Factors hindering the conduct of audits of corporate social responsibility reports: evidence from Poland

This article presents the results of empirical research conducted among audit firms in Poland regarding the factors hindering the provision of non-financial information verification and attestation services. The rapidly developing practice of non-financial reporting among socially responsible entities in Poland does not translate into the number of reports that are subjected to external audits. Despite the unquestionable need to confirm the reliability of non-financial data, services of this type are not provided by the majority of audit firms. The primary aim of the article is to identify the factors hindering the performance of audits of non-financial reports in Poland. The article identifies the entities operating in the Polish audit market in terms of selected features. The authors provided answers to three main research questions: What percentage of audit firms in Poland carry out the verification of non-financial reports? What is the size and the level of employment of audit firms in Poland? What factors hinder, in the auditors’ practice, the performance of audits of nonfinancial reports? To achieve the objective, a survey research was conducted among audit firms under the supervision of the Polish Agency of Audit Oversight. The theoretical basis of the article included a literature study on the audit of non-financial reports as well as an analysis of regulations governing this subject matter in Poland. This study is the first such review of factors that condition the use of such an important tool as an audit in non-financial reporting. The obtained study results indicate that only 2.3% of audit firms perform audits of CSR reports. The main factor that limits audit firms in the performance of this type of services is the low demand in this regard. Moreover, the audits of non-financial reports are limited by insufficient staff