CSR assurance: its a growing industry
27th October 2008
Corporate non-financial reporting has entered the business mainstream, with two-thirds of the global FT500 publishing an environmental, sustainability or ‘corporate social responsibility’ report in 2007s.
These reports cover a range of issues, most usually environmental impacts, but increasingly including social, ethical, supply chain and even human rights issues. In ways they’re similar to annual report & accounts, so it’s not surprising that many of them have an external assurance statement to demonstrate that the information has been verified and may be relied upon.
Of the 3,000 CSR reports that will be published worldwide during 2008, around 750 will include an external assurance statement. But while verifications and audits for year end accounts are usually closely regulated and follow a standard format, this isn’t the case for the CSR assurance statements.
These reports are voluntary and the assurance statements aren’t regulated: their scope, the way they’re approached and the format and wording of the published assurance statements differ widely, making this a very confusing field for practitioners and clients alike. There is no ‘common currency’ of methodology, terms and definitions, and although there are various approaches (see below for a brief outline of the two leading ones) there is no single approach accepted and referenced by all provider types.
Who’s providing CSR assurance statements?
Although there are several hundred different providers developing CSR assurance statements, three major provider types dominate the market: The Big Four, certification bodies and specialist consultancies. Together these provider types account for around 90% of the market, with non-Big Four accountants providing a further 2% share, AccountanceyAge.com reports.