What is a Piecemeal Opinion?

A piecemeal opinion is a report issued by an external auditor, in which the auditor states an opinion regarding specific line items within a client's financial statements. It was usually issued when an auditor was issuing an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, possibly in regard to the absence of enough information to complete a full audit.

A piecemeal opinion is no longer allowed under generally accepted auditing standards, but had been intended to offset an overall adverse opinion or disclaimer of opinion. A piecemeal opinion is now banned because it tended to contradict the effect of the overall opinion.