The Business Audit as an Alternative to Discriminant Analysis in Assessing Risks of Going Concern

The ability of a business entity to develop and at least to survive is crucial for all stakeholders. Nowadays, mostly statistical methods are applied in its assessment. Efficiency of these methods is restrained by multiple and changing factors influencing the risk of disruption of continuation as a going concern, which raises the necessity of seeking an alternative solution. A new solution should be aimed at the analysis of the ability and not only the assessment of threats to continuing operation. The objective of the work is to present the research findings which justify the necessity of a multidimensional evaluation of an entity to define its ability to keep operating under the conditions of sustainable development. The article presents the findings of the expert research and surveys conducted in the years 2013–2015. As an alternative to discriminant analysis models, the author presents the concept of a multidimensional assessment of an entity, its scope, and the interpretation of its results. The presented model allows the assessment of the maturity level of an organization in the implementation of a sustainable development strategy, the assessment of an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, and its potential to create value for stakeholders.