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The reliability of a company’s financial statements depends on its adherence to the International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS). Since the financial markets are now transparent and foster confidence, such compliance is essential to all economies in the global village that is the stock market. It also improves the reputation of companies that are listed there. This study looks at how board membership, corporate characteristics, and IFRS compliance in Sub-Saharan Africa are influenced by the regulatory environment. The researcher employed multiple linear regression analysis to look into these relationships. Software from SPSS and STATA was used for the analysis of the dataset, which contains 1885 firm-year observations. The results show a favorable correlation between IFRS compliance, firm size, and gender diversity on boards. IFRS compliance is adversely affected by firm age, although IFRS compliance is not directly impacted by board size. According to the study, regulatory regimes with stricter regulations improve the benefits of gender diversity on boards and business size on IFRS compliance. Another important factor influencing the relationship between board size and IFRS compliance is the regulatory environment. The aforementioned findings underscore the significance of robust regulatory frameworks and the configuration of corporate boards in attaining exceptionally efficient financial reporting standards.

Keywords: Board Composition, Firm Characteristics, IFRS Compliance, Corporate Governance, Sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of this study is to: i) investigate the challenges and barriers (C&B) that reporting accountants continue to encounter when attempting to comply with IFRS following their adoption or convergence in developing countries; ii) determine whether respondents’ assessments of the challenges and barriers (C&B) are statistically differ; and iii) describe which IFRS remain the most difficult to comply with and why? Based on the supposition that the population is infinite, 235 professional accountants and accounting educators were selected at random from LinkedIn contacts. A self-created survey was carried out between November and December of 2023 to elicit opinions on 15 C&B using a Likert scale, where viewpoints of 68 respondents were gathered (a response rate of 28.8%). The survey instrument’s internal consistency is demonstrated by its Cronbach alpha of 0.871. The results indicated that reporting accountants must deal with a variety of C&B in order to comply with IFRS. IFRS 9, 15, 16, and 17 are examples of recent IFRS that are complex, difficult to understand, and difficult to interpret. The respondents elicited that the most challenges facing practitioners are: (i) complex financial instruments and transactions and their measurement; (ii) IFRS are costly and time-consuming to comply with. It’s interesting to note that respondents rated comparability, transparency, and accuracy of financial reports prepared under IFRS as the least challenging and least barrier-causing issues. A considerable variation was found in the respondents’ opinions on how they perceive different factors such as continent, IFRS training, accounting educators versus accounting professionals, and experience. Upon analyzing the open-ended responses provided by the respondents, it is evident that there are still certain issues and challenges facing accountants in relation to IFRS 9, 17, 16, 15, 8, and 3, respectively, following the adoption or conversion of IFRS. It is posited that academic institutions, audit firms, and the IASB should offer comprehensive training programs. This will equip professionals with the necessary knowledge to adhere to principle-based accounting standards, which are becoming more expensive, time-consuming, and information-overloaded. The IASB should review its policy on comprehensive disclosure requirements and reexamine IFRS 9, 15, and 16, as they are considered the most complex standards. Additionally, methods for valuing assets and liabilities should be reconsidered, as no single valuation technique can capture economic value within the fair value range.

Keywords: International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Challenges, Barriers, Costly, Disclosure, Training, IFRS 9, IFRS 15, IFRS 16, IFRS 17, IFRS 3.

In India, corporate social responsibility (CSR) carries substantial weight, particularly under the Companies Act of 2013, which meticulously details companies’ obligations to contribute to societal welfare beyond mere shareholder interests. India is among the few nations that mandate large corporations to allocate a minimum of two percent of their average net profits over the past three financial years to specified CSR activities. Initially proposed as a ‘comply-or-explain’ dictum, recent legislative amendments in 2019 have enshrined this mandate as a legal imperative. Consequently, CSR in India pivots predominantly around monetary contributions to social causes, often synonymous with corporate benevolence. However, this philanthropic emphasis overlooks the adverse externalities engendered by corporate operations, a facet typically embraced within CSR frameworks elsewhere. Thus, amidst a backdrop of conceptual unrest surrounding CSR in India, the burgeoning ascendancy of ESG assumes an exalted significance. ESG practices are market-driven, but global regulatory bodies are increasingly implementing legal measures, especially concerning ESG reporting. This trend is evident in India and holds heightened significance. The Indian context merits closer scrutiny as it is one of the world’s most populous countries with 1.42 billion people and ranks as the fifth-largest global economy with a GDP of $3.7 trillion. Additionally, it attracts significant foreign investment, boasting numerous companies vying for global markets. The evolution from CSR to ESG in India demands strategic leadership, collaboration, and an enduring commitment to ongoing improvement. Management accountants, who are positioned as advocates for ESG excellence, play an important role in steering firms toward a future in which responsible practices are inextricably linked to sustainable success.

