Financial crisis and corporate failure: The going concern assumption findings from Athens stock exchange

Corporate failure may be defined as the situation where a business unit becomes insolvent and progressively moves towards bankruptcy or into liquidation. The recent financial crisis has deteriorated dramatically the financial conditions in which the business units operate and has a significant impact on the companies that experience corporate failure. The going concern assumption constitutes a fundamental accounting principle for the preparation of financial statements and is even more important in times when global economy is facing such a financial crisis. The independent auditor’s report attribute credibility to the financial statements prepared by management. The purpose of this paper is to develop a reliable model that classifies the risk of corporate failure on six levels using financial analysis ratios. The model is developed based on financial data of Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) listed firms for the year 2011.