The Auditor's Consideration of the Going Concern Assumption: A Diagnostic Model

1995 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Cormier ◽  
Michel Magnan ◽  
Bernard Morard

A central tenet of audited financial statements is the assumption that the reporting firm will remain in business for the foreseeable future, that is, it is a going concern. However, recent years have seen a wave of highly visible corporate failures that have greatly reduced investors' confidence in auditors' work. This paper develops a tool to evaluate the going concern risk of an audit client, within the risk analysis framework suggested by the auditing literature. The study is innovative along four dimensions. First, new developments in financial statement analysis research are applied to auditing. Second, in addition to quantitative indicators reflecting trends in financial statements, the model also includes qualitative corporate governance characteristics suggested by current audit practice. Third, the concept of going concern failure is broadened and is not restricted to legal bankruptcy. Finally, complementary multivariate classification techniques, logit, linear discriminant analysis, and recursive partitioning are used to provide predictive and interpretative guidance to auditors. Results suggest that a systematic interpretation of financial statements and an evaluation of investment and accounting decisions made by managers would allow auditors to classify firms before the advent of any economic loss. Furthermore, some ratios provide consistent signals about going concern failures. Implications about audit work are then discussed.

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Niamh M. Brennan

ABSTRACT This case helps students understand the challenging decisions faced by a company's board of directors (i.e., survival of the company) and the legal risks directors experience when business fails. The case is based on actual court proceedings involving a company's liquidator taking legal action to restrict the tenure of the directors. Key judgments facing the directors and disputed by the liquidator include the valuation of financial statement assets and the preparation of the financial statements on a going-concern basis. The case also addresses directors' relationships with the company's external auditor/advisors. Students are asked to consider whether the directors acted responsibly in relation to their stewardship of the company and whether the directors should be held accountable and sanctioned following the company's collapse. The case adopts a novel courtroom setting, requiring students to role-play by adopting the characters and presenting the plaintiff's and defendants' lawyers' arguments, and the judges deciding the case.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7942
Author(s):  
Diana da Silva ◽  
Danie Schutte ◽  
Jhalukpreya Surujlal

Purpose: The main purpose of this article is to study the IFRS implications of COVID-19 for selected travel and leisure companies listed on the JSE. The article investigates how these selected companies disclose financial information regarding the going concern, or in other words; the sustainability of the company, revenue of the company, how the companies made estimations, and more, to account for the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their financial information. Design/methodology/approach: content analysis was used to analyse the financial statements of ten travel and leisure companies listed on the JSE. This analysis indicated what additional disclosures these companies have in the light of COVID-19. Findings: even though there is no specific IFRS standard providing guidance on the impact of COVID-19, the findings reveal that the companies took utmost care in disclosing information and the impact of COVID-19 in the financial statements. Companies cautiously considered the impact of the coronavirus on their financial results and provided the users of these financial statements with transparent financial information, regarding going concern and sustainability of the company, revenue, estimations, and more. Originality/value: a new economic crisis, different from any other economic crises, emerged as a result of COVID-19 and the IFRS implications such as, the effect on sustainability and going concern, impact on revenue of companies, financial estimations during the coronavirus pandemic, the effect of COVID-19 on the financial subsequent events and other financial statement disclosures is still unclear. This study is deemed of vital importance as the users of financial statements require all the necessary information about how COVID-19 has affected these companies, and whether or not these companies will be sustainable in the foreseeable future, as to enable the financial statement users to make informed financial decisions.


Author(s):  
Tammie J Schaefer ◽  
Veena L Brown ◽  
Matthew S. Ege ◽  
Noel Harding ◽  
Dana R. Hermanson ◽  
...  

