<![CDATA[This study examines the effect of cash holding, leverage, and audit committee effectiveness (ACE) on financial distress in Food and Beverage (F&B) sub-sector companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) and Bursa Malaysia for the 2022–2024 period. The research is motivated by economic instability following the Covid-19 pandemic which significantly impacted F&B companies in both countries, alongside inconsistencies in prior research findings. Agency Theory and Trade-Off Theory serve as the theoretical basis. A quantitative approach with secondary data from company annual reports is employed. The population consisted of 100 companies (78 BEI and 22 Bursa Malaysia), with a final sample of 88 companies or 264 observations selected through purposive sampling. Financial distress is measured using the Altman Z''-Score model (Z'' < 2.6 as the distress threshold). Data analysis used binary logistic regression via SPSS v.25. Results show: (1) cash holding has a significant negative effect on financial distress; (2) leverage has a significant positive effect on financial distress; (3) audit committee effectiveness measured by meeting frequency has no significant effect on financial distress; and (4) simultaneously, the three variables significantly affect financial distress with a Nagelkerke R Square of 50.2% and model prediction accuracy of 84.5%.]]>
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