ఇంటర్నేషనల్ జర్నల్ ఆఫ్ అకౌంటింగ్ రీసెర్చ్

నైరూప్య

Impact of Forensic Accounting on Financial Reporting of Selected Quoted Banks in Nigeria

C.S.A Okeke Frankline, Ezeilo Chinonye Beatrice, Nwobodo Azuka Tina, Ofor Theresa Nkechi

Forensic accounting tools are very crucial in mitigating the rate of fraudulent cases in Nigerian banks. It is an essential instrument that will help Nigerian banks in fraud detection, reporting and prevention of likely fraudulent cases. The primary focus of this research work is to examine the impact of forensic accounting on financial reporting. Panel data for 10 top-performing banks in Nigeria was extracted from the Nigerian stock exchange factbook and the Central bank’s annual bulletin record spanning from 2004 to 2020 was used. Panel data analysis was applied and the Hausman test specifies that the analysis should be run with the fixed effect regression model. Then, the fixed effect regression model is statistically significant and this implies that there is a significant relationship between forensic accounting and financial reporting. It also reveals that forensic accounting has a positive significant impact on financial reporting. The correlation analysis shows that while some forensic accounting instruments are positively related to financial reporting, other ones are negatively related. However, adequate use of forensic accounting should be practiced by all the banks in Nigeria for the detection and prevention of fraudulent cases. Necessary collaboration with EFCC through the CBN to mitigate fraud cases should be adopted by the banks and public sector in Nigeria. To detect and prevent fraud, all banks must have appropriate and independent forensic accounting, as well as well financial reporting.