Sustainability accounting (also known as social accounting, social and environmental accounting, corporate social reporting, corporate social responsibility reporting, or non-financial reporting) originated in the 1970s[1] and is considered a subcategory of financial accounting that focuses on the disclosure of non-financial information about a firm's performance to external stakeholders, such as capital holders, creditors, and other authorities. Sustainability accounting represents the activities that have a direct impact on society, environment, and economic performance of an organisation.[2] Sustainability accounting in managerial accounting contrasts with financial accounting in that managerial accounting is used for internal decision making and the creation of new policies that will have an effect on the organisation's performance at economic, ecological, and social (known as the triple bottom line or Triple-P's; People, Planet, Profit) level. Sustainability accounting is often used to generate value creation within an organisation.[3]
Sustainability accounting is a tool used by organisations to become more sustainable. The most known widely used measurements are the Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSR) and triple bottom line accounting. These recognise the role of financial information and shows how traditional accounting is extended by improving transparency and accountability by reporting on the Triple-P's.
As a result of triple bottom level reporting, and in order to render and guarantee consistency in social and environmental information, the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) was established with the goal to provide guidelines to organisations reporting on sustainability. In some countries, guidelines were developed to complement the GRI. The GRI states that "reporting on economic, environmental and social performance by all organizations is as routine and comparable as financial reporting".[4]
In order to help finance teams and accountants embed sustainability into their accounting, King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, set up his Accounting for Sustainability project (A4S) in 2004.[5]
Scheme of sustainable development: at the confluence of three constituent parts.[6]
^Hardyment, R. (2024) Measuring Good Business: Making Sense of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Data. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. ISBN 9781032601199
^"15 Types of Accounting to Know in 2022". netsuite.com.
^Perrini, Francesco; Tencati, Antonio (September 2006). "Sustainability and stakeholder management: the need for new corporate performance evaluation and reporting systems". Business Strategy and the Environment. 15 (5): 296–308. doi:10.1002/bse.538.
^Accounting for Sustainability. "Accounting for Sustainability". Accounting for Sustainability. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
^Adams, W. M. (2006)."The Future of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment and Development in the Twenty-first Century." Report of the IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meeting, 29–31 January 2006. Retrieved on: 2009-02-16.
and 28 Related for: Sustainability accounting information
Sustainabilityaccounting (also known as social accounting, social and environmental accounting, corporate social reporting, corporate social responsibility...
The SustainabilityAccounting Standards Board (SASB) is a non-profit organization, founded in 2011 by Jean Rogers to develop sustainabilityaccounting standards...
corporate sustainability reporting and Triple Bottom Line accounting. It is necessary to address many barriers to sustainability to achieve a sustainability transition...
Social accounting (also known as social accounting and auditing, social accountability, social and environmental accounting, corporate social reporting...
development of sustainability-related financial reporting standards to meet investors' needs for sustainability reporting. In principle, sustainability-related...
sustainability topics Outline of sustainability – Overview of and topical guide to sustainability United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development...
Green accounting is said to only ensure weak sustainability, which should be considered as a step toward ultimately a strong sustainability. It is a...
scales. For organizations, sustainability measures include corporate sustainability reporting and Triple Bottom Line accounting. For countries, they include...
Carbon accounting (or greenhouse gas accounting) is a framework of methods to measure and track how much greenhouse gas (GHG) an organization emits. It...
renamed Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). An increasing number of organizations are providing frameworks for sustainability reporting and...
and SustainabilityAccounting and Management System Emisoft's Total Environmental Accounting and Management System (TEAMS) NEMS's NEMS Accounter Greenbase...
standard setters, companies, accounting bodies and UN representatives including The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project, International Federation...
This approach is called territorial-based accounting or production-based accounting. It does not take into account production of goods and services imported...
There are many methods to increase the sustainability of agriculture. When developing agriculture within sustainable food systems, it is important to develop...
between the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. Sustainability is at the center of the SDGs. The short titles of the 17...
several fields including financial accounting, management accounting, tax accounting and cost accounting. Financial accounting focuses on the reporting of an...
Paul (2010). "Accounting for sustainability: Combining qualitative and quantitative research in developing 'indicators' of sustainability". International...
growing need for integrating sustainable choices into supply-chain management. An increasing concern for sustainability is transforming how companies...
on development issues after the Cold War. Due to issues relating to sustainability being too big for individual member states to handle, Earth Summit was...
2021). "The LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) Scale Development and Validation". Sustainability. 13 (4). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing...
of sustainability applies to energy on a global scale. Working definitions of sustainable energy encompass multiple dimensions of sustainability such...
of materiality to be used in sustainability reporting and their implicatioins. The GRI and the SustainabilityAccounting Standards Board (SASB) illustrate...
"\"The Green Market Oracle\". Top Business Sustainability Trends for 2012". Top Business Sustainability Trends for 2012. Retrieved 2013-11-19. "Great...
often express their commitment to corporate sustainability through a statement of Corporate Sustainability Standards (CSS), which are usually policies...
environmental ramifications Improving transparency so that contributions to sustainability and "better regulation" are disclosed and special interest lobbying...
(2015). "Partnerships for sustainability governance: a synthesis of key themes". Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 12: 86–90. Bibcode:2015COES...
on their sustainability performance. Instead, there are a large number of NGOs working independently to develop standards for sustainability reporting...
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