Social Audit Standards – Sustainability Reporting
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has issued the Social Audit Standards (SAS) for the members. These Social Audit Standards will be applicable from the date of their hosting on ICAI website. (SAS 100 should be read in conjunction with the “Preface to the Social Audit Standards” and “Framework for the Social Audit Standards”, issued by the ICAI
This Social Audit Standard relates to the thematic area of “eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality’’. The Standard aims to provide the Social Auditor with the necessary guidance in relation to independent impact assessment engagement of Social Enterprises engaged in eradicating hunger, poverty, malnutrition and inequality and the audit steps and procedures that should be applied while conducting the social impact assessment. The Standard sets out the minimum requirements to be followed while conducting impact assessment. Laws or regulations may establish additional requirements which should be followed, as applicable.
The Social Auditor should conduct a desk review of existing documents to gain further insight into the evaluation procedure and impact assessment.
The social auditor should review the evaluation questions addressed through Questionnaires, In – depth Interviews and Focused Group Discussions to assess the responses received from various stakeholders and to understand what has changed.
The Social Auditor should review the project/program documents to frame the evaluation criteria for assessing impact. Such key metrics may be collated from base-line, mid-line (monthly / quarterly) and end-line assessment (if available), respectively at the beginning, middle and end of the reporting period/project/program to effectively understand and evaluate impact.
The Social Auditor should identify the inherent limitations of the evaluation process which might have an influence on the impact assessment.
Source – https://resource.cdn.icai.org/72658srsb58573.pdf;
Source: https://www.taxscan.in/icai-issues-social-audit-standards/245984/
