Residual audit fee and real income smoothing: evidence from quoted non-financial firms in Nigeria

Purpose - The study investigated the relationship between residual audit fee and real income smoothening, proxied as real operating cash flow and production expenditure smoothing of non-financial firms in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - The study relied on secondary data from annual financial statements of 75 firms in the non-financial sector from 2010 to 2019. The study estimated the residual audit fee using a modified model from several contexts to suit the Nigerian environment. The hypotheses were tested using the dynamic panel GMM estimation procedure. Findings - The results showed a significant negative effect of residual audit fee on (real) operating cash flow smoothing and production expenditure smoothing of non-financial firms. The control variables showed mixed effects for the industry-related (firm size and profitability), auditor attribute (audit quality and audit report lag) and the board related (board size and board independence). Research limitations/implications - The firms included in the analysis were selected based on data availability from MachameRatios® and the occurrence of missing values for some of the variables used in the various estimation models may bias results. Practical implications - The study identifies the nexus between RAF and real earnings management practices of non-financial firms; and shows the implication of fee payment to the overall conduct of the audit. More so, the mixed findings from the CVs suggest that in the context of developing economies, shareholders and capital markets regulators should be watchful of residual audit fees and utilise it as a gauge for audit quality and also an indicator of opportunism and weak internal control in the firm in the future assessments. Social implications - The implication of the study stems from its relevance to the capital market stability and the potential negative disastrous effect of corporate failure from earnings management practices. Originality/value - The study develops a newly residual audit fee model to explore the effect of RAF on real income smoothing rather than the widely used models from prior literature; secondly, the focus on real activities manipulation may present additional evidence that applies to developing countries rather the widely used accrual measurement technique from an economic bonding perspective.