Impact Of External Events On The Going Concern Assessme

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. This will require an explanatory paragraph or emphasis of a matterparagraph in an auditor’s report. Note, however, that including these paragraphs in the audit report doesn’t change the auditor’s opinion – i.e., unqualified opinion – under the PCAOB or AICPA standards. As a result, both companies and auditors have spent far more time on their assessments lately. And since the pandemic hit most industries hard, management teams and auditors across the entire spectrum of industry have been dealing with much higher levels of risk and financial ratios heading south, thus generating going concern issues well above normal levels. A company is no longer a going concern when the management decides to either liquidate the entity or cease operations.

The principle highlights the assumption that companies intend to keep assets and generate profits in the future—assets won’t be sold in between. Although going concern is one of the top three areas we get questions about, the requirements are not actually that complex. Certainly, as we alluded to, there are probably a handful of unique considerations that require the auditor to use professional judgment when applying the requirements of the standards. Specifically related to external funding in the current environment, we’re all very well aware of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the funding that is available through a loan program with the U.S. It certainly appears as though most qualifying small businesses will be able to obtain a loan from the SBA to cover payroll and interest on mortgage obligations, as well as rent payments and utility payments for the covered period of that loan. And if those funds are expended as intended, the portions of the loan that are expended in accordance with the program would be forgiven. This concept not only helps build a more systematic approach to the recording of the financial information, but it also provides a reasonable understanding of the business, its growth and long-term financial stability.

As a result, it’s a little bit of a tenuous proposition to think you’re going to wait until the uncertainty resolves itself to issue your financial statements as it may be a long time. If management has performed that evaluation, then the next step would be for the auditor to look at, consider, and discuss management’s evaluation with them.

What If Managements Plans Alleviate The Going Concern Issue?

Once again, the financial statements function as that check engine light, providing an early warning for investors and financial statement users when potential trouble is ahead. The going concern principle centers around the presumption your business will continue its operations and meet its financial obligations over the next 12 months. Obviously, this assurance is important to many people and parties, so taking management’s word that everything is hunky-dory simply isn’t good enough. The auditor should not use conditional language regarding the existence of substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. Though management’s plans are disclosed, the probability of success is not provided.

• Under this ASC, continuation of an entity as a going concern is presumed as the basis for reporting unless liquidation becomes imminent.
• Hence, a declaration of going concern means that the business has neither the intention nor the need to liquidate or to materially curtail the scale of its operations.
• Once an auditor examines a company’s financial statements to see if the operating conditions of the entity are suitable for the long-term continuity of the business, they will issue a certificate accordingly.
• Instead, it only speaks to the presumed continuation of a company in its financial statements, except if liquidation is imminent.
• The going concern concept is not clearly defined anywhere in generally accepted accounting principles, and so is subject to a considerable amount of interpretation regarding when an entity should report it.
• The going concern concept or going concern assumption states that businesses should be treated as if they will continue to operate indefinitely or at least long enough to accomplish their objectives.
• The auditor assesses a company’s capacity to proceed as a going concern for a period not more than one year following the date of the financial reports being audited.

IAS 1 required management to assess whether their company is able to run for the foreseeable period or not. If the result of the assessment is found or management feels doubt about the stability of the entity, then management needs to disclose all of that significant importance in the financial statements so that users or readers could understand the situation in the company. Also, regarding an auditor’s workflow and relative sanity, economic uncertainty goes hand-in-hand with the amount of time an auditor spends performing their own going concern procedures as well as reviewing management’s evaluation. Keep in mind, however, that if a company plans to obtain additional liquidity through uncommitted credit, it is not used in the evaluation of whether substantial doubt is raised, but rather when evaluating management’s plans in step two of the assessment. The auditors conduct their own evaluation to see weather the going concern assumption is appropriate or not at the time of auditing financial statements even if the company claims to be a going concern. Sometimes management’s plans to alleviate substantial doubt include financial support by third parties or owner-managers . The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis which assumes the Company will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business for the foreseeable future.

If such were not the case, an entity would essentially be acquiring assets with the intention of closing its operations and reselling the assets to another party. The going concern principle is the assumption that an entity will remain in business for the foreseeable future. Conversely, this means the entity will notbe forced to halt operations and liquidate its assets in the near term at what may be very low fire-sale prices. By making this assumption, the accountant is justified in deferring the recognition of certain expenses until a later period, when the entity will presumably still be in business and using its assets in the most effective manner possible.

Going Concern Concept

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note X to the financial statements, the Company has been required by governmental authorities to close a number of its locations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its suppliers and customers have also been impacted by those governmental restrictions. Management’s evaluation of the events and conditions and management’s plans regarding those matters are also described in Note X. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. The closures have caused a material adverse effect on the Company’s revenues, results of operations, and cash flows, including the Company’s ability to meet its obligations when due.

References in this section to generally accepted accounting principles are intended to include a comprehensive basis of accounting other than generally accepted accounting principles . Once an auditor examines a company’s financial statements to see if the operating conditions of the entity are suitable for the long-term continuity of the business, they will issue a certificate accordingly. Some of the conditions that create substantial doubts for the principle of going concern are defaults on loans, lawsuits, company plans to declare bankruptcy, continued losses year over year, etc.

The most difficult aspect for auditors related to the COVID pandemic will likely be the evaluation of management’s plans. For many entities, their plans are in a state of flux with the volatility of the current environment in which they operate, and their plans may be changing daily.

Audit Procedures

Generally accepted auditing standards , however, do have instructions for an auditor in regard to a company’s ability to function as a going concern. As discussed in Note X to the financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a net capital deficiency that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note X. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

As you would expect, the answer to this question determines whether going concern disclosures are to be made and what should be included. The information contained herein is of a general nature and is not intended to address the circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Although we endeavor to provide accurate and timely information, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or that it will continue to be accurate in the future. No one should act upon such information without appropriate professional advice after a thorough examination of the particular situation.

