NPOs’ FS are an important source of information for various stakeholders (e.g.,
governments, donors, and volunteers). As argued by Yetman and Yetman (2012),
inaccurate FS can lead to suboptimal decisions and potential misallocation of
resources. In the current paper, I perform a digital analysis on Belgian NPOs’ FS in
order to assess the accuracy of the reported figures. Unlike prior studies, I do not
focus on one or more specific figures reported in the FS, rather I assess the overall
accuracy of the figures reported in the balance sheet and the income statement. This
is highly relevant, as it is very unlikely that all FS users focus on exactly the same
figure (e.g., the reported earnings figure) in NPOs’ FS. Overall, results based on the
full sample indicate that observed frequencies strongly conform to Benford’s Law
(and thus suggest a high degree of accuracy of reported FS figures). Nevertheless, I
note statistically significant deviations from Benford’s Law (both for the entire
distribution and at the individual digit level). The largest deviation is noted for
zeroes in the second position (i.e., a significantly positive deviation), which can be
explained based on humans’ reliance upon cognitive reference points. Considering
different sub-samples, I note that observed deviations from Benford’s Law are
largest for the smallest NPOs and those NPOs that rely most heavily on grants and/
or donations. As argued by Jegers (2013), contrary to the large amount of research
on FS quality of for-profits, the literature on FS quality of NPOs is rather scant.
Results obtained in the current study add to the literature on financial reporting
quality of NPOs and are therefore of interest to NPOs’ stakeholders. Reported
results are relevant for external FS auditors because they document a specific type of
financial reporting behavior that auditors should be aware of. While the observed
behavior might not be quantitatively material,19 it might affect FS users decisions
and thus be qualitatively material. If FS users only consider the first digit of reported
FS figures (as suggested by the psychological literature), the latter seems plausible.
Auditors should therefore be made aware of this phenomenon and its potential
impact on FS users’ decisions.