By: George M. Wilson & Carol A. Stacey
Our first two posts in this series have presented an example of a company (Sears Holdings) and auditor reporting requirements for going concern issues as well as reviewed reporting requirements for companies. In this last post we review reporting requirements for auditors and explore the gaps in more detail.
Auditor Requirements
For auditors of public companies the PCAOB did not change existing GAAS when the FASB Issued ASU 2014-15. Auditors follow this guidance in section AS 2415 of the PCAOB’s auditing standards:
02 The auditor has a responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed one year beyond the date of the financial statements being audited (hereinafter referred to as a reasonable period of time). The auditor’s evaluation is based on his or her knowledge of relevant conditions and events that exist at or have occurred prior to the date of the auditor’s report. Information about such conditions or events is obtained from the application of auditing procedures planned and performed to achieve audit objectives that are related to management’s assertions embodied in the financial statements being audited, as described in AS 1105, Audit Evidence.
02 The auditor has a responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed one year beyond the date of the financial statements being audited (hereinafter referred to as a reasonable period of time). The auditor’s evaluation is based on his or her knowledge of relevant conditions and events that exist at or have occurred prior to the date of the auditor’s report. Information about such conditions or events is obtained from the application of auditing procedures planned and performed to achieve audit objectives that are related to management’s assertions embodied in the financial statements being audited, as described in AS 1105, Audit Evidence.
The Gaps
There are gaps between what companies disclose and how auditors report. Two of the gaps are:
- The time period for going concern considerations, and
- The probability level for the company compared to the auditor for these disclosures
Time Period Gap
The auditor’s GAAS reporting requirement clearly states that the period over which going concern issues are evaluated is a “reasonable period of time, not to exceed one year beyond the date of the financial statements being audited”. The requirement under GAAP for companies is “within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued”. In practice, many auditors have actually used the period of one year after the financial statements are issued as their going concern disclosure threshold, but they are not strictly required to do this.
Probability GAP
The disclosure requirement for management in GAAP is that if it “is probable that an entity will be unable to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued” then they must make disclosures. This threshold of “probable” has its roots in one of the earliest FASB standards (SFAS 5, now ASC 450) dealing with contingencies. This standard set out the definition of “probable” as:
“The future event or events are likely to occur”.
The auditor’s GAAS standard uses the probability threshold “substantial doubt”:
The auditor has a responsibility to evaluate whether there is substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time
So, what is the difference between “probable that an entity will not be able to meet its obligations as they become due” and “substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time”? This is of course a matter of judgment. Many practitioners would believe that probable is a higher threshold than substantial doubt. What is clear is that this is a subjective evaluation.
The PCAOB addressed this difference in their guidance about the new disclosure requirements. This language is from Staff Audit Practice Alert No. 13:
In evaluating whether the financial statements are presented fairly, in all material respects, in conformity with the applicable financial reporting framework, including whether they contain the required disclosures, auditors should assess management’s going concern evaluation. In making this assessment the auditor should look to the requirements of the applicable financial reporting framework
In addition, auditors should continue to look to the existing requirements in AU sec. 341 when evaluating whether substantial doubt regarding the company’s ability to continue as a going concern exists for purposes of determining whether the auditor’s report should be modified to include an explanatory paragraph regarding going concern. The AU sec. 341 requirements for the auditor’s evaluation, and the auditor’s reporting when substantial doubt exists, have not changed and continue to be in effect. Under AU sec. 341, the auditor’s evaluation of whether substantial doubt exists is qualitative based 341.Accordingly, a determination that no disclosure is required under the ASC amendments or IAS 1, as applicable, is not conclusive as to whether an explanatory paragraph is required under AU sec. 341. Auditors should make a separate evaluation of the need for disclosure in the auditor’s report in accordance with the requirements of AU sec. 341.
This is of course another gap between GAAP and GAAS. Time will tell how the market reacts to this kind of presentation. And this explains why Sears Holdings disclosed their going concern uncertainty and their auditors did not modify their report.
There is one more interesting aspect to all this disclosure and auditor reporting discussion. What happens in a Form 10-Q where generally there is no auditor’s report?
The requirements in ASC 205-40-50 for interim periods are:
If conditions or events continue to raise substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern in subsequent annual or interim reporting periods, the entity shall continue to provide the required disclosures in paragraphs 205-40-50-12 through 50-13 in those subsequent periods. Disclosures should become more extensive as additional information becomes available about the relevant conditions or events and about management’s plans. An entity shall provide appropriate context and continuity in explaining how conditions or events have changed between reporting periods. For the period in which substantial doubt no longer exists (before or after consideration of management’s plans), an entity shall disclose how the relevant conditions or events that raised substantial doubt were resolved.
Sears Holdings’ Form 10-Q for the first quarter of F/y 18 includes this disclosure:
We acknowledge that we continue to face a challenging competitive environment and while we continue to focus on our overall profitability, including managing expenses, we reported a loss in the first quarter of 2017, when excluding significant items noted in our Adjusted Earnings Per Share tables, and were required to fund cash used in operating activities with cash from investing and financing activities. We expect that the actions outlined above will further enhance our liquidity and financial flexibility. In addition, as previously discussed, we expect to generate additional liquidity through the monetization of our real estate, additional debt financing actions, and potential asset securitizations. We expect that these actions will be executed in alignment with the anticipated timing of our liquidity needs.
We also continue to explore ways to unlock value across a range of assets, including exploring ways to maximize the value of our Home Services and Sears Auto Centers businesses, as well as our Kenmore and DieHard brands through partnerships or other
means of externalization that could expand distribution of our brands and service offerings to realize significant growth. We expect to continue to right-size, redeploy and highlight the value of our assets, including monetizing our real estate portfolio and exploring potential asset securitizations, in our transition from an asset intensive, historically “store-only” based retailer to a more asset light, integrated membership-focused company.
We believe that the actions discussed above are probable of occurring and mitigate the liquidity risk raised by our historical operating results and satisfy our estimated liquidity needs during the next 12 months from the issuance of the financial statements. The PPPFA contains certain limitations on our ability to sell assets, which could impact our ability to complete asset sale transactions or our ability to use proceeds from those transactions to fund our operations. Therefore, the planned actions take into account the applicable restrictions under the PPPFA.
If we continue to experience operating losses, and we are not able to generate additional liquidity through the actions described above or through some combination of other actions, while not expected, then our liquidity needs may exceed availability under our amended Domestic Credit Agreement and we might need to secure additional sources of funds, which may or may not be available to us. Additionally, a failure to generate additional liquidity could negatively impact our access to inventory or services that are important to the operation of our business. Moreover, if the borrowing base (as calculated pursuant to our outstanding second lien debt) falls below the principal amount of such second lien debt plus the principal amount of any other indebtedness for borrowed money that is secured by liens on the collateral for such debt on the last day of any two consecutive quarters, it could trigger an obligation to repurchase or repay second lien debt in an amount equal to such deficiency.
No more use of the term “substantial doubt”. It might be helpful if the change from year-end to quarter-end was explained in more detail.
As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome!