One of the unfortunate outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic is the economic stress. Such stress has raised concerns about many entities' abilities to continue as a going concern, which has significant accounting, disclosure, and reporting implications.
This course will review the relevant considerations related to going concern, including when substantial doubt concerning an entity's ability to continue as a going concern exists, management mitigation efforts, and required disclosures both when management, and the accountant, feel such efforts will be effective in mitigating the risk, as well as when they do not. Lastly, we'll consider the accountant's reporting responsibilities under various scopes of services in various scenarios.
Learning Objectives
- Discuss red flags indicating possible going concern uncertainty in the COVID-19 environment
- Differentiate between the external accountant’s and management’s responsibility related to identifying, evaluating, presenting, and disclosing going concern uncertainty
- Discuss how to obtain sufficient appropriate evidence to evaluate management’s assertions about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time
- Describe the independent accountant’s reporting options under applicable auditing and other professional services standards when uncertainty associated with going concern exists
Major Topics
- Current FASB accounting standards related to going concern, including the new requirements of ASU 2014-15
- Evaluating risk of material misstatement in financial reports related to improper presentation and disclosure of going concern uncertainty
- The responsibility of an independent accountant for evaluating going concern uncertainty under various levels of engagement to perform attest and nonattest services
- New requirements of SAS No. 132 and SSARS No. 24 related to an auditor’s responsibility for considering going concern uncertainty?
