Small businesses are seen as one key source of economic growth. For this reason,myriadeconomicpolicieshavebeendevotedtopromotetheeconomic activity within small businesses (Buss 2001). Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) form the core of majority of the world’s economies. A study carried out by the Federal Office of Statistics shows that in Nigeria, small and medium enterprises make up 97% of the economy (Ariyo, 2005). Although smaller in size, they are the most important enterprises in the ... read more

Most large companies have their roots in small and medium enterprises suggesting that the future large corporations are the SMEs of today that that must be nurtured to ensure their growth. Thus, SMEs are generally perceived to be the seedbed for indigenous entrepreneurship and generate all the many small investments, which would otherwise not have taken place (Aryeetey & Ahene, 2004). Therefore, developing economies like Nigeria needs to further the development of its private sector by creating ... read more

In 2015, Central Bank of Nigeria issued a circular directing all deposit money banks to implement the Remita e-Collection Platform. The Remita e-Collection is a technology platform deployed by the Federal Government to support the collection and remittance of all government revenue to a Consolidated Account domiciled with the CBN. This marked the beginning of the full implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) system in Nigeria. Though Section 80 (1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended... read more

The recent global financial crisis, which had its roots in the banking sector, highlighted, except from the existing regulatory gaps, the lack of proper and efficient internal audit functions within the banking institutions in order to mitigate the resulting negative effects. The burst of the credit crunch and the following financial recession resulted in the dramatic increase of bank frauds all over the world, a fact that strengthened the need for the implementation of internal audit techniques... read more

A sound and competent banking sector is essential for a stable macroeconomic environment, therefore, the importance of commercial banks in a country cannot be overemphasized, because they occupy key positions in a country’s financial system and are essential agents that would lead to the growth of any economy (Oloye & Osuma, 2015). Commercial banks also act as the agents of financial intermediation within a country by moving funds between the surplus and the deficit sectors within an economy a... read more

Gilbert, (2011) indicated that businesses are run with shareholders’ capital, long term and short term borrowing whether it is a small or medium enterprise and its performance is mainly measured in terms of profitability. He further reports that business contains exchange of goods and services which generates information for better analysis of business performance which is pivotal to profitability. Due to the nature and peculiarity of the Small and Medium-scaled Enterprises (SMEs), a well-orga... read more

Nigeria as one of the developing countries in the world, the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is very vital for the growth of the economy in general as SMEs account for over 70% of the total business activities in the country. SMEs in most developing countries are usually neglected by both the formal financial institutions and the government unlike the developed countries like China, USA, etc. where SMEs are not taken with levity as they believe were to be the engine room for the de... read more

A great number of organizations around the globe are currently utilizing Information and Communication Technology (ICT), not only for cutting costs and improving efficiency, but also for providing better customer services (Irefin, Abdul-Azeez & Tijani, 2012). Also governments all over the world are adopting ICT to provide better services to their citizens. The adoption of ICT by organizations requires a business environment that encourages open competition, trust and security, interoperability, ... read more

The concept of internal control is said to trace its history back to the beginning of the 20th century when audit on financial statements came into being, it has consistently evolved to what it is presently due to continuous change in the business environment (Heier, Dogan and Sayers, 2005). The expansion of the world economy and the scale of enterprises growth after the turn of the century brought about major challenges in management leading to adoption of control systems that encompassed the e... read more

The desire to uplift one’s society is the first desire of every patriotic citizen. Tax payment is the demonstration of such a desire. The payment of tax is a civic duty and an imposed contribution by government on their subjects and companies to enable her finance or run public utilities and perform other social responsibilities. Taxes, thus, constitute the principal source of government revenue (Kaibel and Nwokah, 2009). However, one of the greatest problems facing Nigeria tax system is th... read more

Wants are numerous while resources are limited but there is every tendency to waste or under-utilise the limited resources by the human factor involved in the production of goods and services. With various companies competing with one another, only few that are able to produce at least possible cost will survive the growing competition in the market. Therefore, it is paramount for every serious business undertaken to produce at that possible minimum cost so as to remain in business and also ach... read more

Environmental reporting is an inclusive field of accounting. It provides reports for both internal use, generating environmental information to help make management decisions in pricing, controlling overhead and capital budgeting, external use, disclosing environmental information of interest to the public and to the financial community. Internal use is better termed environmental management accounting (Bartolommeo, Bennett, Bouma, Heydkamp, James and Wolters, 2000). The concept of environmenta... read more

The concept of corporate governance is one of the issues that have attracted the attention of researchers and organisation around the world. This is due to the fact that governance mechanisms involves a set of relationship among organisation’s management, its board, its shareholders and other stakeholders that provide structure in which organizational goals are set, and organizational performance are monitored. Therefore, there is need for proper incentives for the board and management to pur... read more

In recent years, much attention has been paid to whether certain expenditures generate intangible assets, and how these expenditures should be accounted for in financial statements (see, for example, Lev, 2001; Hand & Lev, 2003). However, relatively little attention has been given to advertising activities as possible creators of intangible assets (Shah, Stark & Akbar, 2009). Advertising expenditure is found to be effective in creating awareness, enhancing consumer knowledge, and influencing ... read more

The last twenty years have seen a radical change in the private sector’s relationship both with the state and the civil society. Globalization, deregulation, privatization, and the withdrawing of line between state and market have changed the basis on which private enterprise is expected to contribute to the public goods. Meanwhile, the relationship between company and civil society has move from being paternalistic philanthropy to re- examination of roles, rights and responsibilities of busin... read more

From time immemorial, there wasn’t any need for corporate governance due to the fact that business institutions were owned and managed by their sole owners. In recent times, the owners have employed professionals to manage and direct the affairs of their institutions in anticipation of giving account of their stewardship. The issue of corporate governance has recently been given a great deal of attention in the global financial sector ensuring credibility, fairness and transparency in financia... read more

The small and medium scale enterprises sector has been recognized worldwide for its role in economic advancement through various ways like; wealth generation, employment creation, and poverty reduction. Small and medium scale enterprises are a fundamental part of the economic fabric in most developing countries, and they play a very important role in furthering growth, innovation and prosperity. Small and medium scale enterprises are defined as non- subsidiary, independent firms which employ les... read more

Financial literacy remains an interesting issue in both developed and developing economies, and has elicited much interest in the recent past with the rapid change in the finance landscape. Atkinson and Messy (2005) defined financial literacy as the combination of consumers’/investors’ understanding of financial products and concepts and their ability and confidence to appreciate financial risks and opportunities, to make informed choices, to know where to go for help, and to take other effe... read more

Internal controls are designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of an organization’s objectives in terms of effectiveness and efficiency of operations, reliability of financial reporting, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. It is generally believed that small and medium scale enterprises are the pillars on which the economy of a country rests, especially a developing economy like Nigeria. The impact of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) cannot b... read more

Every organisation both profit and non-profit has its objectives and goals in mind to achieve (Chukwu, 2012). For a profit making organisation, the goal is to satisfy the expectation of the owners through the maximization of expected return on capital. The size and scope of Small and Medium Scale enterprises may be small but they still require efficient running of their organization. This is where internal control becomes relevant. As a result of the increase in accounting scandals in recent ... read more