ADEQUACY OF FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY OF NIGERIAN QUOTED FIRMS UNDER IFRS ADOPTION

This study examined the adequacy of financial reports with the objective of determining if there exist significant differences in four proxies of financial reporting quality: earnings, conservatism; accruals and average financial reporting quality before and after the adoption of IFRS in Nigeria. Data were sourced from the published audited financial statements and accounts of firms quoted on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE). Although there exist twelve (12) industrial classifications on the NSE only ten (10) sectors were purposively sampled for twelve (12) years (2006 – 2017). Due to the choice of variables adapted, the financial services industry was not withdrawn. Again, there are no firms recorded under the Utility sector. The study employed the parametric statistical pooled variance/ paired sample t-test model structured in a way to enhance a significant test between the pre-and post-IFRS periods. The study reveals that there are significant differences in the degree of accounting conservatism of quoted Nigerian firms after the adoption of IFRS in 2012. Further findings reveal that there are no significant differences in the degrees of earnings quality, accrual quality and the aggregate financial reporting quality of quoted Nigerian firms after the adoption of IFRS in 2012. Based on the findings from the study, recommendations include that firms should eliminate the incentives to carry out unethical practices which can only occur in the short term since in the long term the market penalizes those manipulative companies. Firms in Nigeria are enjoined to adopt complete accounting conservatism as this approach tends to reduce risks such as litigations