Abstract

The availability of reports on the financial position of an organisation at a point in time and how well it has fared over a given period of time are vital information for its effective and efficient management. The accounting function has traditionally played a critical role in this regard as the framework for business reporting. Development of accounting has been observed to reside both within a social and historical context. This makes accounting information to be both passive and active. This paper investigates and reports on the influence of culture and cultural imperialism on the development and practice of business reporting in Nigeria. Questionnaire was designed to obtain data from a sample of two hundred and ten randomly selected respondents conversant with accounting matters. The data were analyzed using non-parametric Chi-square test, Kendall's W test and t-test. The results suggest that there is a significant relationship between culture and cultural imperialism and the development and practice of business reporting. In addition, it was found that colonial accounting culture intercepted the process of gradual development of local accounting practices and that the smooth implementation of International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) will face serious challenges due to differences in accounting needs of developing countries like Nigeria from those of developed countries.