ICAI releases Exposure Draft on SSAE 3000

Introduction

1. Given the link between climate change and corporate performance, many entities are reporting their sustainability performance for internal management purposes and are making external disclosure to various stakeholders, by preparing reports such as:

• Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR)
• Sustainability/ ESG Report
• Integrated Report
• Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report
• Other reports as per global/ local sustainability standards

This is primarily on account of:

a. Regulatory disclosure regime;
b. Informing investors and other stakeholders on a voluntary basis.

The intended users of this document include:

• Assurance providers providing assurance on sustainability information
• Entities seeking to engage a professional auditor
• Regulators, investors, and other users of Sustainability Reporting data

2. Scope of this Standard on Assurance Engagements SSAE 3000

a) This Standard on Assurance Engagements (SSAE 3000), deals with assurance engagements on an entity’s sustainability information.

b) SSAE 3000 is an umbrella standard applicable to all assurance engagements on sustainability information. In case there is subject matter information to which a specific assurance standard applies (eg. GHG emissions), SSAE 3000 will apply in addition the subject matter specific standard (eg. SSAE 3410).

c) Where the engagement is subject to laws or regulations, SSAE 3000 does not override those laws, regulations, or provisions. In the event that laws or regulations differ from this standard, an engagement conducted in accordance with laws or regulations, or the provisions of a particular scheme will not automatically comply with SSAE 3000. The assurance practitioner is entitled to represent compliance with this SSAE 3000 in addition to compliance with laws or regulations only when all applicable requirements of SSAE 3000 have been met.

d) Not all engagements performed by practitioners are assurance engagements. Other frequently performed engagements that are not assurance engagements include:

(a) Engagements covered by Standards on Related Services (SRS), such as agreed-upon procedure and compilation engagements.
(b) Consulting (or advisory) engagements, such as management consulting. (Ref: Para. A1)

e) The following engagements, which may be consistent with the definition of assurance engagements, are not considered assurance engagements in terms of this SSAE:

(a) Engagements that include professional opinions, views or wording from which a user may derive some assurance, if all of the following apply:

(i) Those opinions, views or wording are merely incidental to the overall engagement;
(ii) Any written report issued is expressly restricted for use by only the intended users specified in the report;
(iii) Under a written understanding with the specified intended users, the engagement is not intended to be an assurance engagement; and
(iv) The engagement is not represented as an assurance engagement in the professional accountant’s report.

To read more in details, find the enclosed file