Auditors’ search for meaningfulness in sustainability assurance work

This paper explores the development of sustainability assurance (SA) from its inception in corporate transactions to its current integration as a standard practice within organizations. It emphasizes the crucial role played by the accounting industry in shaping this evolution, by establishing credibility for SA and expanding its reach to new stakeholders. Additionally, it notes that beyond business motives, promoting SA can enhance a  firm’s reputation for  responsible capitalism and appeal to professionals seeking purposeful employment. The study views SA not merely as organizational expansion but as a moral search for meaningfulness by auditors, managing the alignment between SA work and their value system. This focus on auditors’ meaningfulness contrasting with depictions of auditors as lacking purpose and challenges discursive processes within accounting firms.

For more information, please access the following link: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/QRAM-10-2022-0161/full/html?casa_token=siVRl5eU1nkAAAAA:gluI3VpXBT81yuk-cnIv4gDV9wXKWpXPtCmnN5SuNlLKt6QGyjj9AphdpXUshcDS792AKYyAP4xVhkEl1h0UNr7cQXFkbD67LBDyuO8u89ZJNRyigZ4A

This paper is published in Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management

Authors: Camille Gaudy, Bertrand Malsch

Camille Gaudy, Assistant Professor, Tbs-Education, Toulouse, France


Bertrand Malsch, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada