Trusting/Distrusting Auditors’ Opinions

Trust relations are essential for effective interchanges in the financial markets. Investors (trustors), as well as other market participants, can only trust financial markets if they trust their auditors (trustees). In particular, the auditors’ assessment of the client’s financial condition and its ability to continue as a going concern is paramount to improving social capital and maintaining sustainable financial markets. Research shows that a going concern opinion may have immediate consequences for both the auditing profession and financial statement users. We use the Throughput Model to illustrate how different trust positions are aligned with a particular auditor’s decision-making pathway to enhance trust, distrust or no trust from the point of view of investors’ and creditors’.