Glossary›Connection to the financial statements›Connected information
Glossary term
Cluster F · F1
Tier 1 · differentiator
Connected information
Definition
Connected information is the requirement that an entity’s sustainability report and financial report tell one consistent story about the same business. The data, assumptions and judgements used in the climate disclosures should be consistent with those used in the financial statements, and where they differ the entity should be able to explain why.
On this page
In practice
The idea is straightforward and the execution is where first-year reporters get caught. The two reports are usually produced by different people, on different timelines, using different source data, and nobody reads them side by side until the assurer does.
The connections that most often break: the useful life or impairment assumption for an asset the climate disclosures describe as at risk; the growth assumption in a value-in-use calculation set against a transition scenario that assumes the opposite; a restructuring provision in the accounts driven by a decision the climate disclosures describe as a transition action; and a group structure in the sustainability report that does not match the consolidated group in the financial statements.
What the assurer does with it
Both auditors must consider material inconsistency between the two reports. In practice the sustainability assurance provider reads the financial statements, the directors’ report and the market announcements, and looks for anything that contradicts the climate statements. ASIC has emphasised that entities should use information they already have, including prior disclosures in the financial report and ASX announcements about climate impacts on assets and operations. That is worth reading as a warning: an entity that has already told the market a site is exposed to flood risk, and does not say so in its climate statements, has created an inconsistency it put on the record itself.
Sources
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2
ASSA 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements
AUASB
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4
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Registered company auditor with financial reporting expertise
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster F, Connection to the financial statements
6 terms on where the sustainability report meets the audited accounts. Small cluster, high consequence: this is where both assurers cross-check each other’s work.
Related terms
The assurance procedure that tests whether the connection actually holds
The AASB S2 disclosure that most often has to tie to a number in the accounts
The Corporations Act report the connection is tested against
Related questions
How do we tie our emissions data back to the general ledger?
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You reconcile the spend or volume behind each emissions source to the ledger accounts that record it, and you document the differences. It is not a perfect tie and it is not meant to be. The point is completeness: the ledger is the only population in the business already complete and already audited, so it is the natural control total for showing nothing has been left out.
What will our auditor actually ask for?
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In year one they ask for evidence behind the disclosures that are actually assured: Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, your governance disclosures, and the specified strategy paragraphs on climate risks and opportunities. In practice that means source documents, a calculation they can rebuild from those documents, and minutes showing the governance you described actually happened.
What is the materiality threshold for climate disclosures?
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There is no prescribed number. Under AASB S2, information is material if omitting or misstating it could reasonably be expected to influence users’ decisions. Separately, your assurance practitioner sets a quantitative materiality for testing, and the two are related but different.
Where this sits commercially
Most glossaries define connected information as a principle. This page states the four connections that break in practice and what the assurer reads to find them.
Other terms in this cluster