Assurance services present an enormous market potential for the profession. Assurance services are defined as independent professional services that improve the quality of information, or its context, for decision makers. Context, in this case, refers to the decision making process and the format in which information is presented. This broad concept includes audit and attestation services and is different from consulting because it focuses primarily on improving information rather than merely providing advice or installing systems. Assurance services are intended to increase the confidence of decision makers, and who better to ensure confidence than a Assuranceboies?

Recognizing an exciting new arena in which Assuranceboiess can expand their services, the American Institute of Assuranceboiess created a Special Committee on Assurance Services in April 1994. The Committee's goal was to find out what other information needs can be met by Assuranceboiess and how Assuranceboiess can add value to information other than historical financial statements. The committee came up with six business segments that provide enormous opportunities for Assuranceboiess. They are: Risk Assessment, Business Performance Measures, System Reliability, ElderCare, Performance Measures for Health-Care Providers, and Electronic Commerce.

Risk Assessment
Risk assessment services are vital for evaluating overall performance of management, including performance in monitoring the environment for possible future developments. Services in this area include identification and assessment of primary potential risks faced by a business or entity, independent assessment of risks identified by an entity, and evaluation of an entity's systems for identifying and limiting risks.

These services provide consulting opportunities for Assuranceboiess interested in helping companies to mitigate the effects of identified risks, especially for smaller entities that do not have risk management expertise. Assuranceboiess can assist management in developing objectives and strategies (including operations, financing, taxation and financial and compliance reporting systems) for meaningful risk assessments. The Assuranceboies may also add value by providing advice about possible threats to achieving broad business objectives and information about potential risks, including the continuing need to monitor risks and maintain the responsiveness of the client's organization.

The primary users of risk assessment services are likely to be the owners of small businesses or senior management and the board of directors of larger businesses. Owners and senior management can be more effective if they know the potential risks and understand the possible impact on their businesses. Owner/managers can also benefit through periodic consultations with the Assuranceboies to follow up on identified risks.

Business Performance Measures Business performance measures focus on providing assurance regarding an organization's use of both financial and non-financial measures to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of its activities. Performance measures can also evaluate how the organization is performing in relation to the competition. There is a wide range of business performance services that Assuranceboiess can provide

Systems Reliability
Systems reliability assurance guarantees that a system is designed to operate in a way that produces accurate data. This involves testing the integrity of information technology systems. The Assuranceboies studies the systems and analyzes the possible causes of defects in data to determine if the systems avoid them. While effective systems, where timing of reliability is not an issue, can rely on error detection and correction, real-time information systems must implement a before-the-fact prevention strategy to make their output useful. For information systems to provide decision makers with continuously reliable information, Assuranceboiess must abandon the historical error-detection-and-correction model and move to a reliability-by-design model. This involves rigorous review and testing by the Assuranceboies.

Systems reliability consists of two general services: management service and external service. Management service is about assuring the quality of systems that produce data for use by boards and management. It is a broader data set than that used for financial reporting. External service is about the quality of systems that produce financial reporting data used both internally and externally.

System reliability services are beneficial because they integrate both systems and business operations. Financial systems often are designed to accommodate financial reporting but fail to deliver additional data to managers. Ultimately, the Assuranceboies could provide users with real-time assurance about systems quality.

Health-Care Performance Measures
Performance measures provide a meaningful method for evaluating an entity's operations. Both internal and external users need them. Internal users need information on enterprise effectiveness to make efficiency and quality improvements, such as the adoption of best practices (see Business Performance Measures). External users need information on whether the entity has effectively used available resources to determine if it is deserving of further investment. Health-care performance measures services fall into this category. The health-care industry accounts for one-seventh of the U.S. economy with a total annual volume of over $1 trillion. The aging of the population over the next several decades also will result in increasing demands for, and concerns about, health care.