PENGARUH FINANCIAL STABILITY, PROFITABILITAS, DAN CHANGE IN AUDITOR TERHADAP FRAUDULENT FINANCIAL STATEMENT (Studi pada Sub Sektor Food and Beverage yang terdaftar di Bursa Efek Indonesia tahun 2021-2024)

Abstract

Fraudulent financial statements accounted for only about 5% of global fraud cases but caused the highest median loss, at US$766,000 per case (ACFE, 2024). The alleged manipulation of PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food Tbk’s 2017 financial statements showed that the food and beverage sub-sector was not immune to this risk. However, studies on early detection in this sub-sector remained limited, and prior research tested only one variable without a measurement model designed specifically for financial statement manipulation. This study aimed to analyze the effect of financial stability, profitability, and change in auditor, both partially and simultaneously, on fraudulent financial statements among food and beverage companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2021–2024. The study used a quantitative approach with secondary data from audited annual financial statements. Purposive sampling yielded 52 companies or 208 observations, which became 176 observations after outlier removal. The study measured fraudulent financial statements using the Beneish M-Score and analyzed the data using multiple linear regression in IBM SPSS 26. The results showed that financial stability had a significant positive effect on fraudulent financial statements, while profitability and change in auditor had no effect. Simultaneously, the three variables had a significant effect, with an Adjusted R² of 8.2%. These findings indicated that the demand to sustain asset growth acted as pressure on management to manipulate financial statements. Profitability had no effect, which showed that pressure from declining earnings did not trigger manipulation without opportunity and rationalization. Auditor changes reflected compliance with rotation regulations (POJK No. 9 of 2023) rather than a sign of fraud. The study concluded that auditors, companies, and regulators needed to monitor firms that aggressively pursued asset growth