International Journal of Accounting Research

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

C.S.A Okeke Frankline^* Department of Accountancy, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi, Nigeria
^*Correspondence: C.S.A Okeke Frankline, Department of Accountancy, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi, Nigeria, Email:

Received: 28-May-2022, Manuscript No. IJAR-22-16811; Editor assigned: 01-Jun-2022, Pre QC No. IJAR-22-16811 (PQ); Reviewed: 14-Jun-2022, QC No. IJAR-22-16811; Revised: 21-Jun-2022, Manuscript No. IJAR-22-16811 (R); Published: 28-Jun-2022, DOI: 10.35248/2472-114X.22.10.271

Introduction

Globally, the financial industry has sought to preserve the public’s interest through instituting effective corporate governance. Given the industry’s position in the mobilization of money, the distribution and allocation of credit to the demand-driven sector of the economy, the payment and settlement system, and the execution of monetary policies, the significance remains paramount [1]. This industry is vital to the economy of any nation [2]. Therefore, it is crucial to implement rules, regulations, and codes of conduct that assure great corporate governance through enhanced board performance in the financial institutions of any nation. A forensic accountant who is an expert in fraudulent financial investigations and possesses outstanding skills in scientific knowledge and legal concerns may be able to assist management in enhancing corporate governance in the industry by ensuring effective fraud prevention and appropriate accountability. As a result, the availability of a forensic accountant enables the management of any company to carry out their original responsibilities painstakingly and successfully, knowing that a trained professional is there to investigate and detect any wrongdoing in the event of suspicion.

According to the forensic accounting is the application of finance, accounting, tax, and auditing knowledge and tools to evaluate, investigate, test, and analyze matters in civil law, criminal law, and adjudication from a professional standpoint [3]. This concept emphasizes that the role of a forensic accountant in a company is crucial due to their extensive knowledge of the internal control system and the law (the material statutory and customary law, the law of confirmation, and the law of method). Other institutional prerequisites, investigative capability, and interpersonal skills help with questions involving presumptions or suspicions of fraud, such as cases, master assurance, and inquiry b. using their expertise, forensic accountants handle shareholder and association conflicts, marital disputes, and protection claims. Banking functions of forensic accountants. It is crucial to realize that the court, not the forensic accountant, decides whether or not deception has occurred [4]. Forensic accountants research and analyze financial crime evidence; develop computer programs, such as software, to aid in the analysis and presentation of financial crime evidence; and produce and distribute reports detailing the findings. In addition to assisting with legal proceedings, a forensic accountant may testify in court, serve as an expert witness, and provide visual aids to support trial evidence [4]. Accordingly they are trained to look beyond the numbers and adapt to the shifting corporate environment. Forensic accountants rely heavily on information derived from a company’s financial reporting [4].

According to the financial reporting is a collection of information compiled by a financial information provider (whether professional or not) to reveal and record financial transactions in an organized and truthful manner so that stakeholders can make informed decisions based on reports [5]. These records contain an overview of accounting transactions, background notes, and other essential information used to ensure accurate judgments, which are frequently in many periods spanning daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannually and annually. According to the financial reporting framework is a set of fundamental accounting principles, rules, and procedures that are applied to the financial statements of a variety of firms [6]. These organizations include publicly traded and privately held businesses, quasi-organizations, and governments; this has been gained as a result of his assertion that the primary objective of financial disclosure requires a standardized, uniform framework. Numerous company corporations or entities that operate to have a widely famous network require financial statements; they are included for decision-making purposes in the annual report. The books of original entry aid in the detection of personal accounting transactions in financial reporting and, like primary sources, are frequently examined by auditors for the verification of selected financial transactions and to ensure that all of these transactions have been adequately documented [7].

The Federal Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Nigeria Insurance Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Nigeria Exchange Group, among others, closely regulate the financial reporting procedures in Nigeria. The annual statements must convey information about the business’s or entity’s ability to generate profits. The company’s assets are equal to its liabilities, its sources of financing, its strategy for utilizing capital to generate extra revenue, its cash flow solvency, and its method of for-profit use. Financial statements are compiled by businesses to satisfy their financial reporting obligations and to aid in strategic decisionmaking. Regardless of the motivation, the primary objective of financial reporting is to provide reasonable assurance that a financial statement is accurate. Financial analysts must examine, compare, and comprehend the information included in financial statements for quantitative analysis and decision-making. To make informed decisions, the information offered in the financial statements must be properly analysed.

