Before the auditor arrives: Building assurance-ready reporting for CSRD and beyond

For large companies, assurance accounts for up to two-thirds of recurring CSRD compliance costs (EFRAG, December 2025). Most of that spend is shaped by decisions made months before the auditor arrives. Where evidence sits, who owns each number, whether a source export can prove completeness: these are the choices that determine whether assurance runs smoothly or becomes the most expensive (and painful) part of reporting.

This practical panel will draw on real-world assurance challenges and experience from early CSRD reporting to show what companies can build before the first reporting cycle. Leaders from EFRAG, Deloitte, PwC, Liberty Global, and Watershed will share how to prepare for the questions that slow reporting down—and how to build processes that hold up across changing requirements. The conversation will focus on the failure points that create late-stage assurance work: incomplete evidence, unclear ownership, hard-to-reproduce judgments, and gaps between source systems and reported figures. Speakers will also cover which controls and documentation to build now, which processes can support multiple requirements, and what can wait.

You’ll learn:

• The common pitfalls that turn assurance into a reporting fire drill.
• Three controls to put in place before the auditor arrives.
• How to use your first reporting cycle to build a repeatable process across multiple requirements.
• What to prioritize in the next 90 days when time and budget are tight.

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