Financial reporting practices and sustainability of staff savings and credit cooperative societies in Uganda, a case of Uganda national roads authority SACCO.

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between financial reporting practices on the sustainability of UNRA SACCO in Uganda. The focus was guided by three specific objectives: to assess how faithful representation of financial information influences sustainability of UNRA SACCO, to analyze how timely financial reporting influences sustainability of UNRA SACCO and to evaluate how verifiability of financial records influences the sustainability of UNRA SACCO. The research was anchored on the Agency Theory by Jensen and Meckling (1976), which emphasizes accountability between managers and members, and the Stakeholder Theory, which stresses the importance of transparency and inclusiveness in meeting the expectations of diverse stakeholders. The study employed a descriptive and correlational research design. A sample size of 66 respondents was selected from UNRA SACCO using purposive and simple random sampling techniques to capture both management and member perspectives. Data was collected through structured questionnaires and key informant interviews, supported by documentary reviews. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics from SPSS (mean and standard deviation) and Pearson’s correlation analysis to test the hypotheses, while qualitative responses were thematically analyzed to supplement the findings. The findings revealed that results revealed that all three dimensions of financial reporting; faithful representation, timeliness, and verifiability, were positively and significantly correlated with the sustainability of UNRA SACCO, though with varying levels of strength. Faithful representation carried the strongest influence (r = 0.823, p