Examining the factors affecting the whistleblowing intention of accounting professionals to reveal accounting frauds

Accounting frauds are among the most important problems faced by the business world. Whistleblowing is recognized as an important tool in revealing the frauds encountered in almost every business and ensuring internal control in organizations. Whistleblowing is very important in order to prevent accounting frauds occurring within the business or to fight against such frauds with less damage. Establishing whistleblowing procedures in an effective internal control system and making it functional among employees will provide businesses an advantage in combating fraud. In this context, the aim of this study is to examine the factors that shape the whistleblowing preferences of accounting employees by emphasizing the importance of whistleblowing in revealing accounting frauds. In addition, the relationship between demographic factors and whistleblowing intention was examined. Whistleblowing has a very important contribution as a means of preventing, detecting and correcting unethical and fraudulent behaviors in businesses. In this context, whistleblowing is a highly effective technique in revealing fraudulent activities in businesses, considering that even auditing techniques may sometimes be insufficient and this increases the importance of the study. The survey method was used to collect research data. The research universe is composed of accounting employees of companies operating in Istanbul. The sample of the study includes 100 accounting employees of corporate companies. Simple random sampling method was used in the selection of the sample. The answers given by the participants to the questions in the questionnaire form were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 statistical analysis program. Frequency distributions related to demographic information and whistleblowing perceptions of accounting employees participating in the survey were calculated. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis and correlation analysis were used to test the research hypotheses. The t-test was used to identify significant differences between the choices of reporting channels (internal and external channels). In addition, thematic analyzes were made for qualitative data. According to the research findings, it was determined that the reliability level of the scale "Examination of the factors affecting the whistleblowing intention of the employees" was Cronbach's alpha >0,70. Paired Samples Statistics t-test was performed to identify significant differences between the selection of reporting channels (internal and external channels). The results reveal a statistically significant difference between internal and external reporting channels (p=0.000<.001). In addition, when the average results in the analysis are examined, it is seen that the employees primarily prefer internal channels (M: 4.02). As a result of hierarchical regression analysis regarding the relationship between control and independent variables in insider whistleblowing, control variables show a significant relationship with the dependent variable, insider whistleblowing intentions (adjusted R2=.294, F= 14.757, p<0.01). The main effect variables, the full model is statistically significant and explains 46.5 percent of the variance (adjusted R2 =.465, F=11.251, p<0.01). According to the hierarchical regression analysis of the relationship between control and independent variables in external whistleblowing; control variables show a moderately significant relationship with the dependent variable, external whistleblowing intentions (adjusted R2 =.191, F= 8.816, p<0.01).In the main effect variables, the full model was statistically significant and explained 56.3% of the variance (adjusted R2=.563, F=22,239, p<0.01).