Sub-Saharan African nations are those located south of the Sahara. Sub-Saharan Africa contains seven of the world’s top ten fastest growing economies. This constant growth has been attributed to improved infrastructure and resource investments, as well as stable household spending. The banking industry is differentiated by the financial services it provides to the economy; places without a banking presence are still significant. Small and medium-sized firms frequently have restricted access to conventional banking services and financial capital.

In some Sub-Saharan African nations, these banking systems are characterized by an abundance of excess cash, which reflects a dearth of borrowers considered creditworthy by banks. In such cases, monetary policy is ineffective at altering lending terms. This expertise in forensic accounting becomes a crucial fraud detection method in the finance and banking industries [8]. In the banking industry of Sub-Saharan African nations, the presence of a forensic accountant is crucial for the detection of fraud, criminal investigation, the provision of arbitrary services, the examination of cases involving professional negligence, etc. The primary purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of forensic accounting on financial reporting, while the secondary objective is to investigate the relationship between forensic accounting and financial reporting of the selected Nigerian banks.

Research questions

• Does forensic accounting have impact on financial reporting?

• What is the relationship between forensic accounting and financial reporting?

Hypothesis

H1: Forensic accounting has impact on financial reporting

H2: There is a relationship between forensic accounting and financial reporting

Literature Review

The term “forensic” immediately conjures up images of popular television shows such as CSI, NCIS, and Law and Order, in which a crime is committed and detectives and investigators use various forensic techniques (fingerprints, DNA analysis, blood splatter analysis, tool mark identification, hair and fiber comparisons, etc.) to solve the crime in minutes. In contrast, the phrase accounting immediately conjures up images of debits and credits, financial statements, tax returns, and auditing.

“Forensic” comes from the Latin word “forum,” which means “of, relating to, or associated with” the legal system or the court system. The widest definition of forensic science describes it as the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems. The field of forensic accounting combines a unique mix of scientific and quantitative accounting and auditing skills with investigative and legal procedures, judicial procedures, and digital forensics. Analysis of risk, quantitative techniques, and research are all included in the job description. Accountants who have obtained specific training to work as financial investigators and fraud specialists are forensic accountants.

According to forensic science is associated with the investigation of crimes. It is the application of science to resolve questions arising from criminal or civil litigation, and it has been introduced into the accounting domain to serve as a more reliable and evidentiary means of enhancing financial investigations and preventing or reducing all forms of financial impropriety [9]. Generally speaking, forensic accounting is concerned with preventing, identifying, and investigating financial reporting fraud [10].

Empirical review

The empirical framework, as opposed to theory or belief, evaluates the results produced by past researchers on subjects related to this research; it is based on the individual’s real research experience rather than theory or belief.

Allison M, determined if it is appropriate to introduce forensic accounting to Bowling Green State University (BGSU) [11]. For an efficient forensic accounting course at Bowling Green State University, the execution of well-designed, evidence-based curriculum development for the undergraduate and graduate levels is essential. Students are interested in forensic accounting courses, and accounting students would benefit from them.

Investigated forensic accounting and financial crimes in the public sector in Nigeria [12]. The study utilized a survey research design and linear regression approach to evaluate the empirical data obtained by questionnaire and oral interview, as well as to assess the hypotheses generated. The findings of testing the hypothesis at a significance level of 5% indicated that litigation support services had a significant but negative effect (decrease) on financial crimes in the Nigerian public sector. It was recommended that forensic accounting experts be employed to conduct more litigation support services and serve as expert witnesses to help the court decide on issues that the court may not ordinarily have the knowledge to decide and that more forensic accountants be employed to reduce the rate of fraudulent cases in the Nigerian public sector.

Performed research to gain a better understanding of the challenges banks face in detecting fraud [13]. In the National Capital Region, 120 bank employees from Bank of India (BOI), Bank of Baroda (BOB), Axis Bank (AXIS), and ICICI Bank (ICICI) responded to a questionnaire (NCR). There were two sorts of employees: supervisors and officers. Using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, and other comparable metrics, the collected data were analyzed in greater detail. The t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the validity of the findings and the study’s hypotheses, respectively. The major challenges that banks face in recognizing fraud are a lack of consumer vigilance, a lack of customer reporting, and a lack of information sharing with other institutions and organizations, according to the research. To combat the hurdles provided by fraud, it is advised that banks rigorously validate client reports and report frauds to the proper authorities as soon as they occur. At the branch level, internal and external audits must be done promptly.

