Accounting experts recommend companies consider looking at their going-concern status now, even if they're only at the half-way mark of their reporting year (most companies' annual reports aren't due until early next year). "To have a going-concern discussion [with your auditor] toward the end is not a good thing to do," says Russ Wieman, national partner of audit and advisory services at Grant Thornton. "It's a complicated issue that needs a lot of discussion, a lot of vetting. Putting it off could put you at risk for not delivering your audited financials on time."

According to Mike Kelly, managing director and leader of the strategic value advisory practice at financial advisory firm Duff & Phelps, auditors are increasingly expecting companies to do self-assessments of their going-concern risk before they'll reach their own conclusion. "Auditors have a higher expectation that management will assume greater responsibility for the going-concern risk assessment process," Kelly says.

Standard-setters have a similar expectation: Next month, the Financial Accounting Standards Board will revisit a proposed rule that would formalize management's responsibility when it comes to considering a company's going-concern status. While companies opine on their viability in annual reports, there is currently no accounting rule that governs how they do so.

• « previous
• 1
• 2

LinkedIn Company Connections:

• Audit Analytics |
• Crowe Horwath |
• Duff & Phelps |
• Grant Thornton |
• Marshall and Stevens |
• Protiviti |
• Westwood One