Crisis Accounting and Financial Irregularities: Do Ethical Considerations Play a Role?

Abstract

In periods of crisis, organizations and nations experience heightened demands to achieve financial targets, which result in unethical conduct such as the manipulation of financial data and the misrepresentation of financial information or funds. The study aimed at assessing the relationships between Crisis Accounting, Ethical Considerations and Financial Irregularities and establish the moderating role of Ethical Consideration in the relationship that exists between Crisis Accounting and Financial Irregularities. Data from 309 accountants were used to establish the relation between the variables using Partial Least Square - Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) analysed in SmartPLS 3. The results revealed a positive relationship between Crisis Accounting and Financial Irregularities and also significant impact in the relationship between Ethical Consideration and Financial Irregularities. The results also revealed a strong moderating role of ethical consideration on the relation between Crisis Accounting and Financial Irregularities. The study, therefore, recommends that ethical standards and considerations should be enhanced in accounting practice to limit or deter financial irregularities in crisis situations.