Religiosity, Professional Ethics of Accountants and Financial Reporting Fraud

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of religiosity on financial reporting fraud by emphasizing the mediating role of accountants' professional ethics in Iran. The research variables were measured through a questionnaire. For this purpose, 400 questionnaires were distributed among the members of the official experts of accounting and auditing justice throughout Iran. Finally, 312 items were accepted for analysis. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses and Amos software was used for analysis. Findings showed that the religiosity of accountants has a negative and significant effect on financial reporting fraud and has a positive and significant effect on the professional ethics of accountants. Also, religiosity causes accountants to have a higher level of ethics, and this higher level of ethics is an effective factor in reducing financial reporting fraud by accountants, which shows the professional ethics of accountants, explains the relationship between their religiosity and reporting fraud.