We examine the effects of prior expectation and construal-level instructions on auditor judgements. By relying on HSM theory and CLT theory, we posit joint effects of prior expectation and construal-level instructions on auditors' judgements in a going concern assessment task. In an experiment with 86 junior auditors, we find auditors that auditors assigned comparatively more weight to failure evidence than viable evidence under the two situations high construal and weak ratios and low construal weak ratios conditions. Similarly, we observe auditors assigned comparatively less weight to failure evidence than viable evidence under low construal strong ratios condition and in high construal strong ratios condition.