IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v49y2017i3p329-346.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assuring the integrated report: Insights and recommendations from auditors and preparers

Author

Listed:
  • Maroun, Warren

Abstract

There is little guidance on how integrated reports could be the subject matter of a conventional assurance engagement despite their growing use as an important means of communicating with stakeholders. This paper takes the first step in addressing this issue. The study relies on primary data collected from recorded interviews with 20 audit experts and 20 preparers, complemented by principles from existing professional assurance standards, to develop interpretively three possible assurance models (restricted, integrated and Delphi-inspired assurance).

Suggested Citation

  • Maroun, Warren, 2017. "Assuring the integrated report: Insights and recommendations from auditors and preparers," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 329-346.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:49:y:2017:i:3:p:329-346
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2017.03.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838917300161
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2017.03.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Theodore J. Mock & Christiane Strohm & Kevin M. Swartz, 2007. "An Examination of Worldwide Assured Sustainability Reporting," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 17(41), pages 67-77, March.
    2. Niamh M. Brennan & Jill Solomon, 2008. "Corporate governance, accountability and mechanisms of accountability: an overview," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(7), pages 885-906, September.
    3. Belen Fernandez-Feijoo & Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz, 2015. "Multilevel Approach to Sustainability Report Assurance Decisions," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 25(4), pages 346-358, December.
    4. Carrington, Thomas, 2010. "An analysis of the demands on a sufficient audit: Professional appearance is what counts!," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 21(8), pages 669-682.
    5. Wendy Green & Shan Zhou, 2013. "An International Examination of Assurance Practices on Carbon Emissions Disclosures," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 23(1), pages 54-66, March.
    6. J. B. Holland & P. Doran, 1998. "Financial institutions, private acquisition of corporate information, and fund management," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 129-155.
    7. Wendy Green & Qixin Li, 2011. "Evidence of an expectation gap for greenhouse gas emissions assurance," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(1), pages 146-173, December.
    8. Colin Higgins & Wendy Stubbs & Tyron Love, 2014. "Walking the talk(s): Organisational narratives of integrated reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(7), pages 1090-1119, August.
    9. Warren Maroun & Jill Atkins, 2014. "Whistle-blowing by external auditors in South Africa," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(5), pages 834-862, June.
    10. Michael John Jones & Jill Frances Solomon, 2010. "Social and environmental report assurance: Some interview evidence," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 20-31, March.
    11. Jones, Michael John & Solomon, Jill Frances, 2010. "Social and environmental report assurance: Some interview evidence," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 20-31.
    12. Jill Atkins & Barry Colin Atkins & Ian Thomson & Warren Maroun, 2015. "“Good” news from nowhere: imagining utopian sustainable accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(5), pages 651-670, June.
    13. Charl de Villiers & Leonardo Rinaldi & Jeffrey Unerman, 2014. "Integrated Reporting: Insights, gaps and an agenda for future research," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(7), pages 1042-1067, August.
    14. Peecher, Mark E. & Schwartz, Rachel & Solomon, Ira, 2007. "It's all about audit quality: Perspectives on strategic-systems auditing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(4-5), pages 463-485.
    15. Gray, Rob, 2010. "Is accounting for sustainability actually accounting for sustainability...and how would we know? An exploration of narratives of organisations and the planet," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 47-62, January.
    16. O'Dwyer, Brendan & Owen, David & Unerman, Jeffrey, 2011. "Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms: The case of assurance on sustainability reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 31-52, January.
    17. J. Holland, 1998. "Private disclosure and financial reporting," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 255-269.
    18. Christopher Humphrey, 2008. "Auditing research: a review across the disciplinary divide," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 170-203, February.
    19. Barry Ackers & Neil Stuart Eccles, 2015. "Mandatory corporate social responsibility assurance practices," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(4), pages 515-550, May.
