Beyond Numbers and Financials: Accounting and Corporate Sustainability

Abstract

With the evolution of industrialization and the expansion of corporations, there has been much concern about the protection of “others” interest when taking business decisions. Others include the environment, different stakeholders, future generations and the corporation itself as an abstract entity. Consequently, the powerful impact of this evolution has made the Corporate Sustainability (CS) an issue that should be considered either instrumentally to achieve the objectives of owners or normatively as a part of the organization’s goals. In this paper, we summarize the key aspects of sustainability that are embedded in the accounting research and practice. We firstly look at the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), including Environmental Accounting (EA), as a vital starting point for the CS research in Accounting. Then, we illustrate the contribution of Accounting to CS through the enhancement of governance systems, the encouragement of a long-term outlook, ensuring the reliability of financial reports and promoting the ethical and professional behavior aspects of accounting practitioners. We conclude the paper with some recommendations for future research and accounting education which may emphasize the understanding of accounting in the context of CS.

Keywords: Accounting, Corporate sustainability, Corporate Governance, Short-termism, CSR

JEL Classification: M40, G30