what is a qualified opinion 
a qualified opinion is a statement issued in an auditor s report that accompanies a company s audited financial statements it is an auditor s opinion that suggests the financial information provided by a company was limited in scope or there was a material issue with regard to the application of generally accepted accounting principles gaap but one that is not pervasive qualified opinions may also be issued if a company has inadequate disclosures in the footnotes to the financial statements understanding a qualified opiniona qualified opinion may be given when a company s financial records have not followed gaap in all financial transactions but only if the deviation from gaap is not pervasive the term pervasive can be interpreted differently based on an auditor s professional judgment however to not be pervasive the misstatement must not misrepresent the factual financial position of the company as a whole and should not affect the decision making of financial statement users a qualified opinion may also be given due to a limitation of scope in which the auditor was not able to gather sufficient evidence to support various aspects of the financial statements without sufficient verification of transactions an unqualified opinion may not be given inadequate disclosures in the notes to the financial statements estimation uncertainty or the lack of a statement of cash flows are also grounds for a qualified opinion 