Glossary›Assurance, audit evidence and working papers›Cut-off (period allocation)
Glossary term
Cluster A · A30
Tier 2 · differentiator
Cut-off (period allocation)
Definition
In a climate assurance engagement, cut-off is the assertion that activity has been recorded in the correct reporting period. Emissions data often arrives on billing cycles that do not match the financial year, so an electricity invoice can straddle 30 June. Assurers test cut-off by examining invoices either side of year end and the apportionment applied.
On this page
In practice
Cut-off is a bigger issue in emissions than in financial reporting, because utility billing periods are irregular, often quarterly, and rarely aligned to month end. Two common approaches are pro-rating the straddling invoice by days, or using the meter reading dates directly. Either is acceptable. Using both inconsistently across sites is not.
What the assurer does with it
The assurer selects invoices around year end and checks the apportionment. They also check the prior year and following year treatment for consistency, because a change in cut-off approach creates an artificial movement that has nothing to do with actual emissions. State the cut-off policy in the basis of preparation and apply it uniformly.
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 companion assertion about what is in the figure
The rule that fixes which period applies
The quantities being allocated between periods
Related questions
What evidence do we need for each emissions number?
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Every reported number needs a source document you did not create for the report, the activity data drawn from it, the emission factor and its published edition, and the calculation joining them. Fleet fuel needs litres from fuel card statements, electricity needs kWh by site from retailer invoices with the matching state factor, and refrigerants need kilograms by gas type from service records.
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.
Other terms in this cluster
Cut-off (period allocation)