​The Effect of Financial Distress, Cash Flow, And Liquidity on Going Concern Audit Opinion

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between financial distress, cash flow, and liquidity and going concern audit opinions among transportation and logistics issuers on the Indonesian Stock Exchange. The research uses quantitative secondary data for 2021–2024. Purposive sampling produced 27 firms and 108 observations. Financial distress is represented by the Revised Altman Z-Score, cash flow by operating cash flow divided by total liabilities, and liquidity by the current ratio. Logistic regression with SPSS 26 is used to test the hypotheses. The Revised Altman Z-Score was negatively and significantly associated with the opinion (B = -0.063, p = 0.005), because a lower score indicates greater distress, the proxy-consistent H1 is supported. Cash flow also shows a negative significant relationship (B = -8.334, p = 0.011), supporting H2. Liquidity is not significant (B = -0.549, p = 0.071), therefore, H3 is rejected. The three predictors are jointly significant (χ² = 52.440, p = 0.000), supporting H4. The Z-score and cash-flow ratio are significantly related to the going concern opinion, whereas liquidity is not. The Nagelkerke pseudo-R² is 0.662. Overall, the in-sample accuracy reaches 89.8%, but the sensitivity for going concern observations is 52.9%. The analysis covers only one sector and four years. Going concern observations are fewer than non-going concern observations, and the other explanatory variables are outside the model. The findings provide evidence on three financial condition indicators and show why the direction of the Revised Altman Z-Score must be interpreted carefully when it is used as a distress proxy.

Keywords

Cash Flow Financial Distress Going Concern Audit Opinion Liquidity Logistic Regression