What Is Going Concern?Going concern is an accounting term for a company that has the resources needed to continue operating indefinitely until it provides evidence to the contrary. This term also refers to a company's ability to make enough money to stay afloat or to avoid bankruptcy. If a business is not a going concern, it means it's gone bankrupt and its assets were liquidated. As an example, many dot-coms are no longer going concern companies after the tech bust in the late 1990s. Show
Key Takeaways
Going ConcernUnderstanding Going ConcernAccountants use going concern principles to decide what types of reporting should appear on financial statements. Companies that are a going concern may defer reporting long-term assets at current value or liquidating value, but rather at cost. A company remains a going concern when the sale of assets does not impair its ability to continue operation, such as the closure of a small branch office that reassigns the employees to other departments within the company. Accountants who view a company as a going concern generally believe a firm uses its assets wisely and does not have to liquidate anything. Accountants may also employ going concern principles to determine how a company should proceed with any sales of assets, reduction of expenses, or shifts to other products. Going concern is not included in the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) but is included in the generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). Red Flags Indicating a Business Is Not a Going ConcernCertain red flags may appear on financial statements of publicly traded companies that may indicate a business will not be a going concern in the future. Listing of long-term assets normally does not appear in a company's quarterly statements or as a line item on balance sheets. Listing the value of long-term assets may indicate a company plans to sell these assets. A firm's inability to meet its obligations without substantial restructuring or selling of assets may also indicate it is not a going concern. If a company acquires assets during a time of restructuring, it may plan to resell them later. Going Concern ConditionsAccounting standards try to determine what a company should disclose on its financial statements if there are doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern. In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board determined financial statements should reveal the conditions that support an entity's substantial doubt that it can continue as a going concern. Statements should also show management's interpretation of the conditions and management's future plans. In general, an auditor examines a company's financial statements to see if it can continue as a going concern for one year following the time of an audit. Conditions that lead to substantial doubt about a going concern include negative trends in operating results, continuous losses from one period to the next, loan defaults, lawsuits against a company, and denial of credit by suppliers. It is essential that candidates preparing for the Audit and Assurance (AA) exam understand the respective responsibilities of auditors and management regarding going concern. This article discusses these responsibilities, as well as the indicators that could highlight where an entity may not be a going concern, and the reporting aspects relating to going concern. Candidates attempting AA will need to have a sound understanding of the concept of going concern. Among other syllabus requirements, candidates must ensure they are aware of the respective responsibilities of auditors and management regarding going concern. The provisions in ISA 570, Going Concern deal with the auditor’s responsibilities in relation to management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements. The concept of going concernAn entity prepares financial statements on a going concern basis when, under the going concern assumption, the entity is viewed as continuing in business for the foreseeable future. The term ‘foreseeable future’ is not defined within ISA 570, but IAS 1®, Presentation of Financial Statements deems the foreseeable future to be a period of at least 12 months from the end of the reporting period. The concept of going concern is an underlying assumption in the preparation of financial statements, hence it is assumed that the entity has neither the intention, nor the need, to liquidate or curtail materially the scale of its operations. If management conclude that the entity has no alternative but to liquidate or curtail materially the scale of its operations, the going concern basis cannot be used and the financial statements must be prepared on a different basis (such as the ‘break-up’ basis). Management’s responsibilityThe concept of going concern is particularly relevant in times of economic difficulties and in some situations management may determine that a profitable company may not be a going concern, for example because of significant cash flow difficulties. It is important that candidates understand that it is the responsibility of management to make an assessment of whether the use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate, or not, when they are preparing the financial statements. In order to conclude as to whether, or not, an entity is able to continue in business for the foreseeable future, management will have to make judgments on various uncertain future outcomes of events or conditions. ISA 570 outlines three factors that are relevant and which management must take into consideration when determining whether, or not, an entity can prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis:
A past exam question, for eight marks, required candidates to: ‘Identify any potential indicators that the company is not a going concern and describe why these could impact upon the ability of the company to continue trading on a going concern basis.’ The scenario presented to candidates gave an abundance of warning signals that management’s assessment of going concern may not be appropriate in the circumstances. These warnings signals were:
In the AA exam, candidates must be able to identify factors that may have an impact on an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The factors described above are not exhaustive and there are many other indicators that an entity may not be a going concern, such as:
If there are any material uncertainties relating to the going concern assumption, then management must make adequate going concern disclosures in the financial statements. Auditor’s responsibilitiesAs mentioned earlier, it is not the auditor’s responsibility to determine whether, or not, an entity can prepare its financial statements using the going concern basis of accounting; this is the responsibility of management. The auditor’s responsibility under ISA 570 is to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence about the appropriateness of management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements, and to conclude whether there is a material uncertainty about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. In the AA exam candidates may be required to describe the audit procedures that the auditor should perform in assessing whether or not a company is a going concern. When faced with such a requirement, candidates must be careful not to produce a list of generic audit procedures, but instead identify and highlight the factors from the scenario that may call into question the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. Once these factors have been