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Are Auditors Professionally Skeptical? Evidence from Auditors’ Going‐Concern Opinions and Management Earnings Forecasts

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  • MEI FENG
  • CHAN LI

Abstract

We examine whether auditors exercise professional skepticism about management earnings forecasts when making going‐concern decisions. Using publicly issued management earnings forecasts as a proxy for earnings forecasts provided by managers to auditors, we find that management earnings forecasts are negatively associated with both auditors’ going‐concern opinions and subsequent bankruptcy. The weight auditors put on management forecasts in the going‐concern decision is not significantly different from the weight implied in the bankruptcy prediction model. Moreover, compared with the bankruptcy model, auditors assign a lower weight to management forecasts they perceive as being less credible, including those (1) issued by managers who issued optimistic forecasts in the previous two years, and (2) predicting high earnings increases or high earnings. Taken together, our evidence is consistent with auditors being professionally skeptical about management earnings forecasts when making going‐concern decisions.

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  • Mei Feng & Chan Li, 2014. "Are Auditors Professionally Skeptical? Evidence from Auditors’ Going‐Concern Opinions and Management Earnings Forecasts," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 1061-1085, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:joares:v:52:y:2014:i:5:p:1061-1085
    DOI: 10.1111/1475-679X.12064
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    3. Fabrizio Bava & Melchior Gromis di Trana, 2021. "Big4 Versus Non-Big4 Opinion about the Going Concern Assessment: A Survey," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(2), pages 1-87, July.
    4. Iwasaki, Takuya & Kitagawa, Norio & Shuto, Akinobu, 2023. "Managerial discretion over initial earnings forecasts," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    5. Liu, Xiaofeng & Feng, Hua & Tian, Gaoliang & Zhang, Ting, 2024. "Environmental legal institutions and management earnings forecasts: Evidence from the establishment of environmental courts in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 545-573.
    6. Jian Cao & Thomas R. Kubick & Adi N. S. Masli, 2017. "Do corporate payouts signal going-concern risk for auditors? Evidence from audit reports for companies in financial distress," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 599-631, October.
    7. Kim, Mindy (Hyo Jung), 2021. "Effects of managerial overconfidence and ability on going-concern decisions and auditor turnover," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    8. Ting Zhang & So Yean Kwack & Yi Si & Gaoliang Tian, 2023. "Non‐GAAP earnings reporting following going‐concern opinions," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(3), pages 3217-3252, September.

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