MANAGEMENT DELAY IN FINANCIAL REPORTING AND FIRM CHARACTERISTICS AMONG COMPANIES IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
“Financial reporting is the manner of communicating data on the activities of the organization to the users of accounting data; and the quality of financial reporting is a feature of the excellent of accounting standards and the corresponding regulatory enforcement of the standards (Aliyu & Ishaq, 2015).”
“Similarly, Oladipupo and Izedonmi (2013) “see corporate financial reporting as a method by which management achieves their stewardship duty via preparing and publishing audited annual reviews and accounts.”” “
“Timeliness of the published audited annual reportsand account is one of the imperative qualitative attributes favored of any good accounting data. Timelinessof accounting information is about the accessibility of accounting data when it is needed and how currentwhen it is received and used.””
“Dabor and Dabor (2015) opine that financial reviews as the most critical components of abookkeeping transaction, because it’s aimed at presenting data to guide investors’ decisions, serves as a prospectus for capacity investors and a barometer for ascertaining manager’s performance.””
“According to Ogiedu and Odia (2013) its miles the obligation of management of a corporation to prepare financial reviews for the consumption of their share/stakeholders. Thisfinancial reports display the monetary health of a company, and it is an avenue for communicating an organization financial dealings to the stakeholders and in most instance the only data accessible by them.”Accordingly, investors and different stakeholders agree with these financial reports to ascertain their relationship with the organization.
“Aliyu and Ishaq, (2015) opine that the management of public liability in Nigeria is responsible for the coaching of annual monetaryassertion of which the auditor is to attest. Thus, financial report is one of the gadgets utilized by stakeholders in assessing the board of administrators’ performance.”
However, through specific methods, the board of administrators’ frequently manipulates the financial report in the recordings of the company’s bookkeeping activities which are known to as earning management in accounting.
“Corporate governance is a concept where management supervision takes place in the decision making manner of a corporation. The leadership (board) quality plays a crucial role in the implementation of corporate governance as they are responsible in finding out the method to direct, control, and the management of resources according with the company’s objective.”
“It is expected that at the cease of an enterprise financial year, directors of the company render a stewardship account to her shareholders. This report is subjected to audit via a certified external auditor(s) before the final disclosure.”
“It takes a number of days to months for the management of quoted corporation (directors) to prepare the financial statement and its audit. The time interval taken between the accounting year end, the accounts preparation and its audit report is known as audit delay.” “
“Audit delay is therefore defined as the number of days from the accounting year end of a company and the audit report date (Dibia and Onwuchekwa, 2013).”Also “Ibadin and Afensimi, (2015) opine that audit delay is the length of time from a company’s financial year-end to the date of the auditor’s report and thus it is measured as the number of days between a firm’s fiscal year-end and the report date.”
Timeliness of financial reporting has allowed the data to be accessible to decision-makers before it loses its ability to influence enterprise decisions (Shukeri & Islam, 2012).Just as Modugu, Eragbhe and Ikhatua (2012) opine that, financial data users require accurate and timely information for knowledgeable choice making.”
“Oladipupo and Dabor, (2013) point out that timeliness is one of the proper characteristic for desirable accounting. Timeliness of financial records is about making audited yearly report and accounts accessible to the users of financial data as at when due and making sure that it’s miles modern-day when it is acquired and when it is to be used data.”
“Any delay in disclosing accounting information springing up from the extensive or prolonged reporting interval could automatically have an effect on the timeliness of the corporate annual report and accounts.” In the mild of the above discussion, the researcher examines the management delay in financial reporting and firm characteristics.”
Statement of the Research Problem
“The growing information wishes of stakeholders who have vested interest in financial reporting have resulted in the quest for timely and credible financial reports”. “According to the International Accounting Standards Board timeliness of financial reports is the availability of information needed by decision makers for useful decision making before it loses its capacity to influence decisions (Iyoha, 2012).”“
In emerging economies, the provision of timely information in corporate reports assumes more significance on the account that different nonfinancial statement sources such as media releases, news conferences and financial analysts forecasts are not well developed and the regulatory bodies are not as effective as in Western developed countries.”
