Where next with assurance

The market for assurance engagements has been developing rapidly over the past decade. In 2016 ICAEW’s Audit and Assurance Faculty ran a consultation to ask different stakeholders in the market what they considered to be the next step.

The response encouraged us to move away from thinking about external assurance in isolation, and towards an understanding of how organisations can get the right assurance in the right place.
Respondents were particularly interested in the concept of assurance mapping, and in considering together the complementary role of internal and external assurance.

We have accordingly developed best practice guidance on assurance mapping, and brought our internal audit resource centre in to our broader assurance resource.

More about the 'Where next with assurance?' consultation

Our consultation asked trustees, executive directors and NEDs, along with investors, regulators and those undertaking assurance activities to share their responses to the statements below.

	Consultation questions
1	Rather than focusing on the annual report – or any other single report of an organisation – we should think about the right way to use assurance to meet the needs of the organisation itself.
2	The role of the board in determining the need for assurance, internally and externally, is vital to understanding the future of assurance.
3	Getting the right assurance in the right place is essential. This means asking the right questions about risks and information flows, and in a complex organisation it means keeping track of the situation with an assurance map.
4	Assurance can be provided over risk disclosures or forward-looking information, even if the question asked is different from ‘is this true and fair?'.
5	Assurance can add value to narrative information using current principles and techniques, and the skilled judgement of preparers and assurance providers.

Download the full consultation paper

Page reviewed April 2018. Next review due March 2019.