Earnings Management and Fraudulent Financial Reporting

Objective - The objective of this research is to obtain empirical evidence about the effect of real earnings management that is proxied by abnormal Cash Flow from operating and discretionary expenses towards fraudulent financial reporting. Methodology/Technique - The objects in this research are companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (idx) between 2011 and 2015 comprised of companies that have engaged in fraudulent activities as well as those that have not, to enable a comparison to be made. The companies that have engaged in fraudulent financial reporting were obtained from a list issued by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), being the agency that oversees the capital market in Indonesia. The sampling is conducted using purposive sampling. Secondary data is used, and the hypotheses are testing using logistic regression analysis. Finding - The results of this research show that: (1) Real Earning Management proxied by Abnormal Cash Flow from operating activities (CFO) have a significant effect towards Fraudulent Financial Reporting (FFR), (2) Real Earning Management proxied by Abnormal Discretionary Expenses does not have an effect on Fraudulent Financial Reporting (FFR) and (3) Real Earning Management that is proxied by Abnormal Cash Flow from operating (CFO) and Abnormal Discretionary Expenses have a simultaneous and significant effect on Fraudulent Financial Reporting (FFR). Novelty - Based on these findings, this research provides insight to companies to enable them to give greater attention to abnormal cash flow from operating activities due to the effect this has on companies that are suspected of committing irregularities in its operational activities. This is important because fraudulent reporting can erode investor's confidence and thereby reduce investment in the company