ROLE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCOUNTING STANDARDS

ABSTRACT

Financial accounting standard is perceived no longer as a low priority book keeping exercise, but a central function for directing a company under good corporate governance principles. This study is an empirical investigation the Role of corporate governance in the implementation of accounting standards in listed companies in Nigeria. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a total of fifteen firms quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange market under the consumer goods sector with updated financial information for the period under study were selected and analyzed for the study. Data for the study were extracted from corporate annual reports and accounts of selected firms for the period 2011-2021. Data for corporate governance proxied by board size and audit committee independence were extracted from the notes from annual reports and accounting standards was represented by audit delay. In testing the research hypothesis, the study adopted simple regression techniques for the quoted sampled firms analyzed. The findings revealed that audit committee independence does not exert significant effect on delay of implementation of the accounting standard. Also, board size has a significant negative relationship with audit delay of implementation of the accounting standard in Nigeria. Consequent upon this study, it was recommended that corporate policies should reflect commitment to company variables such as board size that will significantly impact the implementation of the accounting standard. This position is borne out of the preponderance of the negative relationship between board size and audit delay.