Terms of the Assurance EngagementTerms of the Assurance Engagement

Terms of the Assurance Engagement

Agreeing the Terms of the Assurance Engagement

1. The practitioner shall agree the terms of the assurance engagement with the engaging party. The agreed terms shall be specified in sufficient detail in an engagement letter or other suitable form of written agreement, written confirmation, or in law or regulation, and shall include: (Ref: Para. A219–A222)
   1. Matters related to the objective and scope of the assurance engagement, including:
      1. The objective of the assurance engagement;
      2. The sustainability information within the scope of the assurance engagement, and the sustainability information that is not within the scope of the assurance engagement;
      3. The reporting boundary within the scope of the assurance engagement;
      4. Whether the engagement is a limited assurance engagement, reasonable assurance engagement, or a combined limited and reasonable assurance engagement and the sustainability information that is subject to each level of assurance;
      5. The applicable criteria; and
      6. That the assurance engagement will be conducted in accordance with ASSA 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements.
   2. The responsibilities of the practitioner; (Ref: Para. A221)
   3. The responsibilities of management or those charged with governance, as appropriate for:
      1. The preparation of the sustainability information in accordance with the applicable criteria, including, where relevant, its fair presentation;
      2. When applicable, identifying, selecting or developing suitable criteria;
      3. Referring to or describing in the sustainability information, the applicable criteria it has used and, when it is not readily apparent from the engagement circumstances, who developed them;
      4. Designing, implementing and maintaining a system of internal control that it determines is necessary to enable the preparation of sustainability information in accordance with the applicable criteria that is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; and
      5. Providing the practitioner with:
         1. Access to all information of which management is aware that is relevant to the preparation of the sustainability information;
         2. Additional information that the practitioner may request for the purpose of the assurance engagement; and
         3. Unrestricted access to persons within the entity, from whom the practitioner determines it necessary to obtain evidence;
   4. Reference to the expected form and content of the report or reports to be issued by the practitioner and a statement that there may be modifications to the report in certain circumstances; and
   5. An acknowledgement that management agrees to provide written representations at the conclusion of the assurance engagement.
2. For recurring assurance engagements, the practitioner shall evaluate whether the circumstances require the terms of the assurance engagement to be revised or there is a need to remind the appropriate party(ies) of the existing terms.

Changing the Terms of the Assurance Engagement

1. The practitioner shall not agree to a change in the terms of the assurance engagement, including from a reasonable assurance engagement to a limited assurance engagement (i.e., to a lower level of assurance), when there is no reasonable justification for doing so. If the practitioner is unable to agree to a request to change in the terms of the assurance engagement and is not permitted by the appropriate party(ies) to continue the assurance engagement under the original terms, the practitioner shall: (Ref: Para. A223–A224)
   1. Withdraw from the assurance engagement, when possible under applicable law or regulation; and
   2. Determine whether there is any obligation, either contractual or otherwise, to report the circumstances to other parties, such as those charged with governance, owners or regulators.
2. If the terms of the assurance engagement are changed:
   1. The practitioner and the appropriate party(ies) shall agree on and record the new terms of the assurance engagement in an engagement letter or other suitable form of written agreement; and
   2. The practitioner shall not disregard evidence that was obtained prior to the change.