The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has expressed interest in the following issues related to going‐concern modified audit opinions (GCOs): auditor's communication of factors that led to the GCO, the role of liquidity versus other factors in GCOs, and the subsequent failures of clients with GCOs. We use a sample of 2,921 first‐time GCOs spanning the years 1999 to 2015 in the United States and find that profitability factors are cited in 81% of GCOs while liquidity issues are cited in 56% of GCOs. Overall, 16.8% of the first‐time GCO clients entered bankruptcy within one year. After controlling for the probability of bankruptcy, client size, and auditor type, for clients of Big N auditors, the disclosure of profitability factors in the GCO is associated with a higher likelihood of subsequent bankruptcy; in contrast, for clients of non–Big N auditors, disclosures of liquidity and solvency problems are associated with a higher likelihood of subsequent bankruptcy. Our findings provide an empirical grounding for the debates surrounding GCOs and provide useful information for standard‐setters and financial statement users.

中文翻译：

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审计报告中披露的持续经营问题是否与随后的破产有关？来自美国的证据

公众公司会计监督委员会（PCAOB）对与持续经营的经修改审计意见（GCO）相关的以下问题表示了兴趣：审计师对导致GCO的因素的沟通，流动性与GCO中其他因素的作用以及GCO客户的后续失败。我们使用了1999年至2015年美国2,921家首次GCO的样本，发现81％的GCO中提到了盈利能力因素，而56％的GCO中提到了流动性问题。总体而言，有16.8％的首次GCO客户在一年内破产。在控制了破产概率，客户规模和审计师类型之后，对于大N审计师的客户，GCO中获利因素的披露与随后破产的可能性更高；相比之下，对于非Big N审计师的客户，流动性和偿付能力问题的披露与随后破产的可能性更高。我们的发现为围绕GCO的辩论提供了经验基础，并为标准制定者和财务报表使用者提供了有用的信息。