Social accounting
Encyclopedia
Social accounting is the process of communicating the social and environmental effects of organizations' economic actions to particular interest groups within society and to society at large.
Social accounting is commonly used in the context of business, or corporate social responsibility
(CSR), although any organisation, including NGOs, charities, and government agencies may engage in social accounting.
Social accounting emphasises the notion of corporate accountability
. D. Crowther defines social accounting in this sense as "an approach to reporting a firm’s activities which stresses the need for the identification of socially relevant behaviour, the determination of those to whom the company is accountable for its social performance and the development of appropriate measures and reporting techniques."
Social accounting is often used as an umbrella term
to describe a broad field of research and practice. The use of more narrow terms to express a specific interest is thus not uncommon. Environmental accounting may e.g. specifically refer to the research or practice of accounting for an organisation's impact on the natural environment
. Sustainability accounting is often used to express the measuring and the quantitative analysis of social and economic sustainability
.
and organizations, and thus artificially constraining the subject of accounting.
Social accounting, a largely normative
concept, seeks to broaden the scope of accounting in the sense that it should:
It points to the fact that companies influence their external environment (both positively and
negatively) through their actions and should therefore account for these effects as part of their standard
accounting practices. Social accounting is in this sense closely related to the economic concept of externality
.
Social accounting offers an alternative account of significant economic entities. It has the "potential to expose the tension between pursuing economic profit and the pursuit of social and environmental objectives".
The purpose of social accounting can be approached from two different angles, namely for management control purposes or accountability
purposes.
These objectives can be manifold but can typically be described in terms of social and environmental desirability and sustainability
.
In order to make informed choices on these objectives, the flow of information in society in general, and in accounting in particular, needs to cater for democratic decision-making.
In democratic systems, Gray argues, there must then be flows of information in which those controlling the resources provide accounts to society of their use of those resources: a system of corporate accountability.
Society is seen to profit from implementing a social and environmental approach to accounting in a number of ways, e.g.:
Because social accounting is concerned with substantial self-reporting on a systemic level, individual reports are often referred to as social audits.
Organizations are seen to benefit from implementing social accounting practices in a number of ways, e.g.:
According to BITC
the "process of reporting on responsible businesses performance to stakeholders" (i.e. social accounting) helps integrate such practices into business practices, as well as identifying future risks and opportunities.
The management control view thus focuses on the individual organization.
Critics of this approach point out that the benign nature of companies is assumed. Here, responsibility, and accountability, is largely left in the hands of the organization concerned.
Social accounting also questions the reduction of all meaningful information to financial form. Financial data is seen as only one element of the accounting language.
. While companies' efforts in this regard are usually commended, there seems to be a tension between voluntary reporting and accountability, for companies are likely to produce reports favouring their interests.
The re-arrangement of social and environmental data companies already produce as part of their normal reporting practice into an independent social audit is called a silent or shadow account.
An alternative phenomenon is the creation of external social audits by groups or individuals independent of the accountable organisation and typically without its encouragement. External social audits thus also attempt to blur the boundaries between organisations and society and to establish social accounting as a fluid two-way communication process. Companies are sought to be held accountable regardless of their approval. It is in this sense that external audits part with attempts to establish social accounting as an intrinsic feature of organisational behaviour. The reports of Social Audit Ltd in the 1970s on e.g. Tube Investments, Avon Rubber and Coalite and Chemical, laid the foundations for much of the later work on social audits.
It is generally agreed that social accounting will cover an organisation's relationship with the natural environment
, its employees, and ethical issues concentrating upon consumers and products, as well as local and international communities. Other issues include corporate action on questions of ethnicity and gender
.
A stakeholder of an organisation is anyone who can influence or is influenced by the organisation. This often includes, but is not limited to, suppliers of inputs, employees and trade unions, consumers
, members of local communities, society at large and governments.
Different stakeholders have different rights of information. These rights can be stipulated by law
, but also by non-legal codes, corporate values, mission statements and moral rights.
The rights of information are thus determined by "society, the organisation and its stakeholders".
. Although environmental accounting is most commonly undertaken as voluntary self-reporting by companies, third-party reports by government agencies, NGOs and other bodies posit to pressure for environmental accountability.
Accounting for impacts on the environment may occur within a company’s financial statements
, relating to liabilities, commitments and contingencies for the remediation of contaminated lands or other financial concerns arising from pollution
. Such reporting essentially expresses financial issues arising from environmental legislation.
More typically, environmental accounting describes the reporting of quantitative and detailed environmental data within the non-financial sections of the annual report
or in separate (including online) environmental reports. Such reports may account for pollution emissions, resources used, or wildlife habitat damaged or re-established.
In their reports, large companies commonly place primary emphasis on eco-efficiency
, referring to the reduction of resource and energy use and waste production per unit of product or service. A complete picture which accounts for all inputs, outputs and wastes of the organisation, must not necessarily emerge. Whilst companies can often demonstrate great success in eco-efficiency, their ecological footprint, that is an estimate of total environmental impact, may move independently following changes in output.
Legislation for compulsory environmental reporting exists in some form e.g. in Denmark
, Netherlands
, Australia
and Korea
. The United Nations
has been highly involved in the adoption of environmental accounting practices, most notably in the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development publication Environmental Management Accounting Procedures and Principles (2002).
. Royal Dutch Shell
, BP
, British Telecom, The Co-operative Bank, The Body Shop
, and United Utilities
all publish independently audited social and sustainability accounts.
In many instances the reports are produced in (partial or full) compliance with the
sustainability reporting guidelines set by the Global Reporting Initiative
(GRI).
Traidcraft
plc, the fair trade organisation, claims to be the first public limited company
to publish audited social accounts in the UK, starting in 1993.
The website of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research
contains a collection of exemplary reporting practices and social audits.
Companies may seek to adopt a social accounting format that is audience specific and appropriate. For example, H&M
, asks stakeholders how they would like to receive reports on its website; Vodafone
publishes separate reports for 11 of its operating companies as well as publishing an internal report in 2005; Weyerhaeuser
produced a tabloid-size, four-page mini-report in addition to its full sustainability report.
's predecessor, the American Accounting Association
and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
.
Business-representative bodies, e.g. the Confederation of British Industry
, likewise approached the issue.
Abt Associates, the American consultancy firm, is one of the most cited early examples of businesses that experimented with social accounting. In the 1970s Abt Associates conducted a series of social audits incorporated into its annual reports. The social concerns addressed included "productivity, contribution to knowledge, employment security, fairness of employment opportunities, health, education and self-development, physical security, transportation, recreation, and environment". The social audits expressed Abt Associates performance in this areas in financial terms and thus aspired to determine the company's net social impact in balance sheet form. Other examples of early applications include Laventhol and Horwath, then a reputable accounting firm, and the First National Bank of Minneapolis (now U.S. Bancorp).
Yet social accounting practices were only rarely codified in legislation. The French bilan social and the British 2006 Companies Act poses a significant exception. Interest in social accounting cooled off in the 1980s and was only resurrected in the mid-1990s, partly nurtured by growing ecological and environmental awareness.
Social accounting is commonly used in the context of business, or corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
(CSR), although any organisation, including NGOs, charities, and government agencies may engage in social accounting.
Social accounting emphasises the notion of corporate accountability
Accountability
Accountability is a concept in ethics and governance with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving...
. D. Crowther defines social accounting in this sense as "an approach to reporting a firm’s activities which stresses the need for the identification of socially relevant behaviour, the determination of those to whom the company is accountable for its social performance and the development of appropriate measures and reporting techniques."
Social accounting is often used as an umbrella term
Umbrella term
An umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of concepts that all fall under a single common category. Umbrella term is also called a hypernym. For example, cryptology is an umbrella term that encompasses cryptography and cryptanalysis, among other fields...
to describe a broad field of research and practice. The use of more narrow terms to express a specific interest is thus not uncommon. Environmental accounting may e.g. specifically refer to the research or practice of accounting for an organisation's impact on the natural environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
. Sustainability accounting is often used to express the measuring and the quantitative analysis of social and economic sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
.
Purpose
Social accounting challenges conventional accounting, in particular financial accounting, for giving a narrow image of the interaction between societySociety
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and organizations, and thus artificially constraining the subject of accounting.
Social accounting, a largely normative
Norm (sociology)
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit...
concept, seeks to broaden the scope of accounting in the sense that it should:
- concern itself with more than only economic events;
- not be exclusively expressed in financial terms;
- be accountable to a broader group of stakeholders;
- broaden its purpose beyond reporting financial success.
