CREATIVE ACCOUNTING AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: IMPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL REPORTING TRANSPARENCY
Keywords:
Creative accounting, corporate governance, financial reporting transparencyAbstract
This paper examines the relationship between creative accounting and corporate governance and their implications for financial reporting transparency. It synthesizes evidence on managerial motives, accounting techniques, governance conditions, audit quality, internal control, ethical leadership, and regulatory enforcement. A structured narrative review was conducted using peer-reviewed studies, professional reports, and institutional publications from 2010 to 2026, selected for thematic relevance and methodological quality. The findings associate creative accounting with performance pressure, flexible accounting choices, and information asymmetry. Independent boards, financially competent audit committees, robust controls, high-quality external audits, ethical leadership, and credible enforcement strengthen reporting discipline. Corporate governance therefore provides an integrated framework for directing managerial discretion toward reliable disclosure, stakeholder confidence, and sustainable corporate performance.
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