Non-financial reporting of companies and the necessity of its confirmation by auditors in Ukraine

Abstract

The relevance of the study is caused by the fact that the non-financial reporting of business entities and the intensification of process of globalization are becoming nowadays an important source of information for making managerial decisions by different groups of stakeholders. The process of its implementation, definition of types, forms and content remains legally unregulated for Ukraine. A process of its audit requires a systemic solution and an appropriate independent audit opinion.The purpose of the article is to summarize the European and international experience in the field of regulation of drawing up and publication of non-financial reporting, to work out problems of its content definition and to provide proposals for the regulation of these issues in Ukraine, to define the recommended groups of indicators, and to ground the main directions and tasks of their audit.It is proposed to create a general concept for the implementation and development of non-financial reporting in Ukraine, which may require the adoption of the future Law of Ukraine “On Public Non-Financial Reporting”, national standards for its preparation, and relevant methodological recommendations for their implementation. The directions of development of theoretical, organizational and methodical issues of audit of non-financial reporting are provided.A number of valid normative acts of the Audit Chamber of Ukraine in terms of the regulation of audit of non-financial reporting and improvement of professional qualifications of specialists require clarification and accompaniments.

Practice of Non-Financial Reports Assurance Services in the Polish Audit Market—The Range, Limits and Prospects for the Future

“…The small percentage of audit firms conducting audits of non-financial reports is influenced, among others, by the specificity of this service, which requires certain qualifications to perform it. Petryk et al (2018) suggest that due to, 'the fundamentally new direction of the work of auditors, there is a need for highly skilled professionals who are able to provide a qualitative audit of non-financial reporting. Therefore, the training of specialists in the field of audit of social responsibility or audit of non-financial reporting is relevant'.…”

“…Therefore, the training of specialists in the field of audit of social responsibility or audit of non-financial reporting is relevant'. A possible solution, implicated by these authors in their article dealing with the assurance of non-financial information by auditors in Ukraine, is to launch a plan of trainings for auditors by the Audit Chamber of Ukraine under the umbrella of a continual professional skills improvement programme for auditors with courses in specific fields, followed by certification of professionals in this area (Petryk et al 2018). In our opinion, the same solution could be implemented in Poland as well, and specialist trainings and certification of auditors in the field of non-financial information verification and assurance might be conducted by the Polish Chamber of Statutory Auditors.…”

“…What seems to be lacking are comprehensive studies discussing the same question from the point of view of audit firms. Some recent publications across the world that raise the subject of auditing non-financial reports are by ; Sonnerfeldt et al (2020); Pucheta-Martinez et al (2018); Petryk et al (2018); Dal Maso et al (2020); Kaspina and Samoilova (2020); Cohen and Simnett (2015); Manetti and Toccafondi (2012); Lam and Khare (2010); Coram et al (2009); Manetti and Becatti (2009); Rivière-Giordano (2007) et al…”

“…The authors offer ideas for future research directly linked to the proposed Guidance of the IAASB on EER assurance'. Petryk et al (2018) review European and international experiences with respect to regulations governing the drawing up and issuing non-financial reports. They also present proposed regulations and solutions for non-financial reporting in Ukraine.…”

Accounting systems in developing countries under sustainability: first glance from Ukraine and Ghana

“…This challenge determines the direction of transformation of these systems not only in developed countries (as traditionally considered in academic sources (Cheng et al, 2014; Eccles et al, 2010; Eccles & Saltzman, 2011; Dragu, & Tiron-Tudor, 2013)). It begins to play an important role in developing countries (Ioannou & Serafeim, 2011), in particular Ghana (Toit et al, 2014), Tsamenyi et al (2007) and Ukraine (Petryk et al, 2018;Makarenko & Sirkovska, 2017, Mynhardt et al (2017.…”