Critical Audit Matters FY2020-2025
Six years of CAM disclosure trends across SEC registrants
Critical audit matters (CAMs) are matters communicated to the audit committee that relate to accounts or disclosures material to the financial statements and involve especially challenging, subjective or complex auditor judgment. This report analyzes CAM disclosures reported by SEC registrants from FY2020 through FY2025, examining trends by filer type, filer status, industry and going concern opinions.
Our latest Ideagen Audit Analytics report explores how CAM disclosure trends have evolved since the reporting requirement was implemented.
CAMs per opinion continue to decline
The average number of CAMs per opinion declined every year from FY2020 to FY2025, falling from 1.51 to 1.26. In FY2025, 78.8% of opinions containing CAMs included only one CAM.
Revenue from customer contracts remains the leading CAM topic
Revenue from customer contracts was the most common CAM topic across the full FY2020-FY2025 period, accounting for 5,668 CAMs, or 14.7% of all CAMs reported. In FY2025, revenue from customer contracts represented 17.8% of all CAMs disclosed.
Industry leaders vary by accounting issue
While revenue from customer contracts was the leading topic in five of the eight industries analyzed, finance was most concentrated in allowance for credit losses, life sciences in research and development expenses, and real estate and construction in real estate investments.
Going concern opinions are more likely to include CAMs than five years ago
The percentage of going concern opinions containing at least one CAM increased from 31.2% in FY2020 to 37.5% in FY2025. Across the six-year period, going concern and other debt were the two most common CAM topics within going concern opinions.
Critical Audit Matters: a 6 year review
Download the full report today.