Summary: Since the obligation of listed companies to publish non-financial and sustainability information by the EU (Directive 2014/95/EU), various frameworks for the preparation of information have been created. As part of the current revision of the CSR Directive, in addition to the standardisation of sustainability reports, mandatory audits of these reports will also be required in future. Against this background, this article analyses the audit reports (hereinafter referred to as audit reports) of German and Austrian listed companies from 2015 to 2020. In addition to audit frequency, audit firm and audit standards applied, the focus of the article is on the audit procedures communicated. This reveals a great deal of heterogeneity in audit procedures and thus in audit practice, which can be observed in many sub-areas both in a country comparison and between audit firms.
The article will soon be published in "Betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis".