Corporate Financial Reporting Quality and Decision Value for a New Nigeria

Abstract

This study seeks to examine the qualitative characteristics of financial reporting in Nigeria by evaluating the perception of users and the decision value of financial reports so as to assess the standing of accounting practice in rendering information services to users in the new Nigeria. The qualitative characteristics studied are the fundamental qualitative characteristics: relevance and reliability (faithful representation), and the enhancing qualitative characteristics: understandability, verifiability, timeliness and comparability. The study employed the survey design and collected data by the use of questionnaire whose results were analyzed using the E-Views statistical package. The result shows that only reliability was rated significantly positive at 5%, relevance and timeliness were only significant at 10% level of significance while the positive rating of understandability, verifiability and comparability were not significant. The study recommends that the profession and regulators should establish procedures and practices aimed at improving these characteristics so as to be able to meet the informational service delivery needs of the new Nigeria.