Deloitte issued the first enhanced auditor’s report in the UK in May 2013 in the Vodafone Group Plc accounts. These reports are now compulsory under new Corporate Governance requirements for listed companies. We wanted to be at the forefront of providing greater insight to our clients and their wider stakeholders and therefore worked with Vodafone Group Plc to adopt this reporting a year earlier than required.

The enhanced report delivers far greater shareholder value, opening the black-box of audit to discuss the assessment of risks to the audit and how these risks are addressed by the auditor. It also provides an explanation of the materiality applied by the auditor and a detailed view of the scoping of the group audit, highlighting which components of a group are within the audit scope and to what extent. It provides links through which investors can better engage with the business and understand the audit results, all helping to deliver greater value.

Guy Jubb of Standard Life Investments, an investor in Vodafone, told us: 

“Last week I met Vodafone's Chairman and conveyed to him our appreciation of the approach taken by the Company to providing informative audit and assurance insights in its 2013 Annual Report. I commend Deloitte for taking a lead in providing an auditor commentary, and I trust you will encourage other audit committees with whom you interact to commission similar commentaries.”