Whether or not the going concern assumption is
appropriate is therefore fundamental to the values at
which the assets and liabilities are recognised in the
company’s balance sheet. Thus, going concern refers
to the basis on which the financial statements are
prepared. It is not a guarantee of the company’s
solvency.
In order to determine whether the going concern
assumption is appropriate, management must
consider the prospects for the business in the light of
what the foreseeable future might bring. This
requires significant judgement as no statement about
the future can be guaranteed.
It is management’s responsibility to make a
judgement on going concern. It is the auditor’s
responsibility to consider whether there are any
material uncertainties affecting management’s
assessment and whether or not management's
judgement is appropriate. These judgements can be
made only on the basis of what is known at the time,
and facts and circumstances can quickly change in
the current business and economic environment.
What may be a reasonable assumption today,
particularly in a fast-changing environment, may no
longer be so a short time later.
The most common recent form of such uncertainty is
where additional financing is needed to continue to
develop a company’s business and fully fund its
working capital. While management may be
confident of obtaining additional funding in order to
meet these needs, if there is no firm agreement with
potential suppliers of finance, there is inherent
uncertainty as to whether such funding will be raised.
If the auditors consider that there are any material
uncertainties, even if clearly disclosed in the financial
statements, then they must include an emphasis of
matter paragraph in their audit report. If the auditors
disagree with management’s assessment that the
going concern assumption is appropriate for the
company’s financial statements or if adequate
disclosure of material uncertainties is not made, then
their audit opinion will be modified.