In recent years, the Ministry of Finance has consistently strengthened financial and accounting supervision in alignment with China’s economic development stage and policy objectives. Financial and accounting supervision by the government serves a governance-oriented function. At the macro level, it regulates resource flows to achieve optimal allocation; at the micro level, it guides enterprise resource allocation decisions, enhances the efficiency of limited resource utilization, and ultimately affects corporate cost behavior.

The random inspection system of accounting information quality by the Ministry of Finance is an important practice of financial and accounting supervision. Based on manually collected inspection announcements and compiled data on non-compliant enterprises identified through this system, this paper empirically examines how financial and accounting supervision affects enterprise cost stickiness. The results show that financial and accounting supervision restrains enterprise cost stickiness, and this effect is mainly achieved through two paths: reducing agency costs and suppressing the management’s optimistic expectations. Further analysis indicates that this effect is more significant among enterprises that have a positive attitude towards rectification, disclose specific amounts, are non-state-owned, and have a high risk of default.

This paper has the following contributions: First, it explores the role of financial and accounting supervision as an institutional force in addressing the cost rigidity of enterprises, expanding the research perspective of enterprise cost stickiness and identifying institutional paths for optimizing the cost structure of enterprises. Second, it conducts a quasi-natural experiment based on the random inspection system of accounting information quality by the Ministry of Finance, providing a new basis for the government to guide enterprises to make rational use of resources and regulate market behaviors. Third, it systematically reveals the micro path through which financial and accounting supervision affects corporate cost decision-making, which not only helps to understand how financial and accounting supervision functions, but also helps the government identify key risk points of enterprises.

The policy suggestions are as follows: First, promote financial and accounting supervision and enhance government governance capabilities. Second, improve corporate governance mechanisms and strengthen the supervision and restraint of the management. Third, create a favorable government regulatory environment and promote high-quality development of enterprises.