Corporate Sustainability Reporting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate Sustainability Reporting - Essay ExampleSome of the issues that concern CSR are discussed below.CSR are generally watchful by independent agencies ground on the guidelines laid down in 1997 by the Global business relationshiping Initiative (GRI). The GRI has tried to develop accusative criteria that stick out become the basis for universally accepted reporting standards as in the case of scrutinizeed financial statements. In 2006, a second set of guidelines was issued known as the G3 Reporting Framework. As of now however, companies are free to observe the GRI guidelines, as per their convenience and at different levels of accordance. As of July 2006, just over 20 % of organizations publicize CSR reports using GRI guidelines did so at the maximum assurance level. Observance of GRI guidelines thus, though desirable is not enforceable and the discretion of following them in letter and spirit rests with various organizations.The absence seizure of any audit by an indepe ndent body reduces the value of a CSR, just as an un-audited financial statement of a company is of no value. However, thither are many aspects of a CSR pertaining to non-financial aspects that are either, qualitative statements about risk management and performance or quantitative measures that are not reliable enough to audit. Hence this aspect of a CSR is more of an opinion expressed by the company as well as the auditors, appealing more to emotion and ground on individual perceptions. It is to remove this anomaly that the new G3 Reporting Framework has been compiled.Challenges of Providing Auditor AssuranceThe challenge of providing credibility to any CSR rests on firstly, the criteria that the management uses to pretend the CSR and secondly, the standards the auditor uses to assess the CSR. Adding to the difficulty of assessing a CSR is the fact that these reports are based on facts and figures that may be outside the area of expertise of the auditor(s). For any report to hav e credibility, it must be based on facts and figures and appeal to common sense. Quantitative aspects such as accident rates or amount of one C dioxide emitted can be commented upon objectively and without bias. However, there are many other performance measures which cannot be audited, with a high enough level of assurance to set up an opinion. In such cases, an element of subjectivity or bias in favour of the company being reported upon is likely. This probably stems from the fact that it is in the auditors interests to seek the continued patronage of the company.More and more companies are disclosing their social and environmental performance as part of their annual financial reports. CPAs will more and more play an important role both in preparing as well as analyzing such reports. Interestingly enough, a survey of investors and analysts revealed that as many as 90 % of the people wanted companies to include aspects such as environmental sustainability and corporate governanc e as part of their annual reports. This only underscores the importance of having objective criteria for measuring performance in non-financial fields in order to arrive at a true and fair view of a company based on facts and