Examined the audit expectation gap in the context of how forensic accounting could be implemented into financial statement auditing to close the gap between expectations and reality [14]. The qualitative paper relied primarily on existing literature on the expectation gap, traditional auditing, and forensic accounting to determine why and wherein the financial statement auditing process forensic accounting can be integrated to facilitate more effective fraud detection and satisfy users’ reasonable expectations. Using this research, we demonstrate that the integration of auditors’ and forensic accountants’ responsibilities could result in a synergy that would improve auditors’ fraud detection capability, thereby bridging the gap between the end-users of audited financial statements and the auditors’ expectations. The paper concludes that the increasing responsibility put on auditors by consumers of certified financial statements to identify material misrepresentation in the financial statement is a beneficial trend.

Investigated the challenges of combatting fraudulent practices: evidence from the Nigerian public sector and discovered that the presence of Godfatherism in the Nigerian public sector is the primary hurdle to countering fraudulent activities in the Nigerian public sector [15]. Godfathers provide selective judgment, a lack of independent agency, and a party system that remains a struggle. Second, the issue of political immunity affects public governance, illustrating that an exemption from penalty, constitutional safeguards, and the political climate are some of the most significant obstacles to preventing fraud in the Nigerian public sector.

Evaluated the influence of anti-fraud and forensic accounting procedures on the financial reporting of government parastatals in Nigeria. For this assignment, the research team used a survey design. Specifically, it examined the effect of anti-fraud rules and training, prompt response to fraud claims, risk assessment procedures, and the presence of an independent audit committee (all of which were considered independent factors) on accurate representation (used as a proxy for dependent variable) [16]. The majority of questionnaires were used to collect preliminary data from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDA) in Rivers State, Southern Nigeria. They were examined with descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. The findings demonstrated that anti-fraud and forensic accounting techniques have a positive and statistically significant influence on the financial reporting of government MDAs and parastatals at statistical significance levels of 1% and 5%, respectively. In addition to establishing adequate anti-fraud policies and methods, it was advised that forensic audit units be established in all MDAs to audit prior government records and produce forensic evidence where fraud is suspected. This would significantly enhance the government’s financial reports’ relevance, trustworthiness, understandability, fairness, and comparability.

Investigated whether the use and execution of forensic accounting investigations had an impact on the discovery of financial fraud in Nigeria. The research was based on previously available material regarding forensic accounting and its implementation methodologies [17]. The study found that forensic accounting services have a significant impact on the detection of financial wrongdoing. According to the evaluation’s conclusions, forensic accounting investigations are a big step forward in Nigeria for the detection of financial crime and other fraudulent acts. Therefore, the paper recommends that professional accounting bodies such as the Institutes of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) encourage specialization in forensic accounting services among currently practising professional accountants. As a result of this research paper, financial fraud and related fraudulent behaviours in both public and private organizations in Nigeria may be minimized.

Concept of financial reporting

Since financial reporting is supposed to deliver financial facts, argue that integrating the two types of reporting into a single document will result in a document that is both highly informative and valuable [18]. According to the disclosure of the information is a form of management accountability. As a result, information disclosure (IR) is primarily focused on creating value for the organization and its stakeholders by taking into account the six forms of capital that have been established by the IIRC [19]. These comprise monetary, manufactured, human, natural, social, and relationship capitals and they are regarded as the foundation for the operations of any organization as they construct models to manage such capital to achieve the desired level [20]. According to IR is responsible for the collection of information, both financial and non-financial, that is required for public disclosure [21].

According to the integrated thought is the foundation for integrated decision-making and integrated thought is informed by International Relations (IR). As a result, because this decision is all-encompassing and complete, it has the potential to guarantee the short-, medium-, and long-term expansion of value [22]. The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) was established in 2010 as a response to the apparent need for a principle-based framework to drive corporate reporting. The IIRC was created by a global coalition of regulators, investors, firms, standard- setting agencies, accounting professionals, and non-governmental groups. The International Integrated Reporting Council is a global coalition of regulators, investors, corporations, organizations that develop accounting standards, and accounting professionals [22]. The framework was established by the IIRC to ensure that reports contain information about the external environment, which affects an organization’s activities, resources, and capital, as well as the organization’s interactions with the external environment. The IIRC did this so that it could ensure that reports include information about the external environment [23].

