IAASB adds guidance on sustainability assurance

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has posted two new documents to help jurisdictions around the world adopt and implement its recent standard on sustainability assurance.

The guidance pertains to International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements.

In response to requests from its constituents, the IAASB has prepared reference extracts containing only the material in ISSA 5000 relevant to limited assurance engagements and, separately, reasonable assurance engagements. The extracts aim to help regulators, standard setters and other stakeholders more easily identify the requirements and application material most relevant to their jurisdictional decisions while not actually amending or overriding ISSA 5000, which remains the full standard.

The IAASB has also published FAQs clarifying that, for jurisdictions adopting IAASB standards, ISAE 3000 (Revised) and ISAE 3410 will no longer apply to sustainability assurance engagements once ISSA 5000 becomes effective in December 2026. In addition, the IAASB has updated the adoption information on its website.

IPSASB amendments

Separately, the IAASB's sister standard-setter, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, has issued Amendments to IPSAS Standards as a Result of the Application of IPSAS 46, Measurement. 

IPSAS 46, Measurement, introduced a new measurement basis for the public sector called current operational value, designed to reflect the value of assets used to deliver services, as opposed to simply generating cash. After its release, along with an update to Chapter 7 of the Conceptual Framework, the IPSASB started reviewing how current operational value could apply across existing IPSAS standards. 

The IPSASB issued a draft of its proposals in August 2024 and incorporated the stakeholder feedback it received to shape the final standard that's out today. 

"These changes aim to improve how governments and public sector entities report the value of assets they use to deliver services," said IPSASB chair Ian Carruthers in a statement Thursday. "The pronouncement offers an integrated approach to valuation, guiding entities in measuring the current value of inventories and determining impairment in the public sector. These amendments give public sector financial statement users more relevant, faithfully representative measurement information through broader application of public sector specific measurement guidance." 

The amendments include the introduction of current operational value in IPSAS 12, Inventories, and IPSAS 21, Impairment Non-Cash Generating Assets, the addition of a definition of accounting estimates to IPSAS 3, Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors, and the enhancement of the terminology in current value measurement disclosures. 

Amendments to IPSAS Standards as a Result of the Application of IPSAS 46, Measurement, has an effective date of Jan. 1, 2028, but earlier application is allowed.