Accounting Information System and Performance of Listed Consumer Goods Firms in Nigeria

Despite the increasing adoption of accounting information systems, many listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria still face poor financial performance. Inefficient utilization and high costs of these systems have continued to affect firms' ability to improve returns and operational efficiency. The study examined the effect of accounting information system on firm performance of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. The specific objective was to examine the effect of adoption of accounting information system, cost of accounting information system, amortization of accounting information system and intensity of accounting information system on the return on asset of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. The study was anchored on the Resource-Based View (RBV). Ex-post facto research design was adopted in the study. The population comprised a total of 20 listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used to determine a sample size of 15 firms. The study used secondary data which were sourced from the published annual reports of the firms over a ten year period spanning 2015-2024. Descriptive and correlational analyses were used to summarise the data. Model diagnostics was conducted using panel heteroskedasticity tests and cross-sectional dependence test. The hypotheses were tested using panel estimated generalised least squares at 5% significance level. The findings revealed that: the adoption of accounting information systems has a positive and significant effect on return on assets of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria (β = 0.1836; p = 0.0023); the cost of accounting information systems has a negative and significant effect on return on assets of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria (β = -0.0309; p = 0.0117); the amortization of accounting information systems has a positive but non-significant effect on return on assets of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria (β = 0.0023; p = 0.5631); the intensity of accounting information system usage has a negative and significant effect on return on assets of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria (β = -1.9145; p = 0.0340). In conclusion, improvements in firm performance depend not only on having accounting information system, but also on how efficiently it is financed, implemented, and integrated into the firm's operations. The study recommends that management should accelerate the integration of AIS into core business processes and provide staff with specialized training to fully leverage its decision-support capabilities. This ensures that adoption translates into measurable performance gains.