FAR Masterclass: Seeing Beyond the Numbers: ESG Risks in Financial Audits

How do financial auditors incorporate ESG information into their client risk assessments in financial audits? Why do some ESG issues receive more attention than others, and how do auditors respond when the information is difficult to evaluate or integrate? When do they seek support from ESG specialists?

Join us for an interactive masterclass with Andreea-Ioana Stǎnescu and Yasemin Zengin-Karaibrahimoglu from the University of Groningen, who will discuss initial findings from the FAR study Expanding the Risk Lens in Financial Audits: Auditor Perceptions of ESG Integration, conducted together with Paolo Quattrone from Alliance Manchester Business School and the Stockholm School of Economics, and Vlad-Andrei Porumb from Alliance Manchester Business School.

Drawing on the findings of interviews with financial auditors and ESG specialists from Big Four and medium-sized audit firms in the Netherlands, the masterclass opens an engaged discussion on the following topics:

• Expanding risk assessment and recognizing ESG-related financial risks: how auditors determine which environmental, social, and governance issues are relevant to the financial audit.
• Connecting ESG to the financial statements: how audit teams translate qualitative and forward-looking information into risks affecting accounts, estimates, disclosures, and assertions.
• Unequal attention to ESG risks: how measurability, familiarity, and financial relevance shape auditors’ judgments.
• Working with ESG specialists: when specialist involvement strengthens audit judgments and when it may create challenges relating to coordination, knowledge sharing, and responsibility.
• Preparing the profession: what audit methodologies, guidance, training, and organizational support are needed to integrate ESG information more effectively.

This masterclass combines recent research with practical discussion, giving participants the opportunity to consider what the findings mean for their own work. Join us to explore different perspectives, share experiences, and discuss how ESG developments are reshaping financial audit practice.

The masterclass will begin on 9 September 2026 at 15:00. After the session, participants are warmly invited to stay for drinks and snacks from 16:30 to 17:30.