In the modern world, the issue of achieving a sustainable economic development model is becoming more and more urgent. One of its components is compliance with the Goal of sustainable development by companies and verification by state authorities and independent auditors of companies in matters of environmental sustainability. Thus, consideration of modern methods of submission and audit of sustainable development reports (SDR), analysis of opportunities for their improvement becomes relevant. In this work, attention is paid to companies engaged in retail trade, taking into account the peculiarities that they face when submitting the SDR. The purpose of the research was to conduct an analysis of the most common methods of reporting on sustainable development and to develop an effective model (and recommendations for it) for auditing and analyzing sustainable development reporting. Modeling became the main method when writing the paper, taking into account the developed model of analysis and verification of the SDR. The article proposed a new model of verification of non-financial information in sustainability reporting and its graphical display in the audit report. On its basis, it becomes possible to build a new methodology for the audit of the SDR. In addition, the most common international methods of SDR were analyzed, namely the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). The authors concluded that the GRI is the most universal of the three, while the SASB is focused only on investors. IIRC, being similar to both described above, is an intermediate option. Nevertheless, submission according to the SASB system is the most effective for trade networks, taking into account the peculiarities of the functioning of this type of companies and the level of their influence on the external environment. The results of the conducted research and the data presented in the article make it possible to evaluate the modern methods of submitting financial statements in a new way and provide a basis for building new standards for the audit of these reports.

The priority direction of this study is to determine the state of submission by Ukrainian enterprises of reports on sustainable development, standards that are being used in the completion and submission of such reports, and the main directions of further implementation along with application of international standards. In recent years, the submission of reports on sustainable development has become increasingly relevant as a significant indicator of the enterprise’s activities within the framework of corporate social responsibility and the directedness towards international ideas for reporting information on economic, social and environmental indicators for making operational managerial decisions. Therefore, the introduction and adaptation of international standards to national and sectoral documents, which are the basis for reporting on sustainable development, becomes especially relevant. The network principle of trade over the past decade has acquired a special development, so that retail chains, as a significant indicator of the socio-economic standard of living, need special attention in the context of the introduction of sustainable development reporting. The study results in defining the needs of stakeholders regarding the information received, which is determined by three main directions: economic, social and ecological, which is further necessary in determining the attractiveness of the enterprise in order to participate in the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) processes. The analysis of implementation of reports on sustainable development in Ukraine and the world is carried out; active participants in these processes are identified; distribution by areas of application of reports on sustainable development by enterprises of Ukraine is accomplished. The main content of existing international standards, according to which the report on sustainable development is submitted, is determined. Further research will allow to develop recommendations for the implementation of this type of reporting, internal methods of auditing both the financial and the non-financial information contained in such reports, and typical methods of auditing these indicators.