Objective - The purpose of this research is to empirically examine how company characteristics, corporate governance and audit quality affect earnings management.

Methodology/Technique - The population used for this research is manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange between 2013 and 2015. The sampling method used in this research is purposive sampling. 64 companies are examined, with 192 items of data being obtained.

Finding - This research also uses statistical testing through a multiple regression. The results show that return on assets, financial leverage, free cash flow, and sales growth all have an influence on earnings management. Meanwhile, other variables such as managerial ownership, institutional ownership, board size, the presence of an audit committee, firm size, and audit quality have no significant effect on earnings management.

Novelty - In this research, company characteristics are proxied with the return on assets, financial leverage, firm size, free cash flow, and sales growth, while corporate governance is proxied with managerial ownership, institutional ownership, board size, and the presence of an audit committee.

Type of Paper - Empirical.

Keywords: Company Characteristics; Corporate Governance; Audit Quality; Earnings Management; Agency Theory.

JEL Classification: M40, M41, M49.

URI: http://gatrenterprise.com/GATRJournals/AFR/vol4.2_2.html

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35609/afr.2019.4.2(2)

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