Going concern

The assumption that a company will keep operating for at least the next twelve months, which is what allows assets to be carried at cost rather than at what they would fetch in a forced sale.

When that assumption is in doubt, the auditor must say so in a dedicated paragraph. The wording is standardised, and the phrase to search for is material uncertainty related to going concern.

The paragraph is not a prediction of failure. Many companies trade through one, particularly where the uncertainty depends on a refinancing that is likely but not yet signed. What it does is tell you which single question decides the equity value, and that question is almost always the maturity schedule of the borrowings.

Read it beside the note on current maturities of long-term debt. Those two pages together are the whole situation.