IFRS Adoption and Reporting Quality: An Assessment of User’s Perception in Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the perception of financial statement users on the extent of reporting quality following IFRS adoption in Nigeria. A comparative approach was utilized, where users’ (investors)opinions on reporting quality between the Statement of Accounting Standards (SAS) regime and the International Financial Reporting Standards regime were sought and compared. The results obtained from the structured Likert scale questionnaires were analyzed using the T-Test. It was found that all the qualitative characteristics of financial reporting which were used as reporting quality variables in the study have improved with the adoption of IFRS except for the extent of the ability of financial reports to confirm or correct prior user’s expectation which was discovered to be better during SAS regime. It was recommended that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) should embark on advocacy aimed at educating investors’ especially, institutional on the issue of prediction and assessment of IFRS-based financial statements.