An assurance engagement is an engagement in which a practitioner expresses a conclusion designed to enhance the degree of confidence of the intended users other than the responsible party about the outcome of the evaluation or measurement of a subject matter against criteria.’ Assurance engagements are generally voluntary but may be a requirement imposed on the entity by another party.
Examples of assurance engagements include:
• Annual external audit of procurement records (‘statutory’ assurance)
• Half-year review of results
• Going concern review
• Review of effectiveness of an entity’s procurement IT system
• Review of compliance with corporate governance requirements
An assurance report provides the following benefits to the users of procurement information:
• Independent opinion from an external source that enhances the credibility of the information
• Management bias is reduced
• Modified opinion draws attention to risk
• The relevance of the information may be improved by the expertise and knowledge of the assurance firm.
