The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has released a collection of ISSA 5000 illustrative sustainability assurance reports.  

The illustrative reports are aimed to help those conducting sustainability assurance engagements by demonstrating practical ways to apply International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements. 

The examples result from cooperation with national auditing and assurance standards authorities. 

ISSA 5000 previously included four sample reports outlining basic requirements. 

With this new set, more detailed instances relevant to daily practice are available for professionals by covering five cases where practitioners provide unmodified assurance conclusions.  

These include situations such as reviewing sustainability disclosures that follow IFRS S1 and S2 requirements for both limited and reasonable assurance, assessing selected areas within an organisation’s sustainability report, evaluating disclosures based on multiple reporting frameworks, and combining limited with reasonable assurance in one engagement. 

Three further examples show how to draft reports when conclusions are modified. 

This includes a qualified conclusion, a disclaimer rather than a conclusion, and an adverse conclusion.  

These scenarios align with questions raised by regulators and others as ISSA 5000 is applied in practice. 

This release forms part of IAASB’s work in encouraging consistent use of ISSA 5000 by clarifying its application in real-world settings. 

By addressing issues encountered by users of the standard, the guidance seeks to promote reliable and uniform adoption. 

In September, IAASB introduced changes to its standards by updating how publicly traded entities are defined. The update brings the definition in line with that used in the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ (IESBA) Code of Ethics.  

This change applies to both the International Standards on Quality Management (ISQMs) and International Standards on Auditing (ISAs).