    20. Black, Julia, 2008. "Forms and paradoxes of principles-based regulation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 23103, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    21. Malsch, Bertrand & Gendron, Yves, 2011. "Reining in auditors: On the dynamics of power surrounding an “innovation” in the regulatory space," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 456-476.
    22. Maroun, Warren & Atkins, Jill, 2014. "Section 45 of the Auditing Profession Act: Blowing the whistle for audit quality?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 248-263.
    23. Power, Michael K., 2003. "Auditing and the production of legitimacy," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 379-394, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Genevé Richard & Elza Odendaal, 2020. "Integrated reporting assurance practices—a study of South African firms," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(4), pages 245-266, December.
    2. Warren Maroun, 2020. "A Conceptual Model for Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility Assurance Practice," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 187-209, January.
    3. Maroun, Warren & van Zijl, Wayne, 2016. "Isomorphism and resistance in implementing IFRS 10 and IFRS 12," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 220-239.
    4. Maroun, Warren & Atkins, Jill, 2014. "Section 45 of the Auditing Profession Act: Blowing the whistle for audit quality?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 248-263.
    5. van Zijl, Wayne & Maroun, Warren, 2017. "Discipline and punish: Exploring the application of IFRS 10 and IFRS 12," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 42-58.
    6. Maroun, Warren & Solomon, Jill, 2014. "Whistle-blowing by external auditors: Seeking legitimacy for the South African Audit Profession?," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 109-121.
    7. Genevé Richard & Elza Odendaal, 2021. "Credibility-enhancing mechanisms, other than external assurance, in integrated reporting," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(1), pages 61-93, March.
    8. Maroun, Warren, 2015. "Reportable irregularities and audit quality: Insights from South Africa," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 19-33.
    9. Olivier Boiral & Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria & Marie-Christine Brotherton, 2019. "Assessing and Improving the Quality of Sustainability Reports: The Auditors’ Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 703-721, March.
    10. Justin Logie & Warren Maroun, 2021. "Evaluating Audit Quality Using the Results of Inspection Processes Performed by an Independent Regulator," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 31(2), pages 128-149, June.
    11. Diogenis Baboukardos & Musa Mangena & Abdullahi Ishola, 2021. "Integrated thinking and sustainability reporting assurance: International evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1580-1597, May.
    12. Klarissa Lueg & Rainer Lueg, 2021. "Deconstructing corporate sustainability narratives: A taxonomy for critical assessment of integrated reporting types," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1785-1800, November.
    13. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang & Hanlu Fan & Jamie Ayers, 2023. "Corporate carbon assurance and the quality of carbon disclosure," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(1), pages 657-690, March.
    14. Jannik Gerwanski & Othar Kordsachia & Patrick Velte, 2019. "Determinants of materiality disclosure quality in integrated reporting: Empirical evidence from an international setting," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(5), pages 750-770, July.
    15. Vaz Ogando, Natalia & Ruiz Blanco, Silvia & Fernandez-Feijoo Souto, Belen, 2018. "El mercado de verificación de las memorias de sostenibilidad en España: un análisis desde la perspectiva de la demanda," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 48-62.
    16. Xiao, Xinning & Shailer, Greg, 2022. "Stakeholders’ perceptions of factors affecting the credibility of sustainability reports," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    17. Geert Braam & Roy Peeters, 2018. "Corporate Sustainability Performance and Assurance on Sustainability Reports: Diffusion of Accounting Practices in the Realm of Sustainable Development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(2), pages 164-181, March.
    18. Lopin Kuo & Po-Wen Kuo & Chun-Chih Chen, 2021. "Mandatory CSR Disclosure, CSR Assurance, and the Cost of Debt Capital: Evidence from Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-19, February.
    19. Steven DeSimone & Giuseppe D’Onza & Gerrit Sarens, 2021. "Correlates of internal audit function involvement in sustainability audits," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(2), pages 561-591, June.
    20. O'Dwyer, Brendan & Owen, David & Unerman, Jeffrey, 2011. "Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms: The case of assurance on sustainability reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 31-52, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:49:y:2017:i:3:p:329-346. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-british-accounting-review .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.