What is een Assurance Report?
In a time when transparency and reliability are essential, an Assurance Report provides certainty about the accuracy and reliability of business information and processes. This report helps organizations build trust with customers, investors and regulators.
Assurance Statement
An Assurance Report is an independent statement from an auditor that confirms the reliability and accuracy of specific information or processes within an organization. This report plays a vital role in building trust with customers, regulators and investors. An Assurance Statement demonstrates that an organization complies with relevant standards and regulations.
Why is an Assurance Report important?
An Assurance Report offers multiple benefits to organizations, including:
- Increased trust – Stakeholders gain transparency into internal processes and controls;
- Regulatory compliance – In many industries, an Assurance Report is required to comply with laws and regulations;
- Effective risk management – An independent evaluation identifies risks and areas for improvement, which strengthens internal control.
Types of Assurance Statements
An Assurance Statement can vary based on the type of assurance provided:
- Reasonable assurance – Provides a high level of assurance, such as in financial audits;
- Limited assurance – Provides a moderate level of assurance, often used in assessment assignments;
- No assurance – The auditor simply reports findings without drawing a conclusion about reliability.
In addition, there are specific standards that are applied to different situations:
- ISAE 3402 – For service organizations that perform processes with an impact on financial reporting;
- ISAE 3000 – For non-financial Assurance assignments, such as sustainability reporting.
When is an Assurance Report required?
In some sectors, an Assurance Report is required by law. Some examples:
- Educational institutions – Secondary vocational training courses must submit an annual Assurance Report to verify funding data;
- Investment firms – Organizations that manage client funds must submit an annual Assurance Report on asset segregation to the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).
How do I obtain an Assurance Report?
Obtaining an Assurance Report or Statement involves several steps:
- Preparation – Identifying the processes to be evaluated and collecting documentation;
- Selecting an independent auditor – Choosing a qualified auditor with expertise in the relevant domain;
- Performing the audit – The auditor performs tests and checks to verify compliance with standards;
- Reporting – Drawing up the Assurance report with the findings and conclusions.
We cordially invite you to discuss the possibilities for your organization with one of our experts.
Spar with our expertsIT Assurance and SOC-compliance
With increasing digitalization, IT Assurance is becoming increasingly important. IT Assurance focuses on evaluating IT systems and processes to ensure that they are effective, reliable and secure.
One of the most important standards within IT Assurance is SOC 2 compliance, which focuses on:
- Security of data;
- Availability of data;
- Integrity;
- Confidentiality;
- Privacy of customer data.
SOC 2 involves an evaluation of controls over a longer period to measure effectiveness and consistency. Companies can also opt for SOC 1, which involves the assessment of controls at a specific point in time.
Sometimes these audits are called SOC 2 type I and type II. However, this does not correspond to the actual names of SOC 1 and SOC 2 respectively.