Assessing the efficacy of employee training and internal control system on financial management of small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria

Purpose The study assesses the efficacy of employee training and internal control system on financial management of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Abuja. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative approach using a structured questionnaire to sample respondents selected through stratified proportionate sampling, data were collected from managers/owners of SMEs in Abuja. Findings The result shows that employee training, control environment, information and communication and risk assessment have a significant and positive effect on financial management of SMEs. Control activities have a positive and insignificant effect on financial management of SMEs while monitoring activities has a negative and significant effect on financial management of SMEs. Practical implications The findings of this study will assist government and owner/managers to identify strategies relevant to SMEs financial management. More importantly, the empirical shreds of evidence revealed that employee training needs to be employed by SMEs' owners/managers to integrate, build, modify and reconfigure their internal control system towards achieving effective financial management. Originality/value Currently, no study has been found in the literature, which had been conducted on the relationships between these predictors (employee training and internal control system) on SMEs financial management. Similarly, no study has been conducted on the effects of an internal control system using the five dimensions of committee of sponsoring organization (COSO) altogether on financial management based on the currently available literature. Precisely, the study is designed to fill the aforementioned gaps.