Going Concerns: A 22-Year Review

In our latest report, Going Concerns: A Twenty-Two Year Review, we examine the trends and statistics of going concerns (opinions qualified by an uncertainty regarding the going concern assumption) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission since 2000.

Using data from our Audit Opinions database, this report takes a closer look at developments in going concern trends across company location, size, and industry. Additionally, this year’s report specifically looks at going concerns in registration statements and investment companies.

Furthermore, the report also provides a deeper discussion surrounding factors underlying the year-over-year trends in going concern numbers.

Going Concerns Report Highlights

Below is a snapshot of select trends from this year’s report.

Increase in going concerns. Going concern opinions, as a percentage of all audit opinions, increased in fiscal year 2021. The percent of audit opinions with a going concern increased to 21.3%, up from 18.4% in the previous year.

Going Concern Audit Opinions 2000-2021

The percentage of companies receiving a going concern has been gradually declining since peaking during the 2008 financial crisis. Notably, going concerns had reached an all-new low point in 2020 before the uptick seen in 2021.

Increase driven by new companies receiving going concerns. In FY 2021, the total number of new companies increased by 54.2%. However, the number of new companies receiving a going concern increased by 148% from the previous year.

New Companies Receiving Going Concerns - Year over year percent change in the number of new companies receiving a going concern

To access the full report, click here.
Audit Analytics subscribers can download the report from their dashboard.


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