Effect of audit client importance on earnings management of nigerian listed consumer goods firms

The primary focus of this study was to examine the influence of audit client importance on earnings management of Nigerian listed consumer goods firms. The study adopted a descriptive research design. From 2012 to 2019, data were collected from 13 consumer goods firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group. Discretionary accrual was used to estimate earnings management.Descriptive statistics and random effects regression were used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that audit client importance (β=-0.1872) has a significant effect on the earnings management of Nigerian listed consumer goods firms. The study concluded that earnings management practices of Nigerian listed consumer goods firms are curtailed when the firms are of important clients to their auditors. The recommendation was that management of firms should enhance approaches that will improve their performance in terms of sales to remain important clients to their auditors.