Business transaction records form the basis of financial statements which inform stewardship assessment and investment decisions. Good financial reports aid informed economic decisions which enhance efficiency in the allocation of resources. Allegations are rife of cases of deliberate falsification of financial statements even in the face of internal and external auditors, accounting standards and financial regulations. Using survey research design based on a population of 4893 accountants and auditors of 169 quoted companies and four regulatory bodies in Nigeria, the study investigated the relationship between ethical principles and faithful representation of financial reports. Four hundred copies of the research instrument with a reliability test coefficient of 0.830 using the Cronbach’s alpha statistics were distributed with a 92.5% return rate. Data analysis employed the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicate that ethical principles influence financial reporting quality significantly ( F(4, 366) = 298.719, Adj. R2 = 0.763, p = 0 .000). The study recommends continuous ethical orientation for accountants, managers and auditors of Nigerian quoted companies.
Keywords: Ethics, Faithful representation, Financial Report, Investment decisions, Quoted companies
