Do Financial Statement Auditors Recognise ESG-Related Aspects as Key Audit Matters?

Abstract

One of the recent trends in ESG (which stands for Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) is an attempt to combine sustainability and financial reporting through direct references to financial statement figures (cf. the ED IFRS S1, S2, the CSRD). This article aims to verify whether it is possible. For this reason, it was assumed that Key Audit Matters (KAMs) identified by financial statement auditors might be a valuable source of information. Identification of ESG-related KAMs by auditors may prove that ESG information is directly traceable to a financial statement and, thus, quantifiable. The empirical part was based on 142 audit reports on the consolidated financial statements for 2021. The sample focused on ESG-related capital groups with the parent entity listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. 292 KAMs were obtained, among which 38 (13.01% of the sample) were identified as ESG-related (32 Environmental, 1 Social, and 5 Governance). This research paper: (1) confirms that it is possible to link ESG matters and their outcomes directly to financial statement categories, (2) shows that some areas could be more challenging to quantify, for example, social or governance aspects which may not be seen directly as a financial statement category, (3) comments on KAMs as a good information source if well-written. The article underlines that any attempts to combine sustainability and financial reporting might be demanding. The ESG-exposed businesses are privileged here as their financial statements naturally present ESG-related categories. However, it raises further questions about the presentation, comparability, and integrated reporting quality of all entities, which will have to consider financial and ESG linkages in the future. This article does not answer these questions, is limited to the perspective of KAMs, and, thus, touches only on identified financial statement categories. The article, with its findings, may be important to standard-setters, companies, and other researchers contributing to ESG, financial reporting, and financial audit.