Accounting Competencies and Financial Reporting Performance of Micro Cooperatives in Butuan City, Philippines

Micro cooperatives play a vital role in local economic development, yet a significant number struggle with financial management and reporting compliance. This study assessed the accounting competencies and financial reporting performance — measured through transparency and quality — of 84 registered micro cooperatives in Butuan City, Philippines. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, 140 respondents (70 technical personnel and 70 management officials) participated in a structured survey, supplemented by semi-structured interviews with 25 key informants. Descriptive statistics, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation (PPMC), and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed. Results revealed that respondents rated accounting competencies as "Highly Competent" (overall mean: 4.234), financial reporting transparency as "Highly Transparent" (overall mean: 4.308), and financial reporting quality as "Excellent Quality" (overall mean: 4.298). Strong positive correlations were found between accounting competencies and both financial reporting transparency (r = 0.819–0.951, p < 0.05) and quality (r = 0.872–0.959, p < 0.05). No significant differences in reporting quality were found across organizational and operational profiles (p > 0.05). Qualitative findings revealed challenges including insufficient technical skills in financial statement analysis, workload pressures, documentation gaps, and limited stakeholder accessibility of reports. The study proposes the C.A.R.E. (Competency, Accountability, Reporting Quality, Engagement) Strategic Framework to guide targeted capacity-building, digitalization, and policy reforms for micro cooperative financial governance.

Accounting Competencies, Financial Reporting Quality, Financial Reporting Transparency, Micro Cooperatives, Philippines

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