opinion shopping
Opinion shopping
Attempts by a corporation to attain reporting objectives by following questionable accounting principles, with the help of an auditor willing to sanction the practices. Prohibited by the SEC.
Copyright © 2012, Campbell R. Harvey. All Rights Reserved.
Opinion Shopping
The act or practice of a company looking for an auditor who is likely to give an undeservedly good report on that company's financial health. The company may opinion shop for an auditor with unscrupulous ethics or perhaps who is simply not very good. Opinion shopping is illegal and as a result some analysts raise questions when a company suddenly changes its auditor.
Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved
opinion shopping
The search for an accounting firm that will provide the desired opinion for a financial statement. Firms sometimes opinion shop when their current auditors consider their accounting practices questionable or unacceptable. Investors should spend extra time investigating firms that have recently changed auditors.
Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.