CREATIVE ACCOUNTING AND CORPORATE FAILURE

This study examined Creative Accounting and Corporate Failure. To address its objectives, the research formulated three research questions, three objectives and three hypotheses. The research takes into consideration creative accounting and corporate failures in the Nigerian financial reporting, focusing on commercial banks in Nigeria. The population include Nigeria base banks, the period of study covers 2002-2022, source of data will be from secondary data from NGX, formerly Nigerian stock exchange. This period will aid comprehensive study of creative accounting and corporate failure in Nigerian banks. The study is purposed to examine how creative accounting influences corporate failures in Nigerian banks. The research will focus on commercial banks in Nigeria. The study investigates the impact of creative accounting on financial reporting accuracy in Nigerian quoted firms. Employing a decision rule to reject the null hypothesis if the z-statistic probability value is below 0.05, it was found that financial health indicators positively and significantly correlate with return on assets (p = 0.0002). This supports the alternative hypothesis that creative accounting does not significantly impact financial reporting accuracy. Contrary to other findings, the r sults show a negative and significant relationship between financial health and return on assets, suggesting that creative accounting does not misrepresent a company's financial health. Additionally, the study found a significant relationship between creative accounting practices and corporate failure, with regulatory compliance showing an insignificant relationship with return on assets. The study recommends several actions based on these findings. The study recommends that regulators enforce corporate reporting requirements among Nigerian Exchange Group companies to ensure high-quality financial statements and market transparency. Nigerian quoted companies should maintain independent audit committees to enhance statement quality. The four-year professional requirement for auditors should be legally enforced. Government agencies, policymakers, and regulators should intensify regulations and surveillance of financial quality, mandating optimal compensation and independence for auditors to improve report credibility. Companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange should reduce financial leverage to enhance report quality. Personnel involved in financial reporting should be thoroughly trained and certified. Finally, companies should fully utilize their capacity to prepare and present financial reports according to accounting standards.