Factors influencing the auditor opinion of going concern problem

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Date
2006
Authors
Hartadi, Bambang
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Abstract
The objective of the study is to identify whether financial indicator, type of evidence and disclosure will have an influence on the auditors’ going concern opinion. Financial indicator comprise of three levels: strong, moderate and weak. Type of audit evidence comprise of two levels: positive and negative whilst disclosure comprise of two levels: exist or does not exist. The research makes use of 3 x 2 x 2 “between subjects” quasi experiment, factorial design. A total of 360 auditors took part in the research. Data was collected after the workshops or conferences have ended. These events were conducted by Institut Akuntan Indonesia(IAI). Subjects that participated in the study comprise of those with 3 years or more of audit experience and are members of IAI. Collection of data had to be done several times to obtain the 360 subjects required. Each subject was given only one case and the assignment of the case to the respondents were done randomly. Each case comprises of the three different factors at varying levels and the number of cases used in the research is 12. Respondents comprise of those from Jakarta, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Bandung and Surabaya. Data from 33 respondents could not be used as it does not fulfill some requirements of the study and as a result the study uses data from 327 respondents only. GLM UNIANOVA and spearmen correlation were used to test the research hypotheses. Findings of the study showed that all the three factors tested (financial indicator, types of evidence, and disclosure) showed a significant main and interaction effect on the going concern opinion issued by the auditor. For case number 12, which is the case with weak financial indicator, negative type of evidence and absence of disclosure, subjects strongly agreed to issue a going concern opinion. Average value of their rating was 4.85 on a likert scale of 1(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Subjects also agreed to issue an adverse opinion on the case, which is the worst audit opinion out of the five audit opinions that can be issued by an auditor. For case number 1, which is the case with strong financial indicator, positive type of evidence and presence of disclosure, subjects strongly disagreed to issue a going concern opinion. Average value of their rating was 1.42 on a likert scale of 1(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Subjects also agreed to issue a clean opinion on the case, which is the best audit opinion out of the five audit opinions that can be issued by an auditor. With this it can be seen that going concern opinion would most probably be connected with the types of audit opinion issued. Level of consensus was found to be high with an average value of greater than 0.70.
Description
PhD
Keywords
Management , Auditor opinion
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