Financial Management Practices and the Sustainability of Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper develops an evidence-informed framework for investigating how budgeting, bookkeeping, cash-flow forecasting, account separation, owner financial literacy and digital transaction reconciliation may relate to the sustainability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lagos State, Nigeria. A critical comparison of published Nigerian empirical studies is used to establish the research gap: although individual studies associate financial literacy, accounting arrangements or digital readiness withssss selected business outcomes, consistent measures of near-term liquidity and business continuity, together with joint adjustment for firm characteristics and access to finance, remain insufficiently addressed. National institutional reports (PwC, EFInA and the World Bank) are used for contextual evidence, not as Lagos-specific estimates. The manuscript is an evidence-informed conceptual study with a fully specified prospective mixed-methods protocol; it reports no original survey, interview or hypothesis-test results. A proposed stratified survey and interviews would operationalize financial management practices and assess four preregistered hypotheses using multivariable, ordinal and logistic regression, subject to piloting and a final power calculation. The framework distinguishes access to finance from its effective management and discusses measurement validity, sampling bias and reverse causality. Policy implications prioritize verifiable records, cash planning and evaluations of practical financial-capability support.