It points to the fact that companies influence their external environment (both positively and
negatively) through their actions and should therefore account for these effects as part of their standard
accounting practices. Social accounting is in this sense closely related to the economic concept of externality
Externality
In economics, an externality is a cost or benefit, not transmitted through prices, incurred by a party who did not agree to the action causing the cost or benefit...
.
Social accounting offers an alternative account of significant economic entities. It has the "potential to expose the tension between pursuing economic profit and the pursuit of social and environmental objectives".
The purpose of social accounting can be approached from two different angles, namely for management control purposes or accountability
Accountability
Accountability is a concept in ethics and governance with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving...
purposes.
Accountability
Social accounting for accountability purposes is designed to support and facilitate the pursuit of society's objectives.These objectives can be manifold but can typically be described in terms of social and environmental desirability and sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
.
In order to make informed choices on these objectives, the flow of information in society in general, and in accounting in particular, needs to cater for democratic decision-making.
In democratic systems, Gray argues, there must then be flows of information in which those controlling the resources provide accounts to society of their use of those resources: a system of corporate accountability.
Society is seen to profit from implementing a social and environmental approach to accounting in a number of ways, e.g.:
- Honoring stakeholders' rights of information;
- Balancing corporate power with corporate responsibility;
- Increasing transparency of corporate activity;
- Identifying social and environmental costs of economic success.
Management control
Social accounting for the purpose of management control is designed to support and facilitate the achievement of an organization's own objectives.Because social accounting is concerned with substantial self-reporting on a systemic level, individual reports are often referred to as social audits.
Organizations are seen to benefit from implementing social accounting practices in a number of ways, e.g.:
- Increased information for decision-making;
- More accurate product or service costing;
- Enhanced image management and Public RelationsPublic relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
; - Identification of social responsibilities;
- Identification of market development opportunities;
- Maintaining legitimacyLegitimacyLegitimacy, from the Latin word legitimare , may refer to:* Legitimacy * Legitimacy of standards* Legitimacy * Legitimate expectation* Legitimate peripheral participation* Legitimate theater* Legitimation...
.
According to BITC
Business in the Community
Business in the Community is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the Prince's Charities of Charles, Prince of Wales....
the "process of reporting on responsible businesses performance to stakeholders" (i.e. social accounting) helps integrate such practices into business practices, as well as identifying future risks and opportunities.
The management control view thus focuses on the individual organization.
Critics of this approach point out that the benign nature of companies is assumed. Here, responsibility, and accountability, is largely left in the hands of the organization concerned.
Formal accountability
In social accounting the focus tends to be on larger organisations such as multinational corporations (MNCs), and their visible, external accounts rather than informally produced accounts or accounts for internal use. The need for formality in making MNCs accountability is given by the spatial, financial and cultural distance of these organisations to those who are affecting and affected by it.Social accounting also questions the reduction of all meaningful information to financial form. Financial data is seen as only one element of the accounting language.
Self-reporting and third party audits
In most countries, existing legislation only regulates a fraction of accounting for socially relevant corporate activity. In consequence, most available social, environmental and sustainability reports are produced voluntarily by organisations and in that sense often resemble financial statementsFinancial statements
A financial statement is a formal record of the financial activities of a business, person, or other entity. In British English—including United Kingdom company law—a financial statement is often referred to as an account, although the term financial statement is also used, particularly by...
. While companies' efforts in this regard are usually commended, there seems to be a tension between voluntary reporting and accountability, for companies are likely to produce reports favouring their interests.
The re-arrangement of social and environmental data companies already produce as part of their normal reporting practice into an independent social audit is called a silent or shadow account.
An alternative phenomenon is the creation of external social audits by groups or individuals independent of the accountable organisation and typically without its encouragement. External social audits thus also attempt to blur the boundaries between organisations and society and to establish social accounting as a fluid two-way communication process. Companies are sought to be held accountable regardless of their approval. It is in this sense that external audits part with attempts to establish social accounting as an intrinsic feature of organisational behaviour. The reports of Social Audit Ltd in the 1970s on e.g. Tube Investments, Avon Rubber and Coalite and Chemical, laid the foundations for much of the later work on social audits.
Reporting areas
Unlike in financial accounting, the matter of interest is by definition less clear-cut in social accounting; this is due to an aspired all-encompassing approach to corporate activity.It is generally agreed that social accounting will cover an organisation's relationship with the natural environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
, its employees, and ethical issues concentrating upon consumers and products, as well as local and international communities. Other issues include corporate action on questions of ethnicity and gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
.
