Accounting conservatism: Does business strategy and investment level matter?

This study aims to contribute to the ongoing debate over accounting conservatism through examining whether the corporate strategy can provide a logical justification for the conservatism, and whether this justification is consistent with or contradicts the contractual justification. In this context, the study examines the impact of corporate strategy on the level of conservatism in financial statements, and the impact of the level of conservatism on corporate investment level. Using data from a sample of non-financial Saudi listed companies, the results show that prospector companies are more likely to provide more conservative financial statements, and the level of conservatism influences investment level. The results also show that the integration between corporate strategy and the level of conservatism influence the level of investment. These results suggest that accounting conservatism can be explained in the context of both business strategy and contractual benefits. Also, the results imply that adopting business strategy could influence the financial reporting process.