identified, candidates should then be able to think about the procedures the auditor may adopt to establish whether the factors mean the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate in the circumstances, or not. Candidates should generate the audit procedures specifically from information contained in the scenario to demonstrate application skills Jasmine Co in the September/December 2018 Sample exam demonstrates this approach. Many candidates fall into the trap of relying on ‘discussions with management/directors’ and ‘obtaining a written representation’. Candidates must appreciate that while discussion/inquiry is a valid audit procedure under ISA 500, Audit Evidence, such a procedure is always used in addition to other procedures – in other words, inquiry on its own will not generate sufficient appropriate audit evidence. Similarly ISA 580, Written Representations recognises that while written representations do provide necessary audit evidence, they do not provide sufficient appropriate audit evidence on their own about any of the matters with which they deal. Other procedures that the auditor may adopt to establish whether the use of the going concern basis of accounting is appropriate in an entity’s particular circumstances could be:
ReportingAn important point to emphasise at the outset is that candidates are strongly advised not to use the ‘scattergun’ approach when it comes to deciding on the audit opinion to be expressed within the auditor’s report. This is where a candidate explores all possible options rather than coming to a conclusion as to the auditor’s opinion, depending on the circumstances presented in the question. There are three situations that ISA 570 identifies in terms of the use of the going concern basis of accounting:
Use of the going concern assumption is appropriate but a material uncertainty exists A reporting entity that considers the going concern basis of accounting to be appropriate, but still has a material uncertainty present will have to make disclosure of the fact in the financial statements that there are uncertain future transactions/events that may result in the entity being unable to continue in business in the foreseeable future. The auditor will consider the adequacy of the disclosures made in the financial statements by management. If the auditor considers that the going concern basis is appropriate and that the disclosures are adequate, then the audit opinion will be unmodified and the auditor’s report will include a section headed ‘Material Uncertainty Related to Going Concern’ which explains the uncertainty. The Material Uncertainty Related to Going Concern section will follow the Basis for Opinion paragraph and will cross-reference to the relevant disclosure in the financial statements. It will also state that the auditor’s opinion is not modified in respect of this matter. If the auditor concludes that the disclosures are inadequate, or if management have not made any disclosure at all and management refuse to remedy the situation, the opinion will be qualified or adverse. In both cases a paragraph explaining the basis for the qualified or adverse opinion will be included after the opinion paragraph and the opinion paragraph will be qualified ‘except for’ or express an adverse opinion. Use of the going concern basis of accounting is inappropriateConsider the following example: An entity has borrowings of $10m which became immediately repayable in full on 31 March 20X2. The entity is already in breach of its agreed overdraft and the bank has refused to renew the borrowings. The entity has also been unsuccessful in applying to other financial institutions for re-financing. It is highly unlikely that the entity will be successful in renewing or re-financing the $10m borrowings and, in such an event, the directors will have no alternative but to cease to trade. The bank have already indicated that they are shortly going to commence legal proceedings to force the company to cease trading and sell off its assets to generate funds to pay off some of the borrowings. In order to avoid the entity’s credit rating suffering any further decline, the directors have refused to make disclosures in the financial statements and have prepared the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 20X2 on the going concern basis. In this example it is clear that the going concern basis is inappropriate in the entity’s circumstances. The directors have no realistic alternative but to liquidate in order to raise funds to pay back the bank and the bank have already confirmed that they will commence legal proceedings to force the entity into selling off assets to raise finance to repay their borrowings. In this instance the auditor would issue an adverse opinion. An adverse opinion states that the financial statements do not present fairly (or give a true and fair view). This opinion will be expressed regardless of whether or not the financial statements include disclosure of the inappropriateness of management’s use of the going concern basis of accounting. Management unwilling to make or extend its assessmentThere are situations that may arise when the auditor may request management to make an assessment, or extend their original assessment of going concern. If management refuse to make, or extend, an assessment of going concern the auditor will consider the implications for the report. ConclusionGoing concern is an important syllabus area for AA and candidates attempting the exam must ensure they are familiar with the requirements of the syllabus. This article has covered management’s responsibility, the auditor’s responsibility, indicators that an entity may not be a going concern and the reporting aspects relating to going concern. Candidates need to be aware that the syllabus also requires them to:
Candidates are therefore encouraged to practise as many exam standard questions as possible as the syllabus offers a variety of ways in which the concept of going concern can be examined. Written by a member of the Audit and Assurance examining team When the auditor concludes that there is substantial doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time the auditor should?If the auditor believes there is substantial doubt about the entity's ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time, he should (1) obtain information about management's plans that are intended to mitigate the effect of such conditions or events, and (2) assess the likelihood that such plans can ...
When there is substantial doubt about a company's ability to remain a going concern?Substantial doubt about an entity's ability to continue as a going concern exists when conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, indicate that it is probable that the entity will be unable to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued (or ...
When an auditor has concluded there is substantial doubt?If the auditor concludes there is substantial doubt, he should (1) consider the adequacy of disclosure about the entity's possible inability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time, and (2) include an explanatory paragraph (following the opinion paragraph) in his audit report to reflect his ...
What become auditor consideration when making decision about substantial doubt about going concern?Opinion – Emphasis of Matter Regarding Going Concern
If the auditor concludes that there is substantial doubt concerning the company's ability to continue as a going concern, an emphasis of a matter paragraph should be added to the opinion.
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