Glossary›Assurance, audit evidence and working papers›Subsequent events (sustainability reporting)
Glossary term
Cluster A · A46
Tier 1 · differentiator
Subsequent events (sustainability reporting)
Definition
Subsequent events are things that happen after the reporting date but before the assurance report is signed, which affect the sustainability information. Under ASSA 5000 the practitioner must consider whether such events require the information to be adjusted or disclosed. A late emission factor revision, an acquisition or a site closure can all trigger it.
On this page
In practice
Controllers know this concept from the financial statements and assume it transfers unchanged. It mostly does, but the triggers are different and less obvious, and the window is often longer because the sustainability report is finalised late in the reporting cycle.
The events that actually arise in a first-year Australian engagement cluster into four kinds. A revision to the emission factor set after year end that changes a prior calculation. A data correction discovered after the report was drafted, typically when a site finally produces the invoices it owed. A structural change (an acquisition, disposal or site closure) that changes the boundary or makes a disclosed transition plan or target no longer accurate. And a physical or transition event, such as a flood at a disclosed-at-risk site or a change in government policy, that goes to the strategy and resilience disclosures rather than to the numbers.
The fourth kind is the one entities miss entirely. Subsequent events in a climate report are not only about the emissions figure. If you disclosed that a particular asset is exposed to a particular physical risk, and that risk materialises in February for a December year end, that is a subsequent event affecting the strategy disclosures, which are in assurance scope from year one.
The adjust-or-disclose distinction follows the applicable criteria, not the practitioner’s preference. AASB S2 and the GHG Protocol determine whether an event changes the reported period’s numbers or is disclosed as occurring after it. The practitioner evaluates whether you applied the criteria correctly, they do not set the answer.
What the assurer does with it
The practitioner performs procedures up to the date of the assurance report. Expect inquiries of management and those charged with governance about events since year end, a reading of board and committee minutes for the post-year-end period, a review of any interim emissions or operational data produced since, and a check against the financial statement audit team’s own subsequent events work where the same firm holds both engagements.
They accept an event that is identified, evaluated against the criteria, and either adjusted or disclosed with the reasoning documented. They reject an event management decided was immaterial with no analysis, and they reject a report that is silent on something the board minutes discuss.
The specific request that catches people out is minutes. The practitioner will ask for board and audit committee minutes up to the report date, including the meeting that approves the report. If minutes for recent meetings are not yet written, they will ask for drafts or for the agenda and papers. An entity that keeps minutes six weeks in arrears has a problem in the last fortnight of the engagement, every year.
After the report is signed the practitioner has no obligation to perform further procedures. But if a fact comes to their attention that existed at the report date and would have changed the conclusion, they are back in the engagement, and that conversation is far worse than the original one.
Commonly confused with
Restatement of prior-period emissions. A subsequent event affects the period currently being reported and is dealt with before the report is signed. A restatement changes a previously published figure. Both can arise from the same discovery (a factor error found after year end may adjust the current year and restate the prior one) but they are separate treatments.
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 treatment for a previously published figure
The date these procedures run up to
Where the entity confirms events were communicated
Related questions
What happens if we have to restate last year’s emissions?
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You restate the comparative and disclose what changed, why, and the effect. Restatement is expected as data improves and is not treated as a failure. What the assurance practitioner tests is whether you have a written policy setting out when you restate, and whether you applied it consistently.
What does the board have to sign?
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The directors’ declaration in the sustainability report. For financial years commencing between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2027, directors declare they have taken reasonable steps to ensure the report complies with the Corporations Act. From financial years commencing 1 January 2028, they declare their opinion that it does comply.
Other terms in this cluster
Subsequent events (sustainability reporting)