We commend the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (the Board) on its efforts to determine “whether the auditing standards related to fraud and going concern need to be updated to reflect the rapidly evolving external reporting landscape.” We especially commend the Board on the timeliness of the call for input into these issues in that there is sufficient time to conduct research to further inform questions raised in the Discussion Paper and the questions that will inevitably arise as deliberations continue and progress is made on the project. We note below insights from the extant research literature as they relate to the questions posed in the Discussion Paper, but there remain many unanswered questions. We believe that many members of the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association stand ready to work with the Board and other stakeholders to inform deliberations in this area.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Tien Hung ◽  
Huynh Van Sau

The study was conducted to identify fraudulent financial statements at listed companies (DNNY) on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) through the Triangular Fraud Platform This is a test of VSA 240. At the same time, the conformity assessment of this model in the Vietnamese market. The results show that the model is based on two factors: the ratio of sales to total assets and return on assets; an Opportunity Factor (Education Level); and two factors Attitude (change of independent auditors and opinion of independent auditors). This model is capable of accurately forecasting more than 78% of surveyed sample businesses and nearly 72% forecasts for non-research firms.  Keywords Triangle fraud, financial fraud report, VSA 240 References Nguyễn Tiến Hùng & Võ Hồng Đức (2017), “Nhận diện gian lận báo cáo tài chính: Bằng chứng thực nghiệm tại các doanh nghiệp niêm yết ở Việt Nam”, Tạp chí Công Nghệ Ngân Hàng, số 132 (5), tr. 58-72.[2]. Hà Thị Thúy Vân (2016), “Thủ thuật gian lận trong lập báo cáo tài chính của các công ty niêm yết”, Tạp chí tài chính, kỳ 1, tháng 4/2016 (630). [3]. Cressey, D. R. (1953). Other people's money; a study of the social psychology of embezzlement. New York, NY, US: Free Press.[4]. Bộ Tài Chính Việt Nam, (2012). Chuẩn mực kiểm toán Việt Nam số 240 – Trách nhiệm của kiểm toán viên đối với gian lận trong kiểm toán báo cáo tài chính. [5]. Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of financial economics, 3(4), 305-360.[6]. Võ Hồng Đức & Phan Bùi Gia Thủy (2014), Quản trị công ty: Lý thuyết và cơ chế kiểm soát, Ấn bản lần 1, Tp.HCM, Nxb Thanh Niên.[7]. Freeman, R. E. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Boston: Pitman independence on corporate fraud. Managerial Finance 26 (11): 55-67.[9]. Skousen, C. J., Smith, K. R., & Wright, C. J. (2009). Detecting and predicting financial statement fraud: The effectiveness of the fraud triangle and SAS No. 99. Available at SSRN 1295494.[10]. Lou, Y. I., & Wang, M. L. (2011). Fraud risk factor of the fraud triangle assessing the likelihood of fraudulent financial reporting. Journal of Business and Economics Research (JBER), 7(2).[11]. Perols, J. L., & Lougee, B. A. (2011). The relation between earnings management and financial statement fraud. Advances in Accounting, 27(1), 39-53.[12]. Trần Thị Giang Tân, Nguyễn Trí Tri, Đinh Ngọc Tú, Hoàng Trọng Hiệp và Nguyễn Đinh Hoàng Uyên (2014), “Đánh giá rủi ro gian lận báo cáo tài chính của các công ty niêm yết tại Việt Nam”, Tạp chí Phát triển kinh tế, số 26 (1) tr.74-94.[13]. Kirkos, E., Spathis, C., & Manolopoulos, Y. (2007). Data mining techniques for the detection of fraudulent financial statements. Expert Systems with Applications, 32(4), 995-1003.[14]. Amara, I., Amar, A. B., & Jarboui, A. (2013). Detection of Fraud in Financial Statements: French Companies as a Case Study. International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, 3(3), 40-51.[15]. Beasley, M. S. (1996). An empirical analysis of the relation between the board of director composition and financial statement fraud. Accounting Review, 443-465.[16]. Beneish, M. D. (1999). The detection of earnings manipulation. Financial Analysts Journal, 55(5), 24-36.[17]. Persons, O. S. (1995). Using financial statement data to identify factors associated with fraudulent financial reporting. Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 11(3), 38-46.[18]. Summers, S. L., & Sweeney, J. T. (1998). Fraudulently misstated financial statements and insider trading: An empirical analysis. Accounting Review, 131-146.[19]. Dechow, P. M., Sloan, R. G., & Sweeney, A. P. (1996). Causes and consequences of earnings manipulation: An analysis of firms subject to enforcement actions by the SEC. Contemporary accounting research, 13(1), 1-36.[20]. Loebbecke, J. K., Eining, M. M., & Willingham, J. J. (1989). Auditors experience with material irregularities – Frequency, nature, and detectability. Auditing – A journal of practice and Theory, 9(1), 1-28. [21]. Abbott, L. J., Park, Y., & Parker, S. (2000). The effects of audit committee activity and independence on corporate fraud. Managerial Finance, 26(11), 55-68.[22]. Farber, D. B. (2005). Restoring trust after fraud: Does corporate governance matter?. The Accounting Review, 80(2), 539-561.[23]. Stice, J. D. (1991). Using financial and market information to identify pre-engagement factors associated with lawsuits against auditors. Accounting Review, 516-533.[24]. Beasley, M. S., Carcello, J. V., & Hermanson, D. R. (1999). COSO's new fraud study: What it means for CPAs. Journal of Accountancy, 187(5), 12.[25]. Neter, J., Wasserman, W., & Kutner, M. H. (1990). Applied statistical models.Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Burr Ridge, IL.[26]. Gujarati, D. N. (2009). Basic econometrics. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.[27]. McFadden, D. (1974). Conditional Logit Analysis of Qualita-tive Choice Behavior," in Frontiers in Econometrics, P. Zarenm-bka, ed. New York: Academic Press, 105-42.(1989). A Method of Simulated Moments for Estimation of Discrete Response Models Without Numerical Integration," Econometrica, 54(3), 1027-1058.[28]. DA Cohen, ADey, TZ Lys. (2008), “Accrual-Based Earnings Management in the Pre-and Post-Sarbanes-Oxley Periods”. The accounting review.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-44
Author(s):  
Mariati ◽  
Emmy Indrayani

Company’s financial condition reflected in the financial statements. However, there are many loopholes in the financial statements which can become a chance for the management and certain parties to commit fraud on the financial statements. This study aims to detect financial statement fraud as measured using fraud score model that occurred in issuers entered into the LQ-45 index in 2014-2016 with the use of six independent variables are financial stability, external pressure, financial target, nature of industry, ineffective monitoring and rationalization. This study using 27 emiten of LQ-45 index during 2014-2016. However, there are some data outlier that shall be removed, thus sample results obtained 66 data from 25 companies. Multiple linear regression analysis were used in this study. The results showed that the financial stability variables (SATA), nature of industry (RECEIVBLE), ineffective monitoring (IND) and rationalization (ITRENDLB) proved to be influential or have the capability to detect financial statement fraud. While the external pressure variables (DER) and financial target (ROA) are not able to detect the existence of financial statement fraud. Simultaneously all variables in this study were able to detect significantly financial statement fraud.


2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-85
Author(s):  
Lasminisih ◽  
Emmy Indrayani

Company financial statement can be used to monitor the performance of a company. Financial statements are also used as a means for decision making so that the company can anticipate future plans. The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) and Return on Assets (ROA) on profit changes percentage of Banking Companies. The number of sample companies used in this study was 27 Banks listed in the Indonesia Stock Exchange with observation periods from 2007 to 2008. The method used in this study was multiple regression. The results of this study have indicated that CAR, LDR, and ROA gave significant effects on changes in Banks profit so that Banking Companies performances can be measured. Keywords: CAR, LDR, ROA, Profit


2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 641-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pepa Kraft

