BatchWise BRSR Core Assurance — How Our Coordinated-Engagement Model Works

Why this page exists

When SEBI’s BRSR Core mandate landed, every Top 1,000 listed entity had two practical options for the assurance engagement: go to one of the Big-Four firms (the historical default for any complex regulated assurance work in India), or look for a specialist alternative.

The Big-Four route — Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC — is the safe default for any entity whose existing relationships, audit committee preferences, or governance traditions point that way. There is no shortage of reasons to pick it.

There are also reasons to pick a coordinated alternative like BatchWise. This page describes what we do, in full, so you can compare against any quote you get from a Big-Four firm — or from any other provider — on the same factual basis.

We do not claim anything about how a specific Big-Four firm operates. That is not our place to assert, and the substantiation bar under the ASCI Code is strict for any comparative claim. Instead, we publish our model transparently and invite you to compare.

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What BatchWise’s BRSR Core engagement is

Provider model

BatchWise is a coordination platform, not a Chartered Accountancy firm. Every BRSR Core engagement is performed and signed by an ICAI-empanelled partner CA firm under their own Certificate of Practice and DSC, per the SEBI BRSR Core circular requirement (SEBI/HO/CFD/CFD-SEC-2/P/CIR/2023/122 dated 12 July 2023) that the assurance be performed by an ICAI / ICAI-Cost / ICSI-empanelled professional body.

The buyer (the Top 1,000 listed entity) interacts with BatchWise for onboarding, evidence upload, status tracking, and a 72-hour SLA on the coordinated end-to-end. The buyer interacts with the assigned partner CA firm during the assurance fieldwork itself + post-signing queries.

Two operating modes are available per engagement, chosen by BatchWise based on contract / indemnity / partner preference:

• Lead handoff — the buyer contracts directly with the partner CA firm; BatchWise is an introducer
• Subcontracted reseller — BatchWise contracts the engagement; the partner CA firm performs and signs the deliverable under their own credentials

The signed BRSR Core assurance report carries the partner CA firm’s name and Certificate of Practice number — never the BatchWise name. The SEBI mandate is satisfied by the partner firm’s empanelment + signature.

Pricing

₹75,000 per BRSR Core assurance engagement (excluding GST), published on the /pricing page and on the BRSR Core Assurance service detail. Inclusions:

• The full BRSR Core assurance over the 9 mandatory attributes (Openness of Business, Spend on Wellbeing, Female Wages as % of Total Wages, POSH Complaints, Gender Diversity, GHG Intensity per Revenue, Water Withdrawal Intensity, Energy Footprint, Waste Circularity, Job Creation in Smaller Towns — see the BRSR Core glossary)
• Reasonable-assurance opinion per SAE 3000 (Revised) — ICAI’s standard for assurance over sustainability information
• One round of clarification queries against your uploaded evidence
• The signed PDF deliverable + the working-papers extract that supports the opinion

What is not in the published price: bespoke engagement scope beyond the 9 BRSR Core attributes (e.g., voluntary IFRS S2 alignment, voluntary Scope 3 verification), value-chain verification (separate engagement at ₹50,000 per supplier — see the BRSR Value Chain Verification service), pre-engagement readiness gap assessment.

Turnaround

72 hours from “complete document upload” to “signed deliverable”, per the BatchWise coordinated-engagement SLA. The SLA clock starts when the buyer’s evidence pack is fully uploaded via the document portal and the partner CA firm has confirmed completeness. Typical end-to-end engagement (from initial onboarding call to signed deliverable, including pre-upload preparation + the 72-hour SLA + clarification rounds) is 3 to 6 working days.

The 72-hour SLA is supported by two structural elements:

• A pre-structured upload workflow — the document portal guides the buyer through the exact evidence required per BRSR Core attribute, eliminating the long iterative discovery cycle that drives engagement timelines in less-structured workflows
• Dedicated partner CA firm capacity — when a buyer’s engagement is assigned, the partner CA firm reserves an assurance window specifically for it, rather than scheduling against multiple concurrent engagements

Methodology disclosure

BatchWise publishes its methodology pages publicly, indexed, and freely citable:

• Methodology hub — the full set
• NGRBC-to-BRSR metric mapping
• Document + evidence requirements
• The 9 BRSR Core attribute pages — see GHG emission intensity per revenue, Water withdrawal intensity, and the 7 others in the methodology hub

Your audit committee can review the methodology before engaging — no email capture, no NDA, no scoping call. The partner CA firm applies the published methodology consistently across engagements, which is one of the structural inputs to the 72-hour SLA.

