Skip to content

ACCA Strategic Professional · Advanced Audit and Assurance (International) · Developments in sustainability assurance

Marlow LLP audits the financial statements of Birch Foods and is asked to also provide assurance on its sustainability report. The sustainability report includes carbon data produced by an engineer employed by Marlow's own consulting division, who is not on the engagement team. What is the most appropriate response by the engagement partner?

The partner should evaluate the engineer's competence, capabilities and objectivity and assess whether the self-review threat from the firm's own consulting work can be reduced to an acceptable level by safeguards. Automatically accepting in-firm work or automatically withdrawing are both wrong, and disclosure alone does not remove the threat.

  1. AEvaluate the engineer's competence, capabilities and objectivity as an expert, and consider whether the self-review threat is acceptably addressed by safeguardsCorrect
  2. BAccept the data without further work because the engineer belongs to the same firm
  3. CWithdraw immediately because any use of in-firm expertise is prohibited
  4. DDisclose the engineer's role in the assurance report and perform no additional procedures

Explanation

If the firm's own consulting division prepared the data, there is a self-review threat under the IESBA Code. The partner must assess whether the threat can be reduced to an acceptable level, and must evaluate the expert's competence, capabilities and objectivity before relying on the work. Accepting it without work ignores both the threat and the evidence requirements.

Did you get it right without looking?

One question tells you little. A timed set on Developments in sustainability assurance shows your real accuracy, how long you take and where you lose marks.

Practise Developments in sustainability assuranceFree diagnostic mock

More Developments in sustainability assurance questions