ABSTRACT

There are diverse views on the assurance of integrated reports and agreement on best practice is yet to develop. What is clear is that an external assurance process can add significant value to management as data collection systems, internal control, reporting and decision-making processes evolve to meet the demands of integrated reporting. The credibility of integrated reports depends to a significant extent on the processes rather than the accuracy of numbers. The International Integrated Reporting Committee's (IIRC's) Assurance on integrated reporting: an exploration of issues discusses an assurance approach for the principles and content elements of integrated reporting and some methodological issues in assurance for primarily from the perspective of financial auditing. It seems somewhat odd that it compares materiality for integrated reporting, the most important, game-changing components of which are non-financial, with materiality in financial reporting. The approach used in some sustainability reports is arguably much more appropriate given that they deal almost exclusively with non-financial issues.