Audit Quality and Going Concern Concept of Listed Consumer Goods Companies in Nigeria

The global financial scandal significantly challenges the veracity, credibility, utility, and value relevance of the audit function. The consequence of poor external audits, in most cases, manifests in financial scandals and the failure of companies. The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of audit quality on the going concern of listed consumer goods companies in Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was ex post facto, and the population of the study comprised the 21 consumer goods companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group. Secondary data were used, and the sample size of 16 was purposively selected. The data were analysed using the robust least squares regression technique, and the statistical package employed was STATA 17. The findings of the study revealed that audit independence (coeff. = 0.131[0.160]) has a statistically non-significant effect on going concern; audit firm size (coeff. = 0.359[0.036]) has a significant positive effect on going concern; and audit firm tenure (coeff. = -0.251[0.395]) has a statistically non-significant negative effect on the going concern status of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Thus, it was concluded that audit quality plays a significant role in strengthening the going concern status of these firms through early detection of the likelihood of bankruptcy. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended, among others, that the management of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria should consistently engage the services of Big 4 audit firms, as their size and reputation positively influence their going concern status. It was also recommended that these firms should strive to pay substantial audit fees to ensure thorough and high-quality audit processes that strengthen their going concern position.