The audit is a very time and source demanding complex process, while its outcome is justification of reflecting true and fair view on companies, based on the verification whether a given business meets the going concern principle. The nature of the process is a complex analysis of the business financial position, often requiring comparison with similar businesses operating under the similar conditions (same country and industry). Such a comparison often requires possession of costly databases and very experienced staff. This poses significant challenges on the side of the auditing company and even for the audited company, which are often obliged to undergo an audit process to meet the legislation requirements. The situation is even more complicated when it comes to the situation of small and medium enterprises (hereinafter referred as SMEs), especially when it comes to alone-standing SMEs. For an auditor assessing a situation of a large business having temporary troubles with working capital might be an easier task than assessing the same situation in the case of SME. A large business might be supported by another business entity which is part of the corporate group. Compared to that, SMEs are often financially constrained when it comes to external financing possibilities.These features make auditing of alone-standing SMEs more difficult. A possible solution of this situation would be beneficial for V4 or even EU economics, considering the tremendous importance of SMEs for EU economics helping solve this issue.

Klíčová slova
distress prediction;audit;SMEs