Thus, a company will continue to account for its financial statements under the going concern basis of accounting unless, as you guessed, it meets the criteria for liquidation. The conditions or events that led the auditor to believe that there is substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. Suppose an entity knows it will be unable to meet its November 15, 2018, debt balloon payment. The financial statements are available to be issued on June 15, 2017, so the reasonable period goes through June 15, 2018. But management knows it can’t make the balloon payment, and the bank has already advised that the loan will not be renewed.

Red Flags Indicating A Business Is Not A Going Concern

In case the auditor decides to qualify their audit report, it may raise the issue of whether assets are already impaired, which may highlight the need to write down the value of the assets from their carrying value to liquidation value. However, a company can choose to justify their decisions and attempt to make the auditor believe that poor business operating conditions are only temporary. Or increase the credit term for their business as the result of operating losses or lack of cash flow.

• This term also refers to a company’s ability to make enough money to stay afloat or to avoid bankruptcy.
• Thus, the value of an entity that is assumed to be a going concern is higher than its breakup value, since a going concern can potentially continue to earn profits.
• First of all, this would be contingent on whether management has the flexibility to delay issuance of its financial statements.
• The first one, of course, is to consider, from the auditor’s perspective, whether there are any conditions or events that cause or raise substantial doubt about the ability to continue as a going concern.
• This SAS is effective for audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2017.

General purpose financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis, unless management either intends to liquidate the entity or to cease operations, or has no realistic alternative but to do so. Special purpose financial statements may or may not be prepared in accordance with a financial reporting framework for which the going concern basis is relevant . When the use of the going concern assumption is appropriate, assets and liabilities are recorded on the basis that the entity will be able to realize its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business. Under U.S. GAAP, an entity’s financial statements reflect its assumption that it will continue as a going concern.

The assumptions used in the going concern assessment should be consistent with those used in other areas of the company’s financial statements. External events that create economic uncertainty may have a significant impact on a company’s ability to continue as a going concern and might require robust assessment and entity-specific disclosures. The going concern assumption is a basic underlying assumption of accounting. For a company to be a going concern, it must be able to continue operating long enough to carry out its commitments, obligations, objectives, and so on.

Actions For Management

It is possible for a company to mitigate an auditor’s view of its Going Concern status by having a third party guarantee the debts of the business or agree to provide additional funds as needed. By doing so, the auditor is reasonably assured that the business will remain functional during the one-year period stipulated by GAAS.

Please be aware that there are no standards to say about what are the things that management needs to assess. Management needs to incorporate in their assessment based on their knowledge and awareness about what going on in the business. And this might significantly affect the operation as well as an increase in the interest payable. Another risk is that the bank might stop providing the overdraft facilities and will subsequently affect the entity’s operation. The seriousness of the going concern problem is depending on how likely the bank still continue providing an overdraft. Decreasing the sales revenue indicates that the business is not running well.

In 2011, Gibson Guitar Factory was raided by the Federal government for illegally smuggling endangered wood into the country. The Federal government took more than $250,000 worth or Gibson’s inventory and slapped them with large fines for violating international laws. Gibson is still considered a going concern, because it is not likely the fines and punishment will stop its operations.

Consideration Of The Effects On The Auditor’s Report

GAAP financial statements, as opposed to the auditing standard, which only applies to audited financial statements. A going concern is an accounting assumption that a business will continue its operations for the foreseeable future. Certainly, there may very well be an increase in the number of emphasis-of-matter paragraphs and we can expect more disclosure in the financial statements about the risks and uncertainties. An entity’s financial statements would not look substantially different from everyone else’s financial statements if they’re done appropriately, because I think there are going to be many in that category. Often management is going to be using cash flow forecasts in that evaluation, and that’s a significant factor in helping them determine whether their plans can alleviate substantial doubt. Auditor reporting and transparency about the entity’s financial condition is information critical to our turbulent economy. Amid the economic turmoil related to the coronavirus pandemic, going concern is one of the topics that auditors are most frequently asking about in their contacts with the AICPA.

No single factor spells imminent doom for a business, but there are red flags that can signal trouble. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This may influence which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. This may influence which products we review and write about , but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Define what an ideal reporting process looks like—and how you can achieve it. Cash flow is the net amount of cash and cash equivalents being transferred into and out of a business.

Pro Forma Statements Vs Gaap Statements: Whats The Difference?

An example of the application of going concern concept of accounting is the computation of depreciation on the basis of expected economic life of fixed assets rather than their current market value. Companies assume that their business will continue for an indefinite period of time and the assets will be used in the business until fully depreciated. Another example of the going concern assumption is the prepayment and accrual of expenses. Companies prepay and accrue expenses because they believe that they will continue operations in future. About the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within the next twelve months from the date these financial statements are available to be issued. The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon profitable future operations, positive cash flows, and additional financing.

A later study that examined going-concern audit opinions before and after SAS-59 revealed that a similar proportion of companies that received such reports https://www.bookstime.com/ before and after SAS-59 ended up filing for bankruptcy. The National company is in serious financial trouble and cannot pay its obligations.

Events following this one year period have no bearing on the current year going concern decisions. The evaluation initially shall not take into consideration the potential mitigating effect of management’s plans that have not been fully implemented as of the date that the financial statements are issued . If for example, a company expects to miss a debt service payment in the coming year, then substantial doubt exists. This initial assessment is made without regard to management’s plans to alleviate going concern conditions. It is important that management’s assessment considers different scenarios, including at least one severe but plausible downside scenario.

Centre For Financial Reporting

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