A PROPOSED NON-TRADITIONAL ATTESTATION SERVICE FOR PROVISION BY CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
This research identifies a non-traditional attestation service proposed for certified public accounts to offer to selected clients. The proposed attestation service does not involve the issue of fairness in financial statements.
Attestation occurs when a certified public accountant is engaged to issue a written communication expressing a conclusion about the reliability of a written assertion that is the responsibility of another party (Messier, 2000). Attestation services can involve both financial statement audits and non-financial statement audits (Konrath, 2002). As stated above, this research focuses on non-traditional, non-financial statement audits.
The presentation of the findings of this research involves four separate but related issues and factors. These issues and factors are as follows: (1) identification of the proposed non-traditional attestation service; (2) the probable market for the non-traditional attestation service; (3) a detailed audit program for the non-traditional attestation services; and (4) an example engagement letter for the proposed non-traditional attestation service, together with an example attestation report.
Identification of Non-Traditional Attestation Service
A growing need for attestation involves so-called green accounting. Green accounting is a contentious issue that is not characterized by a generally accepted definition. Some advocates of green accounting contend that it should be applied at the national-level, while others contend that it should be applied at the company-level, and still others contend that it should not be applied at all (Vellinga & Withagen, 1996). The non-traditional attestation service proposed in this research involves green accounting at the company-level.
At the company-level, green accounting involves assertions by companies of the extent of the finan...