Audience
Social accounting supersedes the traditional audit audience, which is mainly composed of a company's shareholders and the financial community, by providing information to all of the organisation's stakeholders.A stakeholder of an organisation is anyone who can influence or is influenced by the organisation. This often includes, but is not limited to, suppliers of inputs, employees and trade unions, consumers
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
, members of local communities, society at large and governments.
Different stakeholders have different rights of information. These rights can be stipulated by law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, but also by non-legal codes, corporate values, mission statements and moral rights.
The rights of information are thus determined by "society, the organisation and its stakeholders".
Environmental accounting
Environmental accounting, which is a subset of social accounting, focuses on the cost structure and environmental performance of a company. It principally describes the preparation, presentation, and communication of information related to an organisation’s interaction with the natural environmentNatural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
. Although environmental accounting is most commonly undertaken as voluntary self-reporting by companies, third-party reports by government agencies, NGOs and other bodies posit to pressure for environmental accountability.
Accounting for impacts on the environment may occur within a company’s financial statements
Financial statements
A financial statement is a formal record of the financial activities of a business, person, or other entity. In British English—including United Kingdom company law—a financial statement is often referred to as an account, although the term financial statement is also used, particularly by...
, relating to liabilities, commitments and contingencies for the remediation of contaminated lands or other financial concerns arising from pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
. Such reporting essentially expresses financial issues arising from environmental legislation.
More typically, environmental accounting describes the reporting of quantitative and detailed environmental data within the non-financial sections of the annual report
Annual report
An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance...
or in separate (including online) environmental reports. Such reports may account for pollution emissions, resources used, or wildlife habitat damaged or re-established.
In their reports, large companies commonly place primary emphasis on eco-efficiency
Eco-efficiency
The term eco-efficiency was coined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its 1992 publication "Changing Course". It is based on the concept of creating more goods and services while using fewer resources and creating less waste and pollution.The 1992 Earth Summit endorsed...
, referring to the reduction of resource and energy use and waste production per unit of product or service. A complete picture which accounts for all inputs, outputs and wastes of the organisation, must not necessarily emerge. Whilst companies can often demonstrate great success in eco-efficiency, their ecological footprint, that is an estimate of total environmental impact, may move independently following changes in output.
Legislation for compulsory environmental reporting exists in some form e.g. in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. The United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has been highly involved in the adoption of environmental accounting practices, most notably in the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development publication Environmental Management Accounting Procedures and Principles (2002).
Applications
Social accounting is a widespread practice in a number of large organisations in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
, British Telecom, The Co-operative Bank, The Body Shop
The Body Shop
The Body Shop International plc, known as The Body Shop, has 2,400 stores in 61 countries, and is the second largest cosmetic franchise in the world, following O Boticario, a Brazilian company...
, and United Utilities
United Utilities
United Utilities Group PLC is the UK's largest listed water business. The Group owns and manages the regulated water and waste water network in the north west England, through it subsidiary United Utilities Water PLC , which is responsible for the vast majority of the group's assets and...
all publish independently audited social and sustainability accounts.
In many instances the reports are produced in (partial or full) compliance with the
sustainability reporting guidelines set by the Global Reporting Initiative
Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative produces one of the world's most prevalent standards for sustainability reporting - also known as ecological footprint reporting, Environmental Social Governance reporting, Triple Bottom Line reporting, Corporate Social Responsibility reporting...
(GRI).
Traidcraft
Traidcraft
Traidcraft is a UK-based fairtrade organisation, established in 1979. The organisation has two components: a public limited company called Traidcraft plc, which sells fairly traded products in the United Kingdom; and a development charity called Traidcraft Exchange that works with poor producers in...
plc, the fair trade organisation, claims to be the first public limited company
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
to publish audited social accounts in the UK, starting in 1993.
The website of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research
Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research
The Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research is a research and networking institution in the field of social accounting...
contains a collection of exemplary reporting practices and social audits.
Format
Companies and other organisations (such as NGOs) may publish annual corporate responsibility reports, in print or online. The reporting format can also include summary or overview documents for certain stakeholders, a corporate responsibility or sustainability section on its corporate website, or integrate social accounting into its annual report and accounts.Companies may seek to adopt a social accounting format that is audience specific and appropriate. For example, H&M
H&M
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB is a Swedish retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing offerings for women, men, teenagers and children....
, asks stakeholders how they would like to receive reports on its website; Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
publishes separate reports for 11 of its operating companies as well as publishing an internal report in 2005; Weyerhaeuser
Weyerhaeuser
Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world. It is the world's largest private sector owner of softwood timberland; and the second largest owner of United States timberland, behind Plum Creek Timber...
produced a tabloid-size, four-page mini-report in addition to its full sustainability report.
History
Modern forms of social accounting first produced widespread interest in the 1970s. Its concepts received serious consideration from professional and academic accounting bodies, e.g. the Accounting Standards BoardAccounting Standards Board
The role of the Accounting Standards Board is to issue accounting standards in the United Kingdom. It is recognised for that purpose under the Companies Act 1985...
's predecessor, the American Accounting Association
American Accounting Association
The American Accounting Association is an "organization of persons interested in accounting education and research". It was formed in 1916. Its main publication, The Accounting Review, was first published in 1926. It is the principal professional association of accounting academics in the United...
and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Founded in 1887, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the national professional organization of Certified Public Accountants in the United States, with more than 370,000 CPA members in 128 countries in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student...
.
Business-representative bodies, e.g. the Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works...
, likewise approached the issue.
Abt Associates, the American consultancy firm, is one of the most cited early examples of businesses that experimented with social accounting. In the 1970s Abt Associates conducted a series of social audits incorporated into its annual reports. The social concerns addressed included "productivity, contribution to knowledge, employment security, fairness of employment opportunities, health, education and self-development, physical security, transportation, recreation, and environment". The social audits expressed Abt Associates performance in this areas in financial terms and thus aspired to determine the company's net social impact in balance sheet form. Other examples of early applications include Laventhol and Horwath, then a reputable accounting firm, and the First National Bank of Minneapolis (now U.S. Bancorp).
Yet social accounting practices were only rarely codified in legislation. The French bilan social and the British 2006 Companies Act poses a significant exception. Interest in social accounting cooled off in the 1980s and was only resurrected in the mid-1990s, partly nurtured by growing ecological and environmental awareness.
See also
- AccountancyAccountancyAccountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in...
- AccountAbility (Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility)AccountAbility (Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility)AccountAbility is an independent, global, not-for-profit organisation promoting accountability, sustainable business practices and corporate responsibility...
- Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting ResearchCentre for Social and Environmental Accounting ResearchThe Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research is a research and networking institution in the field of social accounting...
- Corporate Social ResponsibilityCorporate social responsibilityCorporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...
- Corporate sustainabilityCorporate sustainabilityCorporate sustainability is a business approach that creates long-term consumer and employee value by not only creating a "green" strategy aimed towards the natural environment, but taking into consideration every dimension of how a business operates in the social, cultural, and economic environment...
- environmental economicsEnvironmental economicsEnvironmental economics is a subfield of economics concerned with environmental issues. Quoting from the National Bureau of Economic Research Environmental Economics program:...
- Global Reporting InitiativeGlobal Reporting InitiativeThe Global Reporting Initiative produces one of the world's most prevalent standards for sustainability reporting - also known as ecological footprint reporting, Environmental Social Governance reporting, Triple Bottom Line reporting, Corporate Social Responsibility reporting...
- Natural resource economicsNatural resource economicsImage:Sustainable development.svg|right|The three pillars of sustainability. Click on image areas for more information.|thumbpoly 138 194 148 219 164 240 182 257 219 277 263 291 261 311 264 331 272 351 283 366 300 383 316 394 287 408 261 417 224 424 182 426 154 423 119 415 87 403 58 385 40 368 24...
- The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project
- Robert Hugh Gray
- Socially responsible investingSocially responsible investingSocially responsible investing , also known as sustainable, socially conscious, or ethical investing, describes an investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social good....
- Stakeholder (corporate)
- SustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
- Sustainability measurementSustainability measurementSustainability measurement is a term that denotes the measurements used as the quantitative basis for the informed management of sustainability...
- The Institute for Social Accountability
- United Nations Global Compact
External links
- Accounting for Sustainability
- Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research
- Institute for Social and Ethical AccountAbility
- Global Reporting Initiative
- Traidcraft plc
- NEC Promotion of Environmental Management
- Environmental Management Accounting International Website
- United Nations Environmental Accounting
- (http://www.socialauditnetwork.org.uk/ Social Audit Network)