<![CDATA[The practice of financial reporting manipulation remains a crucial issue as it potentially distorts earnings quality, triggers information asymmetry, and undermines stakeholders' investment decisions. This study aims to analyze the effect of book-tax difference and liquidity pressure on earnings management, as well as examine the moderating role of the audit committee in the healthcare sector listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2019–2023. This quantitative research utilizes secondary data from 21 companies selected via purposive sampling, yielding 105 panel data observations. Data were analyzed using the common effect model and moderated regression analysis. The results prove that the book-tax difference has a positive and significant effect on earnings management, indicating substantial managerial discretion in exploiting accounting and tax gaps. Conversely, liquidity pressure has no significant effect on earnings management due to operational cash flow stability in the healthcare sector during the pandemic and recovery periods. Moderation testing shows that the audit committee is unable to moderate the effects of both independent variables on earnings management due to suboptimal supervisory functions. These findings emphasize the importance of strengthening the audit committee's independence and substantive competence to constrain opportunistic managerial behavior in corporate financial reporting sustainably. ABSTRAK Praktik manipulasi pelaporan keuangan masih menjadi isu krusial karena berpotensi mendistorsi kualitas laba, memicu asimetri informasi, dan merugikan keputusan investasi pemangku kepentingan. Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis pengaruh book-tax difference dan tekanan likuiditas terhadap manajemen laba serta menguji peran moderasi komite audit pada sektor kesehatan di Bursa Efek Indonesia periode 2019–2023. Penelitian kuantitatif ini menggunakan data sekunder dari 21 perusahaan yang dipilih melalui teknik purposive sampling sehingga menghasilkan 105 observasi data panel. Analisis data dilakukan dengan common effect model dan moderated regression analysis. Hasil penelitian membuktikan bahwa book-tax difference berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap manajemen laba, mengindikasikan tingginya diskresi manajerial dalam memanfaatkan celah akuntansi dan perpajakan. Sebaliknya, tekanan likuiditas tidak berpengaruh signifikan terhadap manajemen laba karena stabilitas arus kas operasional sektor kesehatan selama masa pandemi dan pemulihan. Pengujian moderasi menunjukkan komite audit tidak mampu memoderasi pengaruh kedua variabel independen terhadap manajemen laba akibat fungsi pengawasan yang belum optimal. Temuan ini menegaskan pentingnya penguatan independensi serta kompetensi substantif komite audit guna menekan perilaku oportunistik manajemen dalam pelaporan keuangan perusahaan secara berkelanjutan. ]]>