ABSTRACT I examine a dataset of both quantitative (hard) adjustments to firms' reported U.S. GAAP financial statement numbers and qualitative (soft) adjustments to firms' credit ratings that Moody's develops and uses in its credit rating process. I first document differences between firms' reported and Moody's adjusted numbers that are both large and frequent across firms. For example, primarily because of upward adjustments to interest expense and debt attributable to firms' off-balance sheet debt, on average, adjusted coverage (cash flow-to-debt) ratios are 27 percent (8 percent) lower and adjusted leverage ratios are 70 percent higher than the corresponding U.S. GAAP ratios. I then find that Moody's hard and soft rating adjustments are associated with significantly higher credit spreads and flatter credit spread term structures. Overall, the results indicate that Moody's quantitative adjustments to financial statement numbers and qualitative adjustments to credit ratings enable it to better capture default risk, consistent with it effectively processing both hard and soft information.


2014 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 2115-2149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Czerney ◽  
Jaime J. Schmidt ◽  
Anne M. Thompson

ABSTRACT According to auditing standards, explanatory language added at the auditor's discretion to unqualified audit reports should not indicate increased financial misstatement risk. However, an auditor is unlikely to add language that would strain the auditor-client relationship absent concerns about the client's financial statements. Using a sample of 30,825 financial statements issued with unqualified audit opinions during 2000–2009, we find that financial statements with audit reports containing explanatory language are significantly more likely to be subsequently restated than financial statements without such language. We find that this positive association is driven by language that references the division of responsibility for performance of the audit, adoption of new accounting principles, and previous restatements. In addition, we find that (1) “emphasis of matter” language that discusses mergers, related-party transactions, and management's use of estimates predicts restatements related to these matters, and that (2) the financial statement accounts noted in the explanatory language typically correspond to the accounts subsequently restated. In sum, our results suggest that present-day audit reports communicate some information about financial reporting quality.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Bédard ◽  
Carl Brousseau ◽  
Ann Vanstraelen

SUMMARY Using a “natural experiment” provided by a change in Canadian auditing standards requiring an emphasis of matter paragraph in the auditor's report (GC-EOM) when the financial statements include a going concern uncertainty disclosure (GC-FS), this paper examines the incremental investor reaction to the auditor's report over the related GC-FS. Conditioning on the linguistic severity of the GC-FS (weak and severe), we first document a negative price response to severe but not to weak GC-FS before the regulatory change. This implies that investors react to financial statement disclosures and account for their degree of interpretability in the absence of a GC-EOM. When the uncertainty disclosure is accompanied by a GC-EOM, we find incremental negative abnormal returns and lower abnormal trading volume only for weak GC-FS. Collectively, these findings imply that an emphasis of matter paragraph in the auditor's report can have incremental value to investors. JEL Classifications: M42; G12; G14. Data Availability: Data used are available from public sources identified in the study.


2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Robert Knechel ◽  
Jeff L. Payne

The process for providing accounting information to the public has not changed much in the last century even though the extent of disclosure has increased signifi-cantly. Sundem et al. (1996) suggest that the primary benefit of audited financial statements may not be decision usefulness but the discipline imposed by timely confirmation of previously available information. In general, the value of information from the audited financial statement will decline as the audit report lag (the time period between a company's fiscal year end and the date of the audit report) increases since competitively oriented users may obtain substitute sources of information. Furthermore, the literature on earnings quality and earnings management suggests that unexpected reporting delays may be associated with lower quality information. The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding about the determinants of audit report lag using a proprietary database containing 226 audit engagements from an international public accounting firm. We examine three previously uninvestigated audit firm factors that potentially influence audit report lag and are controllable by the auditor: (1) incremental audit effort (e.g., hours), (2) the resource allocation of audit team effort measured by rank (partner, manager, or staff), and (3) the provision of nonaudit services (MAS and tax). The results indicate that incremental audit effort, the presence of contentious tax issues, and the use of less experienced audit staff are positively correlated with audit report lag. Further, audit report lag is decreased by the potential synergistic relationship between MAS and audit services.


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