This paper investigates the pattern of capital structure of 4,127 Malaysian companies from 2005 to 2015. We, then specify the sample into two periods, the pre-recession period from 2002 until 2007 and post-recession period from 2009 until 2015, to determine whether there is any significant different in term liabilities between the two periods. For the third objective of this paper, we examine the impact of base lending rate (BLR) in the capital structure between pre-and post-recession periods, indicating the companies drastically change their capital structure after recession occurs. In this paper, we find a sharp downwards movement in long-term debt and total debt after 2008 year of recession. We also document the level of total debt and long-term debt to significantly higher before the recession hit. Interestingly, we find base lending rate to have negative relationship with long-term and total debts only after recession has occurred but not during the economic expansion (pre-recession period), thus supporting the study's hypotheses.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic, which led to lockdowns and new working norms, has influenced business and accounting transactions in significant ways. This phenomenon and its longer-term impacts are still under-researched and remain unexplored in emerging countries, particularly Malaysia. Therefore, the current study intended to determine the actions taken by Malaysian organizations, specifically in their accounting and finance functions, in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Online survey questionnaires were distributed to collect data. The questionnaires comprised several sections, including demographic information of the respondents and factors affecting users’ intentions to use technology for accounting and finance functions in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. This research adopted the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model as a theoretical basis from which to evaluate the research objectives. The findings showed that only performance expectancy is related to user intention, while other factors, such as effort, attitude, social influence, self-efficacy, and anxiety, display the opposite effect. This empirical study suggests that accounting and finance functions in Malaysia still lag behind in terms of the technology used by employees. In addition, organizations, particularly government departments, are not ready to adopt a fully integrated scientific accounting and finance system.

Tax avoidance may result in a substantial loss of government revenue and detract from the planning of national growth. Companies employ a variety of tax avoidance schemes to evade tax, and companies from different industries may have varying tax incentives and degrees of tax avoidance practices. Therefore, this study investigates tax avoidance activities among companies in different sectors in Malaysia. It also seeks to examine the impact of the code of corporate governance on tax avoidance activities. This study uses four proxies to measure tax avoidance; Accounting ETR (AETR), Cash ETR (CETR), Tax Expenses to Operating Cash Flow (TECF), and Cash Paid to Operating Cash Flow (CPCF). Using a sample of listed companies in Bursa Malaysia from 2005-2015, this study discovers that tax avoidance activities are significantly affected by the industrial sectors. The result finds that manufacturing companies, Infrastructure Project Companies (IPC) and hotels pay significantly lower effective tax compared to the other companies in different sectors. Additionally, the study also finds evidence that the code of corporate governance in 2012 has significantly been successful in mitigating the tax avoidance activities among listed companies in Malaysia. It contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the influences of Malaysian Industrial Master Plan 3 on companies' tax avoidance activities.