Saturday, 30 March 2019: 12:50 PM
David Homola, Ing. , Finance and Accounting, Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Zlín, Czech Republic
Marie Pasekova, Ph.D. , Department of Finance and Accounting, Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Zlin, Czech Republic
Bohumila Svitáková, Ph.D. , Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Zlin, Czech Republic
Eva Kramna , Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Zlin, Czech Republic
Based on generally accepted accounting principles, financial statements shall provide a true and fair view of the financial position, financial performance and cash flows of the company. However the human factor cannot be underestimated. Sometimes these statements include possible errors. The aim of this paper is to identify the main factors contributing to error occurrence in financial statement preparation. The authors, together with the questionnaire respondents, provide insight to what factors influence the quality of accounting information the most. The quality and reporting ability of financial statements depend on diverse factors. Our research, based on a sample of Czech enterprises using a survey, focused on perceived problems in Czech accounting legislation, and further on relationships with behavioral aspects of human activity which influence the quality of accounting information. It is the human factor, in particular, which can influence considerably a true and honest image of a company's financial result. The respondent sample included both small and large enterprises. Enterprises of all legal forms operating in the CR were represented. The respondents' answers were evaluated using descriptive methods and mathematical statistics and hypotheses were tested. The specific methods used to identify and classify the key factors influencing the financial reporting outcomes were the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Shapiro-Wilkov test, and the Friedman test. The results proved that both legislation and the human factor invite errors and that financial statements are susceptible to reality distortion. The main target of the research was to classify and interpret factors influencing financial results and susceptibility to fraudulent actions.