Legal Definitions - qualified opinion

A qualified opinion is a statement made in an audit report that contains exceptions or qualifications to certain items in the financial statement that is being audited.

For example, if an auditor is unable to obtain sufficient evidence to support a particular item in the financial statement, they may issue a qualified opinion stating that they were unable to verify the accuracy of that item.

Another example could be if the auditor identifies a material misstatement in the financial statement, but the misstatement is not pervasive enough to warrant an adverse opinion. In this case, the auditor may issue a qualified opinion stating that the financial statement is fairly presented except for the identified misstatement.

These examples illustrate how a qualified opinion is used to communicate to users of the financial statement that there are certain limitations or exceptions to the auditor's opinion on the accuracy and completeness of the financial statement.