FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING REPORT AND MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING (A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED BANKS IN PORT HARCOURT RIVERS STATE)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Financial accounting is the language of business as it is the basic tool for recording, reporting and evaluating economic events and transactions that affect business enterprises. It processes all documents of a business financial performance from payroll, cost, capital expenditure and other obligations to sale revenue and owners’ equity. It provides financial accounting report about one’s business to the internal and external users, such as managers, investors and others. It is sometimes referred to as a means to an end, with the ending being the decision that is helped by the availability of accounting report (Arneld and Hope 1990). Management is the art of working particularly through people, for the achievement of the broad goals of an organisation (Ejiofor 2002), in trying to achieve these goals the manager has to map out strategies to find out the accounting report suitable for the company. Management accounting uses both financial and non financial information and is generally intended for the use of internal users who use the information to make decisions that help achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation. Financial information used by management accountants include sale growth, profits, return on capital employed and market shares, non financial information include customer satisfaction level, production quality, performance of competing products and customer loyalty.

Of recent, the harmonization and international convergence of financial accounting report and practices are of interest to researchers in both developed and developing countries like Nigeria. For the past decade, members of the accounting profession have been anticipating the adoption of the international financial reporting standard (Marshall, Bender, Swiger, 2010) and this anticipation has prompted a lot of academic research on the subject of adoption of international financial reporting standard (IFRS) by different countries of the world-Nigeria is not exempted. As a result of this, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) announced the transition date for adopting international financial reporting standard (IFRS) for business organizations in Nigeria to begin from January 1, 2012.

Financial report is a formal and detailed statement describing financial activities of a business organization. For such a business entity, financial report is a statement that reports all relevant financial information, presented in a structured manner and in a form easy to understand for managerial use for taking prompt and informed decision making related to investment (IASB, 2007) and also to decision making pertaining to production planning, investment planning, expected returns and performance evaluation.

The financial accounting reports comprises of balance sheet (for determining financial position), profit and loss statement (describes statement of comprehensive income), statement of equity changes (explain the changes of the company’s equity), and cash flow statements (reports on a company’s cash flow activities, particularly its operating, investing and financing activities). Although, these financial statements are often complex and may include an extensive set of notes to the financial accounting reports and explanation of financial policies and management discussion and analysis (IASB, 2007). The notes typically describe each item on the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement in further detail. Notes to financial accounting reports are considered an integral part of the financial statements. However, the approaches that the notes and financial statement are presented and reported are critically for investment decision making by existing and prospective investors in order to earn optimal returns on their investments.

This indicates that financial accounting reporting methods in terms of information disclosure pattern, transparency, auditing, reporting standards, regulatory control and flexibility, corporate governance, and financial scandals have influence on investment decision making in any organization with extensive range of investment activities that requires comprehensive financial facts that can be obtained from a financial account statement.

The perceived relevance of the financial account report is to provide information about the financial position, performance and changes in financial position of a firm that is useful to a wide range of users in making management and investment decisions. These users include managers, directors, employees, prospective investors, financial institutions, government regulatory agencies, media, vendors and general public. Though, these financial reports are often prepared according to national standards, corporate governance, professional ethics, and code of ethics. This to avoid financial reporting fraud and scandals that might hinders effective decision making process by management and other users of reports. The purpose of ethics in financial accounting reporting with expected standards is to re-orientate corporate organization on the need to abide by a code of conduct that facilitates public confidence in their services (Okafor, 2006).

Effective and efficient accounting report plays a central role in management decision making.

STATEMENT OF THE GENERAL PROBLEM

In modern business environment, which is becoming more competitive, the survival of firms, be it small or large; depend upon the strategic decisions made by management. This is however done with the help of financial statements analysis, which is a big challenge to most countries having shortage of professional accountants and financial analysts as it is the case to our country. Every human being needs information in order to make the right decision, the right time. In a business organization, the financial data are obtained from the financial statements. Decision makers must analyze the data in financial statements to provide the meaningful information for use. Without correct information, the decisions made by decision makers may impede the growth of the organization. In this view, therefore, a sustained success will depend on how good decisions are made based on the proper analysis of financial statements. Thus, there is a close relationship between analysis of financial statements and effective business decision-making. The management of enterprise is depending on accounting information for taking various strategic decisions. Financial statements provide such information. This information is made useful by analyzing and interpretation of financial statements with help of financial analysis techniques. (Prof. Harvey B. Lermack, 2003). According to James et. al 2005, evaluating the firm's financial condition and performance, the financial analysis needs to perform checkups on various aspects of a firm's financial health. Financial statements are important tools in the management for decision making. (Sharma & Shashi 2001), financial statements are prepared primarily for decision making, but the information provided in financial statements is not an end in itself and no meaningful conclusion can be drawn from these statements alone. The financial analysis helps in making decisions from the information provided in these financial statements. Thus, the proper financial statements analysis assists management in communicating information which is pertinent and purposeful for decision makers to ensure the effectiveness of management in the enterprise.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The major aim of the study is to examine the influence of financial accounting report and managerial decision making in Nigerian business organizations. Other objectives of the study include;

1. To investigate the relationship between financial accounting reporting and organizational performance.
2. To examine the need for financial accounting report on managerial decision making
3. To examine if financial report provides adequate information in all areas of organization and economic activities.
4. To examine the relationship between financial accounting report and managerial decision making.
5. To examine the level of financial report in business organizations in Nigeria
6. To examine the attitude of management in the allocation of resources that often leads to the achievement of profit maximization objective.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is the relationship between financial accounting reporting and organizational performance?
2. What is the need for financial accounting report on managerial decision making?
3. Does financial report provide adequate information in all areas of organization and economic activities?
4. What is the relationship between financial accounting report and managerial decision making?
5. What is the level of financial report in business organizations in Nigeria?
6. What is the attitude of management in the allocation of resources that often leads to the achievement of profit maximization objective?

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

H0: There is no significant relationship between financial accounting report and managerial decision making in an organisation.

H1: There is a significant relationship between financial accounting report and managerial decision making in an organisation.

SINGIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Theoretical

The primary objectives of financial accounting report is to aid the manager in making timely and formal decisions “providing vast amounts of data is not in itself helpful, in fact, it may confuse and hinder more than it helps; Perry etal,(1989) This study is one of the most numerous efforts directed towards evaluating the impact of financial accounting report on managerial decision making in Nigeria. Firstly, credit manager who deserves to sharpen their decision making ability on loan request will find this study very useful. Secondly, it is hoped that this research will not only serve as an invaluable literature for further researchers but also generate ideas which will have policy implication for Nigerian business organizations in the improvement of managerial decision making.

Practical

This study would be of immense benefit to the Nigerian business world, the banking sector and all related stakeholders as it would unveil the influence of financial accounting report on managerial decision making which would help improve organizational performance and by extension im[rove the economy. this study would also benefit students, researchers and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the subject matter.

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study is restricted to financial accounting report and managerial decision making using selected money deposit banks in Port Harcourt metropolis of Rives state as the case study.

LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

ANNUAL REPORT: this is a comprehensive report on a company’s activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and interested people information about the company’s activities and financial performance.

MANAGERIAL DECISION: This is the decision concerning the operating of the firm, such as the choice of the firm size, firm growth rate, and employment.

INFORMATION: This can be seen as data which have been processed into a form meaningful to the recipient (receiver)

ORGANIZATION: Is an organized body of people working together for the pursuit of a particular purpose (s) called organization goals.