Studies examining the link between information systems (IS) resources and organisation capabilities are extensive. However, limited studies were conducted to examined the influence of IS resources on AIS capabilities particularly in co-operatives. Based on a comprehensive review of accounting and IS literature, this paper propose a model to assessing the link between IS resources and accounting information systems (AIS) capabilities, and its potential impact on cooperatives performance. The model is based on the resource-based view (RBV) that is used to define various dimensions of IS resources. This paper proposes seven IS resources that include external relationships; IS infrastructure; IS technical skills; business knowledge; internal relationships; IS planning and change management; and last but not least IS development. Apart from establishing a model for AIS capabilities building, this paper contributes to the literature by providing a better understanding on the roles of IS resources in AIS capability-building. This paper further contributes in extending IS research by exploring the AIS implementation within cooperatives environment.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether accounting regulation is associated with financial reporting quality in Nigeria. Using accrual-based earnings management construct – abnormal accruals as a proxy for financial reporting quality, the study found some significant variation in abnormal accruals with the implementation of International financial reporting standards (IFRS) to regulate accounting practice. Similarly, the research found that the control variables - firm size, leverage, and return on asset have significant effects on financial reporting quality. This study is found to be consistent with previous studies indicating the effectiveness of IFRS adoption in improving financial reporting quality. The study also contributes to the discussion on IFRS adoption across reporting environments. Regulatory agencies in Nigeria might need to consider the combined effect of other corporate governance laws to ensure quality reporting. The study is limited by our sample (2009 - 2014), and by the proxies for both accounting regulation and financial reporting quality, the data of which was in most part handpicked. Future research might consider testing the combined effect of other corporate governance variables like audit committees and board characteristics.

In this study, we examine the effect of directors’ ownership on earnings management practices. Explicitly, we draw from the agency theory to distinguish between ownership by non-executive directors and ownership by executive directors to investigate reasons for directors and managerial opportunistic behaviour. Utilising data from a sample of 864-firm-year observations ranging from 2009 to 2017 period, we test our hypothesis through OLS regression. We find that non-executive directors’ interests in shareholding are significantly associated with higher levels of earnings management. We observed a decrease in abnormal accruals on the overall basis of the combined ownership of both executive and non-executive directors. Overall, ownership by all directors combined significantly reduces managerial opportunism. By contrast, there is no evidence that executive directors’ ownership mitigates managerial opportunism. This paper contributes to corporate governance literature, particularly when the independence of board members is essential. This study disaggregates board ownership into executive holdings and non-executive holdings, dimensions which were hitherto rendered as managerial ownership or board ownership. These findings imply firms’ corporate governance policy and regulations.

Accounting information systems (AIS) is essential to process business data into useful information. Indeed, empirical evidence suggested that the use of AIS has a positive impact on firm performance. Previous studies were concentrating on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and public listed companies leaving a gap in the co-operative literature. Furthermore, the users of different types of AIS software that contribute towards improving the firm performance were not adequately explored. As such, this paper draws on the resource-based view (RBV) to examine the gap issue. Using mail questionnaire survey, data were collected from 120 co-operatives. Findings from this study suggest that commercial and developed-in-house AIS software are mostly used by co-operatives. Also, the findings suggest that co-operatives performance is not associated with the types of AIS software used by the co-operatives. This study provides valuable insights into the implementation of AIS among Malaysian co-operatives, which has received little attention thus far from academic, governmental and professional bodies.

The reliability of information presented in the financial reports of local authorities is of utmost importance to enable the public to measure their performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in using public resources. The task to provide such an assurance lies with the Auditor General, who has been entrusted to enforce the auditing compliance regulations. A certificate in the form of “unqualified,” “qualified,” “adverse,” or “disclaimer” accompanied by a report on the financial affairs of the local authorities concerned will be issued after the Auditor General completes the audit of the local authorities’ financial statements. Our study on 14 local authorities comprising municipal and district councils in the Malaysian States of Perlis, Kedah and Penang found that the Qualified Certificate is the common type of audit certificate issued to the local authorities concerned during the period 1997-2001(inclusive of both years). Discrepancies in “Fixed Assets Register” ranked first among the audit incidents that led towards non-compliance to the audit procedures. This was followed by discrepancies in “Other Receivables” and “Cash Flow Statements” which ranked second and third positions respectively. Our finding also shows that size does not grant any advantage to the bigger local authority in reducing the number of audit incidents.