In addition, an examination of the attributes of international relations by the definition offered by the offers a backdrop that is more persuasive for each report. To put it another way, the aspects are comparable to standards, all of which an integrated report needs to meet to receive certification [22]. To be more specific, the element of organization overview and external environment captures every facet of the activities that the organization engages in as well as the external factors that have an impact on the organization as a whole. On the other hand, the element of governance captures the structure of management or governance regarding the value- creating capacity of the organization. A corporation’s business model comprises a description of the organization’s model for changing inputs into outputs over time. This is a feature of the business model. A company’s value creation potential can be weakened or strengthened depending on the risks that it faces and the possibilities that it has available to it. Risk and opportunity factors relate to these risks and opportunities.

The element of performance reveals the extent to which the organization has thus far achieved its objectives and the impact that this has had on its capital, whereas the element of strategy and resource allocation reveals the organization’s intended objectives and “endpoint in mind,” as well as the strategies adopted to achieve them. The outlook element is similar to a forecasting element in that it attempts to predict the potential challenges the organization may face in the future and the impact those challenges will have on performance. In contrast, the basis of the preparation element evaluates the particulars of the issues contained in the report as well as the method for quantifying those particulars [22,23].

In addition, outlined a four-pronged benefit of IR to stakeholders. These benefits include the following: It provides a better understanding of the firm’s performance in all spheres, which can then inform a better decision-making process for monitoring and review; it ensures better decisions; it permits deeper engagement with information, and it reduces the reputational risk that is associated with any business [24]. In addition, separated the advantages of internal relations into three categories: internal, external market, and regulatory risk management advantages [25,26]. The internal benefit pertains to the owner’s and the public’s enjoyment, the external benefit relates to the organization’s ability to engage in framework or standard-setting events, and the risk management benefit relates to the organization’s capacity to reduce the likelihood of negative publicity.

Methodology

This study used a secondary quantitative research design, which entails collecting quantitative data from pre-existing, reputable sources, such as the one from which the data for this work was gathered. The quantitative data used in this study is referred to as secondary data. It was gathered from the Nigerian stock exchange factbook and the Central bank’s annual bulletin record on ten selected deposit money banks in Nigeria between 2004 and 2020. Each bank’s performance on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was used to create a panel data set with a sample size of 170. Secondary quantitative research was utilized to assess the link between the study’s two primary variables and to provide a helpful recommendation based on the findings. The data analysis method used in this paper will be descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation will be used to summarize the data), panel regression analysis, which will include the Hausman test, a fixed effect or random effect regression model (depending on the result of the Hausman test), and Pearson correlation. In this study, the variables of interest are forensic accounting and financial reporting. Litigation, Claims, Fraud cases reported, Cost of Forensic Accounting and non-performing loans are all forensic accounting indicators, whereas integrated financial reporting is the dependent variable. Stata 16.0 was used to analyze this paper (Tables 1 and 2).

Table 1: Interest of variables on forensic and financial accounting.

Table 2: List of the 10 selected quoted banks for this study.

Data and variable description

Financial reporting is the dependent variable (Y) proxied as profit after tax while the forensic accounting is the independent variables (X) that includes Litigation, claims, Fraud cases reported, Cost of Forensic Accounting and non-performing loans, and ε_it is the error term that takes care of unaccounted factor in the model.

Model specification

The formulated hypotheses will be tested using the functional description of the model, which is:

Financial reporting=f (Litigation, claims, Fraud cases reported, Cost of Forensic investigation and non-performing loans).

Econometrically, the panel regression models can be expressed as:

In panel data analysis, there is often a challenge which estimator is best suited to the model. Is that a fixed effect or a random effect? The generalized model for panel data is Y_it=a_i + BX_it + U_it. It is assumed that ai does not correlate with the explanatory variables that form the null hypothesis. That is, ai is independent of the explanatory variable in the model against the alternative hypothesis that ai is correlated with the independent variable and this often causes a problem with the researcher with which model or estimator that he or she should apply. So, the Hausman tests postulate that when the null hypothesis is rejected, you run the analysis with fixed effect.

The model can be specified as:

Financial reportingit=β₀ + β₁ Litigationit-1 + β₂ Claimsit + β₃ Fraud casesit + β₄ Cost of forensic investigationit + β₅ non-performing loansit + ε_it

Where,

β=coefficient of the variables

i=i^th bank

t=period under review

e=error term

Decision rule: Reject the null hypothesis if P<α and do not reject if otherwise. Where α is the significant level (1%, 5%, 10% respectively).

