Comparative analyses of Human Resource AccountingDisclosure Practices in Nigerian Financial Service and Manufacturingcompanies

Abstract

With rapid changes in the business environment, organizations are now looking at intellectual assets such as human resources as unique assets that bring about competitive advantage. In spite of the strategic position that human assets occupy, sufficient attention has not been given to standardizing reporting practices. It is against this backdrop that the research examines human resource accounting practices of financial service and manufacturing firms in Nigeria. By content-analysing the financials of 12-selected companies, human resource accounting disclosure indices were derived. Study variables were subjected to statistical procedures such as ANOVA, T-test and Correlation. The study found out that though human resource accounting disclosure practice index of banks is higher in comparison to manufacturing companies, the difference is not statistically significant. Also, there is a strong positive relationship between human resource accounting disclosure and company size. It was the findings of this research that there is a positive connection between the volume of financials and human resource reporting. To enhance the credibility of financial reports, firms may consider valuing and incorporating human assets in their financial statements. Relevant authorities should look into drawing-up specific financial reporting standard on human resource activities to address problems of arbitrariness in human resource accounting disclosure.