IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT ON AUDIT QUALITY OF LISTED PAINT MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Information Technology deployment provides organizations with insights into the effectiveness of their information systems, helping to align technology with business objectives and regulatory requirements for effective audit quality. The study, therefore, examined the impact of information technology deployment on audit quality of paint manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. This study employed ex-post facto research design. The population of the study comprised all the 15 listed paint manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria listed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) as at the end of year 2024. Purposive sampling technique was adopted to make sample size of seven (7) paint manufacturing firms in the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX). Secondary data were used to collect information from each sampled paint manufacturing firms in Lagos state, Nigeria. The secondary data were sourced from the financial statement and annual report of the selected paint manufacturing firms to obtain information about the companies between 2015 and 2024 (10 years). The methods of data analyses used in this study was inferential statistics (panel regression analysis) Panel regression showed that information and communication technology software (p=0.0020), information and communication technology hardware (p=0.0269), and information technology expertise (p=0.0076) were significant in explaining the variation in audit quality of paint manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. Based on the findings from the study, it was concluded that information technology deployment has positive and significant effect on audit quality of paint manufacturing firms in Lagos State, Nigeria. The study recommends that paint manufacturing firms should continue to invest in state-of-the art ICT hardware, ensuring that their technological infrastructure is up-to-date and capable of supporting advanced audit processes.