The Firm’ Going Concern in the Contemporary Era

Abstract

This chapter is aimed at reviewing the going concern (GC) assumption evolution over time in the two main regulatory accounting and auditing settings: International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as regards the accounting standard setters, and International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) as regards the auditing standard setters. Addressing the GC evolution is prodromic to go further in depth on the academic debate about the relevance that GC assumption has throughout the financial reporting process: from the preparation of financial statements, to the audit process that ends with the issuance of the audit report. Lastly, some insights about the GC evolution in other countries’ regulatory frameworks are provided (Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Russia and Singapore) in order to outline a worldwide representation of the GC auditing and accounting regulatory frameworks.