Determinants of going-concern audit opinions: evidence from Vietnam stock exchange-listed companies

Abstract

In this study, we aim to examine the effect of company and auditor characteristics on the issuance of going-concern opinions. The study population encompasses all financially distressed manufacturing companies listed on the Vietnam Stock Exchange during 2010–2019. The results indicate that the financial condition, incurring loss, audit report delay, and frequency of the board of director meetings significantly influence the issuance of auditors’ going-concern opinions. Company size, auditor size, and other financial ratios such as return on asset, leverage, and liquidity have no significant impact on the going-concern audit opinions. This study contributes to the limited research on going-concern audit opinions in the context of Vietnam. The results also provide a basis for recommendations to both auditors and audit clients on the determinants of going-concern audit opinions.

Keywords:

• going-concern audit opinion
• financial condition
• Z-score
• audit report
• Vietnam

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

The study identifies some factors of going-concern audit opinions on the basis of available literature and employs a logistic regression model to evaluate the contributing factors. The study population encompasses all financially distressed manufacturing companies listed on the Vietnam Stock Exchange during 2010–2019. The results indicate that the financial condition, incurring loss, audit report delay, and frequency of the board of director meetings significantly influence the issuance of auditors’ going-concern opinions. The study contributes to the limited research on going-concern audit opinions in the context of Vietnam. The results also provide a basis for recommendations to both auditors and audit clients on the determinants of going-concern audit opinions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Duc Hieu Pham

Duc Hieu Pham is an associate professor, Dean of Accounting and Auditing Faculty, Thuongmai University (TMU), Hanoi, Vietnam. His major research focuses on accounting, auditing, especially corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, earnings management, human resource accounting, firm performance, and internal control.