Keywords: CSR, ESG, Sustainability, Management Accountant’s Role

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of audit committee (AC) attributes on firm performance. In this study, 75 out of 123 property companies listed in Bursa Malaysia’s main market were sampled, and the sampling period was from 2017 to 2021. Four independent variables are included, namely, AC size, AC independence, AC financial expertise, and AC meeting frequency, while firm size and firm leverage are applied as control variables to investigate their impact on firm performance proxied by return on assets (ROA). This study used a quantitative research design, and the data was collected from the companies’ annual reports. The limitations of this study would be the insufficient sample size and the number of AC attributes. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that AC size has a significant positive relationship with firm performance, whereas AC meeting frequency has a significant negative relationship with firm performance. Meanwhile, AC independence and AC financial expertise have an insignificant negative relationship with firm performance. The result indicates that the larger the AC size, the higher the firm’s performance. Therefore, a company should form an AC with more members because a larger AC will be more diverse in terms of skills and knowledge. Besides, holding more AC meetings will result in lower firm performance.

Keywords: Audit Committee Attributes, Financial Expertise, Meeting Frequency, Firm Performance, Malaysia

This study examined how corporate governance, the COVID-19 pandemic, and financial distress affected tax avoidance. The proportion of independent directors, the size of the audit committee, and the educational backgrounds of the audit committee and independent directors in accounting and finance were all considered as corporate governance criteria. The study used data from manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) from 2017 to 2022. A total of 336 data samples were collected using the purposive sampling method. The research methodology involved multiple regression analysis using STATA. The results showed that financial distress and the number of audit committee members did not impact tax avoidance. However, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic increased tax avoidance actions. The proportion of independent commissioners and the educational background of the audit committee related to accounting and finance were found to decrease tax avoidance efforts. In contrast, independent commissioners’ educational backgrounds in accounting and finance increased tax avoidance efforts.

Keywords: Financial Distress, Tax Avoidance, Corporate Governance

This research presents a novel approach to enhancing internal controls for smart contracts in the context of blockchain technology. The groundbreaking integration of blockchain technology and smart contracts into various industries has been driven by the extensive research conducted in Accounting Information Systems (AIS). However, it is crucial to have robust internal control systems to effectively mitigate the security risks and confidentiality concerns associated with smart contracts. As such, this paper stands out as one of the first initiatives to integrate more than two frameworks for internal controls, such as COSO and COBIT. This study introduces a comprehensive framework that institutions can utilize to empower blockchain users to enhance the internal controls for smart contracts. Our findings recommend integrating multiple frameworks to bolster the governance of smart contracts. Furthermore, we emphasize the need for continuous updates and dynamic adaptation within the framework. A structured process for regular review and adjustment of framework components ensures alignment with evolving regulatory requirements and emerging technological advancements in blockchain. This research leveraged a combination of frameworks and collected data from 205 blockchain experts. The data was then analysed using the explanatory factor analysis that validated the factor structure, confirming strong factor loadings, composite reliability, and average variance extracted (AVE) for each latent variable, and confirmatory factor analysis methods to validate the framework satisfactory model fit indices. The integration of diverse frameworks not only addresses challenges but also encourages professionals to explore and experiment with these transformative technologies.

Keywords: Smart Contracts; Internal Controls; Integrated Frameworks; Security; Blockchain Internal Controls.

This paper’s objective is to set out the development and potential future ramifications of India’s unique auditing culture, with a focus on contemporary internal auditing. India’s unique culture of audit has been shaped by three influences - Vedic concepts of auditing, epitomized by Kau?ilya’s Artha??stra (fourth century BCE); assimilated foreign auditing practices; and Indian philosophical traditions, notably the significance accorded to testimonial evidence in Ny?ya epistemology. India’s sui generis culture of auditing provides India with a distinctive voice in international auditing theory and practice. In internal auditing, India has produced an unparalleled variety of home-grown professional standards and guidance. The internal audit standards issued by both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the Institute of Cost Accountants of India co-exist with the “global” standards of the United States-based Institute of Internal Auditors. The profundity of India’s unique auditing culture currently safeguards the local character of internal auditing in the face of the hegemonic, international aspirations of the Institute of Internal Auditors. Moreover, India is positioned to take a leading role – perhaps even the leading role - in global internal auditing, by internationalizing and exporting its principles-based and adventurous internal audit standards. The future centre of gravity of internal auditing may shift away from the United States towards India, if the Indian internal audit community has the ambition to assert the global technical and moral leadership in this field of endeavour that, we argue, it already possesses. Our interpretative approach is based largely on philosophical hermeneutics in the tradition of Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002).

Keywords: Artha??stra; audit culture; bookkeeping audit; Fatawa ‘Alamgiri; globalization; Hellenism; localism; Indian auditing; Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; Institute of Cost Accountants of India; Institute of Internal Auditors; internal auditing; internal audit standards; Kau?ilya; subsidiarity.