Impact of pressures on the detection of financial statement fraud risk

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of pressures exerted on personnel and governance officials on the detection of fraud risk in financial statements. The tests focus on 250 financial reports of Tunisian listed companies (excluding financial institutions), of which 148 indicate the presence of fraud risk and 102 statements are healthy (post-revolution period from 2012 to 2019). Multivariate analysis shows that external pressure and achievement of financial objectives have a positive effect on the ability of external auditors to detect fraud risk in financial statements, while financial stability is not significant. Due to the selected research context, the results of the study may not be generalizable. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to further test the proposed propositions in other contexts. This study has implications for external auditors who can find clear and simple indicators that can assist them in detecting fraud risk in financial statements.