Correlation analysis

Correlation is a measure of direction, strength and association between two variables (forensic accounting and financial reporting). To understand the direction of relationship between two variables, we will adopt Pearson correlation coefficient (r) which lies between -1 and +1 in this study. Besides, the test of significance of correlation has the hypothesis: Ho: P=0 vs. H1: P≠0. The computer software that will be used for the computation of the correlation analysis is Stata version 16.

Results and Discussion

Table 3 shows that average financial reporting proxied as profit after tax for the selected quoted banks under review is about 11 billion naira with variability of about 3 billion naira. The average litigation is about 15% with variability of about 4%. In the same vain, the average claim rate is about 20% with variability of about 5%. The average fraud cases reported about 19% with variability of about 4%. The average cost of forensic investigation is about 13 million naira with variability of about 5 million naira. More so, the average non-performing loan is about 14% with variability of about 4%.

Table 3: Average financial reporting on litigation and loans.

Hausman test

The Hausman test (P<0.01) which indicate that the model is statistically significant as we can see in the appendix and this indicate that the fixed effect regression model would be used to run the analysis of this work.

Table 4 shows that the fixed effect model is statistically significant which indicate a significant relationship between financial reporting and forensic accounting indicators (Litigation, claims, Fraud cases reported, Cost of Forensic investigation and non- performing loans). Besides, the forensic accounting variables such as claim (β=0.240, P<0.01), fraud cases reported (β=0.055, P<0.05) and non-performing loan (β=0.345, P<0.01) indicate that claim, fraud cases reported and non-performing loans are statistically significant and this suggest that a forensic accounting has a positive significant impact on financial reporting of the selected banks under study.

Table 4: Financial and forensic accounting indicators.

Table 5 shows that there is a moderate positive and significant relationship between litigation and financial reporting which means litigation increases with an increase in financial reporting. There is a strong positive and significant relationship between claim and financial reporting which implies that claim rate increases with an increase in financial reporting. There is a very weak negative relationship between fraud cases reported and financial reporting which means that fraud cases reported decreases with an increase in financial reporting. Similarly, there is a weak negative and significant relationship between cost of forensic investigation and financial reporting. Furthermore, the Table 5 also reveals that there is a strong positive and significant relationship between non- performing loans and financial reporting. This suggest that some of the forensic accounting indicator such as litigation, claim and non-performing loans are positively related with financial reporting while other forensic accounting instruments like fraud cases reported and cost of forensic investigation are negatively related with financial reporting.

Table 5: Indicators relationship in forensic and financial accounting.

The data was not satisfy but was corrected using Shapiro-Wilk log- normal as a corrective measure to the violation of the normality assumption and we can see that the data is normally distributed as the P>0.05 for all the data observations and this satisfy the normality assumption which makes the model very robust (Table 6).

Table 6: Violation of normality assumption on financial reporting.

Discussion of findings

The following are the key notable findings based on the analysis of this work.

• Hausman test was performed on the panel data and it specified that the analysis should be run with fixed effect regression model.

• The fixed effect model is statistically significant which indicate a significant relationship between financial reporting and forensic accounting indicators.

• The fixed regression models also indicate that forensic accounting has a positive significant impact on financial reporting.

• Meanwhile, the correlation analysis shows that some of the forensic accounting indicator such as litigation, claim and non- performing loans are positively related with financial reporting while other forensic accounting instruments like fraud cases reported and cost of forensic investigation are negatively related with financial reporting.

Conclusion and Recommendation

In the banking sector, regular successful fraud practices have seemed to jeopardize their financial reporting. Forensic accounting is an investigative tool that helps to reduce fraud in banking and therefore enables banks to achieve a meaningful profit after tax which is a proxy for financial reporting. The primary focus of this study is to examine the impact of forensic accounting on financial reporting of selected quoted banks in Nigeria. The result shows that forensic accounting instruments have a positive significant impact on financial reporting which suggests that effective forensic accounting application is essential for better integrated financial reporting which is very consistent with the work. Consequently, the banks should make adequate provisions for the cost of employing forensic accounting experts that will help in the early detection and prevention of frauds that could ruin the banks. The commercial banks in Nigeria through the CBN can collaborate with EFCC and other government regulatory Agencies to report every red flag case or suspected financial misappropriation so as to prevent it from happening.

Suggestion for Further Research

This forensic accounting investigation on financial reporting of selected quoted banks in Nigeria should be expanded to other sectors of the country, such as manufacturing, services, hospitality and tourism, Agro Allied, Pensions, health, taxation, and the oil and gas sector, among others.

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