Sample report availability

Redacted sample BRSR Core assurance report available on email request without NDA. The signed-PDF format, the working-papers extract format, and the methodology footnote can all be reviewed before any commercial commitment. Request the sample via the consultation form.

Signatory access

The assigned partner CA firm partner (the named signatory of record) is the buyer’s direct contact during the assurance fieldwork and for post-signing queries. The same partner — not a relationship manager intermediary — handles the engagement from kickoff through signing.

For the buyer’s audit committee, this means there is a single named person of record who can be invited to a board meeting to discuss the assurance, present the working papers, and respond to questions on the basis of the signed opinion.

Independence framework

The partner CA firm assignment is screened for independence relative to the buyer’s statutory auditor. Where the buyer’s statutory auditor is from a multi-service firm with sustainability advisory + assurance practices, BatchWise routes the engagement to a partner CA firm with no advisory engagement with the buyer.

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How to compare on facts

We have not made any claim about how any specific Big-Four firm operates on BRSR Core. We do not have the standing to substantiate such claims, and we do not need to — the comparison is one you can make on facts, with a quote from any Big-Four firm of your choice.

The practical checklist:

1. Request a redacted sample BRSR Core assurance report from BatchWise. Email us via the consultation form. No NDA, no commitment. Review the format + methodology footnote with your audit committee.

2. Request an engagement quote from your preferred Big-Four firm. They are responsive to RFPs and will provide a price + timeline + scope.

3. Compare the six dimensions that matter for your engagement decision:

   • Total engagement cost (ours: published; theirs: per the quote)
   • Turnaround from document-complete to signed deliverable (ours: 72-hour SLA; theirs: per the quote)
   • Methodology transparency available to the audit committee pre-engagement (ours: linked above; theirs: per their materials)
   • Sample report availability without NDA (ours: yes; theirs: per their policy)
   • Signatory access during + post-engagement (ours: single named partner; theirs: per their engagement-team model)
   • Independence relative to your statutory auditor (ours: screened; theirs: per their standard framework)

4. Compare on facts, not loyalties. If your audit committee has a strong named-firm preference for unrelated reasons (existing relationships, board-governance traditions, lender covenants written specifically to a Big-Four signatory), accept that as a factor and don’t fight it. If pricing transparency and turnaround are decisive for you, accept that too. The BRSR Core mandate is in place; both routes produce a SEBI-compliant signed report.

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When the named-firm route is the right choice

We’re not here to argue against it. If any of the following apply to you, a Big-Four BRSR Core engagement is likely the right path:

• Your statutory auditor is one of the Big-Four and your audit committee prefers a single firm-of-record relationship across audit + assurance
• Your lending covenants or investor agreements are written specifically to require a Big-Four signatory on assurance engagements
• You have a multi-jurisdiction reporting requirement (CSRD, US SEC climate disclosure, UK FCA TCFD-aligned) where global firm bench-strength helps
• You have an active or anticipated SEBI / SEC / FCA enforcement matter where the reputational premium of a named-firm signatory is material
• Engagement budget is not a primary constraint and turnaround flexibility exists

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When the BatchWise model is the right choice

• You want a fixed, published price upfront rather than a scoping-call quote
• 72-hour turnaround is preferable to a multi-week engagement for budget or operational reasons
• You want methodology transparency you can show your audit committee before engaging
• You’re a Phase-3 entity (Top 1,000 outside Top 250) doing BRSR Core for the first time and want a workflow that pre-structures your data
• You want direct access to the signing CA throughout the engagement, not through an account-management layer
• You want the assurance engagement separate from your statutory auditor for independence preference reasons
• You have a large SME value-chain to cover and want BatchWise’s value chain verification workflow running alongside a different firm handling the listed-entity BRSR Core

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What we’d encourage you to do next

• Request a sample BRSR Core assurance report — no NDA, redacted, full format visibility
• Review the BRSR Core Assurance service detail — full scope + inclusions
• Read the methodology hub — what the partner CA firm applies
• See the pricing page — every service, every price, published

The BRSR Core mandate is binding regardless of who signs your report. The right model is the one that fits your audit committee’s preferences and your operational reality. We’ve published our model in full so you can decide.