Glossary›Assurance, audit evidence and working papers›Analytical procedures
Glossary term
Cluster A · A24
Tier 2 · differentiator
Analytical procedures
Definition
Analytical procedures are assurance tests that evaluate emissions data by comparing it against expectations: prior year, budget, production volume, floor area, headcount, or a related figure in the financial statements. Unexplained variances become inquiries. In a limited assurance engagement, analytical procedures and inquiry do most of the work.
On this page
In practice
This is why limited assurance is not a light-touch nothing. A well-designed analytical procedure can detect a material misstatement without testing a single invoice, because it tests the number against something independent of the number.
The comparisons that most often produce findings are emissions per square metre across a property portfolio, fuel consumed per vehicle, and emissions per unit of production against the prior year. An entity that has not run these comparisons itself finds out about its own outliers from the assurer, late.
What the assurer does with it
The assurer forms an expectation before looking at your figure, then compares. A variance beyond a set threshold requires an explanation, and the explanation has to be corroborated, not merely accepted. An explanation the assurer cannot corroborate converts into substantive testing of that item. Running the same analytics internally before handover, and documenting the explanations, removes most of this.
Sources
1
ASSA 5000 General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements
AUASB
2
Review status
Review required
Last reviewed
15 September 2026
Editorial pass, unsigned
Reviewer required
Registered company auditor
Next scheduled review
1 July 2027
Part of
Cluster A, Assurance, audit evidence and working papers
47 terms on what an assurance provider tests, what they accept as evidence, and what a preparer has to be able to produce.
Related terms
The level at which these procedures do most of the work
The companion primary procedure
One of the comparisons the assurer runs
Related questions
Does limited assurance mean they check our numbers?
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Partly. A limited assurance engagement rests mainly on inquiry and analytical procedures, with some testing of source data, rather than a full recalculation of your inventory. The practitioner looks for anything that stands out rather than verifying every number, which is why the conclusion is worded negatively.
What does an assurance provider actually test in year one?
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In year one they test the disclosures inside the ASSA 5010 first-year scope: Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, governance disclosures, and specified strategy paragraphs on climate risks and opportunities. The work runs in a predictable order, from understanding your reporting process and your boundary, through sampling source documents and reperforming calculations, to written representations at the end.
Other terms in this cluster
Analytical procedures