Hvordan vurderer revisor selskapets evne til fortsatt drift, og hvilke indikatorer skjerper revisors aktsomhet i denne vurderingen?

Abstract

The purpose of the master thesis is to investigate auditors’ Going Concern assessment and what indicators heighten auditors’ skepticism in the course of such evaluation. Due to financial crisis, the Going Concern reporting, performed by auditors, has received increased attention from researchers. Standard setters and regulators have expressed concern about the lack of professional skepticism during Going Concern evaluation. To answer the research questions: How does the auditor assess the firm’s ability to continue as a Going Concern, and what indicators reinforce auditor’s skepticism in this evaluation, a qualitative research methodology is utilized. The study is mainly based on interviews with four real-life Going Concern cases, where the interviews are conducted with four auditors from four different auditing companies. The main findings show that, (1) the management rely heavily on the auditor when it comes to the assessment of The Going Concern, (2) auditors have a presumptive attitude to audit evidence prepared by management and the evidence requirements increases concurrently with the auditors’ attitude towards the management, and (3) liquidity and covenants guarantees are crucial to the auditors’ going concern conclusions. The thesis yields important insight into how the auditors’ Going Concern assessment in practice. We expand a framework based on ISA 570 with suggested guidelines on how this assessment is exercised in practice. Further research may use audit cases without third-party guarantee where the auditor has reported a conclusion without modification.