TITLE:
NIO Auto Audit Case: Research on Financial Compliance and Audit Risks in an Innovative Business Model
AUTHORS:
Ziwen Zhang, Yajun Cui
KEYWORDS:
Audit, BaaS, NIO, Risk
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.2,
February
14,
2026
ABSTRACT: With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry and the innovation of business models, the auditing of Internet car-making enterprises is facing unprecedented challenges. This paper takes NIO as the research object, focusing on the auditing disputes caused by its unique BaaS (Battery as a Service) business model. It combines two core cases, the short-selling event by Muddy Waters in 2022 and the securities fraud lawsuit by GIC in 2025, to analyze from the dimensions of audit risk identification, application of accounting standards, and execution of audit procedures. The cases involve key auditing issues such as the compliance of revenue recognition, the determination of related party control, and the auditing of off-balance sheet business. By deconstructing the transaction structure between NIO and its related party Wuhan Weiran, the paper explores the application boundaries of auditing standards and the optimization paths of auditing practices under innovative business models. The research finds that the auditing risks of Internet car-making enterprises are mainly concentrated in the rationality of revenue recognition methods, the substantive determination of related party relationships, and the financial information disclosure under heavy asset operations. Auditing institutions need to enhance the quality of auditing by strengthening the judgment of standard applicability, deepening the penetration verification of related parties, and introducing information-based auditing technologies. The conclusions of this paper can provide references for the auditing practice in the new energy vehicle industry and offer lessons for the financial compliance construction of innovative enterprises.