is in good condition and is predicted not experiencing financial difficulties. This study led to the conclusion that the Altman Z-Score and Zmijewski method can be used to predict corporate bankruptcy. Keywords: Financial Ratios, Bankruptcy, Company.


Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalin Ionita ◽  
Elena Dinu

PurposeThe present study investigates the connection between company investments in intellectual capital (IC) and how they translate into financial value. The aim is to test the impact of intangible assets on the firm value and its sustainable growth.Design/methodology/approachThe research employs computation models to determine the sustainable growth rate (SGR) and the firm value (FV), and by using the ordinary least squares (OLS) model through a linear regression assesses the relationship between the dependent variables and expenditures on intangibles like R&D, IT programs and patents. A sample of 42 companies has been selected out of the 78 listed at Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), based on the appropriateness of the information disclosed in the financial reports for the period 2016–2019.FindingsThe results show that intangibles classified as innovative competences (R&D and Patents) do not have a positive impact on SGR and FV in listed companies from Romania. Moreover, R&D has a negative and significant effect on FV, while IT Programs have a positive and significant impact on FV, but not on the SGR. Variables categorised as economic competencies (Brands, Shares held in associates and jointly controlled entities) and firm structure-specific variables (Leverage, Firm Performance) seem to have a significant effect on SGR and FV. Shares held in associates and jointly controlled entities is the variable that can have the biggest impact when it comes to FV for companies listed at BSE.Research limitations/implicationsDue to non-disclosure of specific information by some companies, or lack of investments in intangibles the sample had to be reduced and does not cover all listed companies.Practical implicationsCompanies listed on the Regulated Market from the Bucharest Stock Exchange should maintain their scale of liabilities at a reasonable level when financing intangible assets in order to ensure corporate long-term and sustainable development. Also, these companies should maintain awareness about the importance of intangible assets and invest more in specific sub-components, in order to sustain competitive advantage. Recognizing the roles of intangibles, managers need to develop strategies to invest in profitable intangibles by reasonably allocating their limited resources, in order to achieve sustainable growth and increase company success.Originality/valueStudies concerning the relation between investments in intangibles and sustainable growth rate and firm value of listed Romanian companies are very scarce. This paper reveals new research, never before undertaken, concerning expenditures on intangibles by Romanian companies and the valuation of such investments on Bucharest Stock Exchange.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva K. Jermakowicz ◽  
Chun-Da Chen ◽  
Han Donker

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on financial statements of the largest Canadian firms (S&P/TSX 60) listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Design/methodology/approach This study investigates the financial statement effects of 46 companies from the S&P/TSX 60 index which report under IFRS in 2011 and switched to IFRS from CGAAP. This study used panel data analysis, which can be considered as more powerful when conducting cross-sectional and in time analysis among companies. Because of weakness of Cramer statistic on R-square, the authors used interaction terms as suggested by Hope (2007). Findings Consistent with the authors’ perceptions, this study finds that significant effects of adopting IFRS are associated with industry practices. The empirical results show that the adoption of IFRS in Canada created more relevant financial reporting for book value of equity and net income in the post-adoption periods. Originality/value This study should be of interest to the US regulators considering IFRS adoption by US publicly traded companies as well as to regulators, standard setters and listed companies in all countries worldwide that are in transition to IFRS.


2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-686
Author(s):  
Mahdi Salehi ◽  
Ali Asgar Alinya

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and auditors switching of listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the objectives of this study, 12 hypotheses developed which and tests the relationship between corporate governance and selecting and switching auditors in Iran during 2008-20014 by selecting 116 listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange. To test the hypotheses, the cross-sectional time-series nature of research variables data, panel analysis is used. Also, to investigate the relationship between independent and dependent variables in each year, the logistic regression is used. Findings The results of the study indicate that there is a weak relationship between corporate governance auditors switching. Therefore, it could be concluded that there are some other effective factors on which selecting and switching auditors in studied companies are more dependent. Originality/value The current study is almost the first study which has been conducted in Iran, so the results of the study may be beneficial to the Iranian conditions as well as other developing countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Tamer Bahjat Sabri

This paper examines the nature of interaction between Kida’s model, the cash flows (operating, investing, financing) and the size. It covers the period between 2013 and 2014 based on annual financial statement of Palestinian listed companies in Palestine Stock Exchange. In order to test the hypotheses of the study, the researcher used independent samples T-test. The results show that we accept all null hypotheses, so Kida’s model does not distinguish between high and low cash flow (operating, investing, financing) and the size. Other results show that the model is unable sometimes to predict the failure of companies.


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