Evolution of auditor’s report in the focus of sustainable development of socio-economic systems

Abstract

The article presents two focuses on the study of the evolution of the audit report. The first is the study of the audit report as an indicator characterizing the sustainability of such a socio-economic system as audit. The second is the study of the audit report as a factor contributing to the growth of trust and increase the information value of reporting for the sustainable development of both separate economic entities and socio-economic systems. The authors established a framework for the functioning of audit as a socio-economic system, which allowed assess the sustainability of this system in dynamics. Based on the analysis of statistical information the authors formulated the proposals on some key matters of the Russian audit. The first is the necessity to clarify the subject and scope of audit activities, taking into account the current needs of audit services consumers and analysis of practice. The second is the possibility of expanding the format of the audit report on the financial statements for different groups of audited entities. The third is the expansion of the practice of performing the audit engagements on non-financial reporting. The authors recognized the evolution of standards, but at the same time, they raised the question of the need to study the effects of changes in the regulation of the audit report. The authors' approach to the audit report investigation launched the prospects for further research. They covers analysis of the contradictions between the audited entity requirements and stakeholders requirements for the audit report; and assessment of the impact of audit report under the standard form on the satisfaction of various groups of the financial statements users, taking into account the considerable differences and contradictions in their requirements.