As part of its ongoing initiative to convene, inform and mobilize sustainability reporting and assurance stakeholders, IFAC, the voice for the global accountancy profession, today released Sustainability Assurance: What to Expect.

IFAC Chief Executive Officer Lee White said, “We are in the midst of a significant global transformation as businesses seek opportunities and ways to respond to sustainability-related challenges. Professional accountants are absolutely crucial in this transformation, and have an important public interest role to play. Our profession has a mature competency in analyzing and interpreting data, and the ability to use it to successfully innovate and introduce new business models.”

Mr. White continued, “Companies are working diligently to develop their governance structures and the processes, systems and controls needed to support sustainability reporting and assurance. Investors and other users of this information should expect, at least initially, that sustainability assurance engagements may be different from what occurs with financial reporting. For example, I expect that assurance reports may include modifications, which would be reflective of the transformation that is occurring.”

Policymakers and regulators around the world are moving with pace to introduce essential requirements for sustainability reporting and assurance. At the same time, IFAC encourages accountants to embrace their pivotal role in this transformation, and we remind all stakeholders that the application of reporting and assurance requirements will take time to mature.

We have been an early advocate for a harmonized, global system for the disclosure of sustainability-related information, and we continue to coordinate with other international organizations, including the IFRS Foundation, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and IOSCO in pursuit of this goal. We were pleased to participate at IOSCO’s annual meeting in Athens last month, where we took the opportunity to recognize the swift progress made by the IFRS Foundation and the ISSB in coalescing more than 20 jurisdictions, representing over half the world’s GDP, in the decision to introduce the ISSB standards in their legal or regulatory frameworks.

We invite organizations to reach out to us with opportunities for further collaboration. We also encourage producers and users of sustainability-related information to engage with one another to further a shared understanding of and commitment to high-quality sustainability assurance.

Finally, we call for sustainability assurance engagements to be conducted in accordance with the global standards being developed by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) to help ensure high-quality assurance.

Sustainability Assurance: What to Expect can be downloaded for free on our website.

About IFAC
The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce

In order to significantly contribute to national economic and social development, PAOs around the world need a coherent strategy and operating model to realize their full potential. A strategic plan can guide and drive a PAO’s activities and priorities, determining where the organization is going, how it will get there, and how it will know if it gets there. 

To equip PAOs with a clear, practical, and outcome driven framework to develop, implement, and monitor an effective strategy, IFAC has released its Professional Accountancy Organization (PAO) Strategy Planning Toolkit: An end-to-end guide to strategic transformation. This toolkit is for PAOs at all stages of developing a strategic plan. It can help kickstart the process, and it also offers guidance for updating and refining existing plans.  

Creating and publishing the toolkit is itself an element of IFAC’s own organizational strategy and its vision of a robust and well-functioning accountancy profession, composed of competent and capable professionals supported by effective PAOs which contribute significantly to the sustainability of small, medium, and large businesses; sound capital markets; effective public services; and—ultimately—economic growth. 

The toolkit was launched today in Mauritius at a workshop co-hosted by IFAC’s PAO Development Advisory Group and the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) leading up to PAFA’s Annual General Meeting. The workshop brought together over 50 PAO leaders who are present in Mauritius for PAFA’s meeting. 

“To respond to the accountancy profession’s constantly evolving challenges and opportunities, PAOs need a strong strategic plan to be resilient, adaptive, and forward-thinking and make well-informed decisions,” said Lee White, IFAC Chief Executive Officer. “This toolkit, informed by our own experiences in strategic planning and the journeys of our member organizations, is made possible by our role as the global convener of the accountancy profession and contains a framework applicable around the world. We hope this toolkit can develop the process for PAOs or give new momentum and inspiration to those already engaged in it.” 

Before the toolkit’s official release, several PAOs, including IFAC member associate Emirates Association for Accountants & Auditors (EAAA), trialed the toolkit to shape its development and have seen improvement in their strategic planning. 

“We are proud to be one of the first users of the toolkit while it was under development, and in only a few months, we have seen considerable improvement in our strategic planning,” said Saif Bin Abed, EAAA Chairman. “As an organization, we are better prepared to act on the opportunities and challenges ahead.”  

“This toolkit has created an agile environment within the EAAA through its effective monitoring mechanism which enables us to respond quickly to different business variables and be able to update the strategy in a way that it promotes the sustainable growth of our organization,” said Ahmad Darwish, EAAA Vice Chairman. 

Download the toolkit, available now in English and French.  

About IFAC

IFAC is the global organization for the accountancy profession dedicated to serving the public interest by strengthening the profession and contributing to the development of strong international economies. IFAC is comprised of 180 members and associates in more than 135 jurisdictions, representing millions of professional accountants in public practice, education, government service, industry, and commerce.

As policymakers and regulators move with pace to introduce new, mandatory requirements for both sustainability reporting and its assurance, IFAC is taking steps to help all sustainability information users—including the accountancy profession, market regulators, preparers, and investors—understand and prepare for what high-quality sustainability assurance will look like by publishing Sustainability Assurance: What to Expect.