“In Nigeria, the need for high quality and timely financial information has become particularly imperative due to the increasing exposure of Nigerian business organizations to international capital markets. Thus, the business organizations are being obliged to satisfy the information demands of foreign investors and to provide them with more timely information in annual financial reports.”“
Recognizing the importance of timely release of financial information, regulatory agencies and laws in Nigeria have set statutory maximum time limits within which listed companies are required to issue audited financial statements to stakeholders and also file such reports with relevant regulatory bodies (Iyoha, 2012).”
“Studies on management delay in financial reporting and firm characteristicsissues have not been topical in Nigeria, and in developing economies. To the best of the researcher knowledge, only Oladipupo and Izedonmi (2013) have carried out a study on relative contributions of audit and management delays in corporate financial reporting in Nigeria; no empirical studies have been conducted to examine management delay in financial reporting and firm characteristics, hence the need for this study.”
In the light of these, the following research questions are raised:
What is the relationship between company size and management delay in financial reporting?
To what extent does profitability influence management delay in financial reporting?
What is the relationship between leverage and management delay in financial reporting?
What is the relationship between company age and management delay in financial reporting?
Objective of the Study
The objective of this study is to empirically examine management delay in financial reporting and firm characteristics in Nigeria.
    The specific objectives are to:
determine the relationship between company size and management delay in financial reporting;
examine the extent to which profitability influence management delay in financial reporting;
ascertain the relationship between leverage and management delay in financial reporting;
determine the relationship between company age and management delay in financial reporting;
Research Hypothesis
The following hypotheses stated in null form were tested in the course of the study;
H01:    There is no significant relationship between company size and management delay in financial reporting.
H02:    There is no significant relationship between profitability and management delay in financial reporting.
H03:    There is no significant relationship between leverage and management delay in financial reporting.
H04:    There is no significant relationship between company age and management delay in financial reporting.
Scope of the Study
“This study focuses on management delay in financial reporting and firm characteristics– evidence from quoted firms in the Nigeria Stock Exchange. As such, the population of the study is the entire one hundred and seventy (170) quoted companies on the Nigeria Stock Exchange as at December, 2018 (NSE, 2018).A sample of thirty (30) quotedcompanies on the Nigeria Stock Exchange will be drawn from the population using the convenience sampling technique. The choice of the convenience sampling technique is hinged on the anticipated difficulty in downloading or accessing published financial statements and accounts of the entire quoted companies in Nigeria for the period under study.”
“The study will cover a period of six (6) years i.e. (2012 – 2017).”
Significance of the Study
“This study is anticipated to give beneficial insight into improving the quality of financial reporting decisions to a very healthy result in quality investment. This study will contribute to the literature as it will provide additional empirical evidence on the impact of company size, profitability, leverage, company age and liquidity on management delay in financial reporting practices in companies.”
“Furthermore, given the empirical nature of the study, the outcome of this study would aid policy makers and regulatory bodies in economic modeling and policy simulation with respect to the selected variables examined in the study.”
The result of the study would be of benefits to investment analysts, investors and corporations in examining the influence of firm characteristics on management delay in financial reporting in Nigeria.  
It will also be useful in stimulating public discourse given the dearth of empirical researches in this area from emerging economies like Nigeria.
Finally, it would also add to the available literature on the area of study while also providing a platform for other researchers who may want to further this study.
Limitation of the Study
The use of sample size instead of the entire population of the study. However, the sample size will not be sufficient enough to capture the parameters of the population.
Measurement of variables: variables measurement will reflect the normal measurement accepted in empirical research and globally acceptable; that is the study will adopt the measurement of variables used in internationally and locally published journals.