The Moderating Impact of the Audit Committee on Creative Accounting Determination and Financial Reporting Quality in Iraqi Commercial Banks

The main function behind the conceptualization of creative accounting is maintaining the quality of financial reporting practice. This phenomenon has attracted the attention of researchers for decades, especially in the banking sector, concerning its wide implications and indications for stakeholders, investors, policy makers and competitiveness. However, the practice of creative accounting is accompanied by some undesirable implications resulting from manipulation procedures. Detailed investigations in the previous literature found limited implications of creative accounting determinants on this practice. Thus, the present study investigated the moderation impact of the audit committee in enhancing the impacts of creative accounting determinants and financial reporting quality in the context of commercial banking. A deductive research approach driven by a survey questionnaire was used as the methodology to attain the designed objectives. The analysed data contributed to providing theoretical conceptualization and practical validation of the moderation impacts of the audit committee on creative accounting determinants and financial reporting quality of the banks regarding designed advantages. In addition, the present findings showed that the audit committee highly moderates the determination of creative accounting regarding financial reporting quality in the commercial banking sector. Lastly, the present study introduces the necessity to use such corporate practice for the beneficial parties as the defense line to reduce manipulation practices and enhance the quality of financial reporting.