- Key Insight: Discover how the average number of critical audit matters per report has shifted.
- Supporting Data: 37.5%: The percentage of going concern opinions that included a critical audit matter.
The overwhelming majority of audit opinions report only one critical audit matter, and the average number per report continues its long-term decline, according to a new analysis.
The
While the overall number of audit opinions has declined over the past three years, from 7,29 in fiscal 2022 to 6,854 in fiscal 2025, the report noted that the share that include at least one CAM has remained relatively consistent at around two-thirds. Of those, the overwhelming majority — 78.8% — have included one CAM.
The Ideagen Audit Analytics report also looked into the topics of the CAMs issued over the years; the most common involve issues around revenue recognition, but the range of CAM topics varies widely by industry; breakdowns by sector are included.
Among going concern opinions, that opinion itself was the most common CAM — but surprisingly, fewer than half of going concern opinions, 37.5%, include a CAM; two-thirds, or 65.9%, of them had none.
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board approved a rule change in 2017 requiring companies to disclose critical audit matters starting in 2019 in their auditor reports. CAMs are those matters communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that:
- Relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements; and,
- Involved especially challenging, subjective, or complex auditor judgment.
