Receivable Growth, Margin Pressure, and Accrual Red Flags: An EViews-Based Beneish M-Score Study of Electronic and Digital Media Firms

Abstract

This study examined earnings manipulation risk in electronic and digital media firms by applying the Beneish M-Score to 171 firm-year observations from 57 coded companies during 2023-2025. The analysis used EViews-oriented procedures covering descriptive statistics, panel workfile structuring, formula validation, multicollinearity diagnostics, and binary logistic regression. The findings showed that 58 observations, or 33.92%, were classified as probable manipulators, while the annual flag rate decreased from 38.60% in 2023 to 28.07% in 2025. The average M-Score was -2.3837, indicating that the sample as a whole was below the conventional manipulation threshold, although selected firm-years exhibited material red-flag intensity. The parsimonious logit model indicated that DSRI, GMI, SGI, and TATA were significant predictors of the fraud-risk dummy. The study contributes a practical early-warning screening framework for governance actors, auditors, investors, and regulators monitoring technology-intensive business sectors