The study was aimed at examining the relationship between accounting records keeping and utilization by small scale business operators in Rivers State. Two specific objectives and two research questions guided the study. Two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 probability level. The study adopted a survey design and was conducted in Rivers State of Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of 4090 registered small scale business operators in Rivers State of Nigeria out of which 450 were randomly selected and used as sample for the study. A questionnaire instrument titled Accounting Records Keeping and Utilization Questionnaire (ARKUQ) was developed by the researcher and used for data collection. The instrument contained 11 items and was structured on a five point likert scale. The instrument was validated by two research experts in the Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku and the University of Uyo respectively. It was thereafter trial tested on thirty (30) Small Scale Business Operators (SSBOs) in Rivers State who were not part of the study. The data collected was subjected to Cronbach-Alpha reliability technique. This test yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.77. The data generated from the study were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). The null Hypotheses were tested at 0.05 probability level. It was found that there is a high positive relationship between accounting records-keeping and utilization in the subsidiary books and ledger accounts. Furthermore, the null hypotheses tested revealed that there were significant relationships between accounting records keeping in the identified books of account and the utilization of those records by small scale business operators in Rivers State. It is recommended among others that small scale business operators be equipped through trainings and education to be able to keep and utilize appropriate accounting records.
Keywords: accounting records-keeping, small scale business operators, utilization
