Audit committee attributes and cosmetic accounting in Nigeria: The moderating effect of audit price

PurposeThe literature on the influence of audit committees (ACs) and cosmetic accounting (CSA) is scarce. This paper aims to examine the influence of AC attributes on CSA and how this relationship is moderated by the audit price (AUPR).Design/methodology/approachThe study used pooled logistic regressions to analyse 624 firm-year observations of listed companies in Nigeria from 2008 to 2016.FindingsThe results show that AC financial accounting expertise, AC legal expertise and female AC membership were negatively related to CSA. The negative relationship is highly pronounced when a firm incurs higher audit fees. Results for the robustness checks were similar, even with changes to the measurements of dependent and independent variables and alternative estimation.Practical implicationsThis study can benefit policymakers and regulators, enabling them to better appreciate the importance of AC attributes and AUPR in curtailing artificial manipulation and enhancing financial reporting quality.Social implicationsThis study can benefit policymakers and regulators, enabling them to better appreciate the importance of AC attributes and AUPR in curtailing artificial manipulation and enhancing financial reporting quality.Originality/valueThe findings provide an initial insight into the moderating effect of AUPR on the relationship between AC attributes and CSA.