DETERMINANTS OF ORGANISATIONAL INTENTIONS TO USE FORENSIC ACCOUNTING SERVICES

ABSTRACT

The study examines the determinants of organizational intentions to use forensic accounting services, focusing on perceived benefits, perceived risks, cost implications, regulatory pressure, perceived trust in forensic accountants, and perceived complexity. The research utilizes a cross sectional survey design, targeting organizations in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger corporations across multiple industries. Data were collected from 171 respondents through simple random sampling. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression was employed to analyse the effect of these factors on intention to use forensic accounting. The study finds that perceived benefits and trust in forensic accountants have a positive and significant effect on the intention to use forensic accounting services. The study also finds that perceived risks and perceived complexity have a significant positive effect, indicating that organizations carefully assess potential challenges before deciding what to use. In contrast, the study finds that cost has an insignificant negative effect, while regulatory pressure has an insignificant and positive effect. The study recommends raising awareness through industry training, fostering trust by engaging certified forensic accountants, and introducing regulatory incentives, such as tax reliefs, to encourage forensic accounting use. The study further recommends that accounting processes should be simplified to enhance integration, strengthen financial governance, prevent fraud and strengthen organizational stability.