Social Accounting Standards

By Rubini Steffi 09ac35

Social Accounting Standards

‘Social accounting is a systematic means of accounting for the social impact of an organisation.It requires that enterprises look closely at all that it does and what kind of impact its activities have on people, places, and the environment.’

Purpose

• Social accounting challenges conventional accounting, in particular financial accounting,

• 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.

• Social accounting also goes by the names non-financial reporting and sustainability accounting.

Benefits …

• Supports and facilitates the pursuit of society's objectives.

• Society is seen to profit from implementing a social and environmental approach to accounting 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.

Process of Social Accounting• Step 1 Planning: In the first stage of Social Accounting, the

organisation clarifies its mission, objectives and activities as well as its underpinning values. what it does, why and how it does it, and who it works with and whom it seeks to benefit.

• Step 2 Accounting: a report on performance and impact against its values and its objectives, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative. The information is then brought together and analysed.

• Step 3 Reporting and auditing: • draft of the social accounts. • (a Social Audit Panel) then review this document to check that the

report is based on information that has been properly gathered and interpreted.

Social Accounting .. A widespread practise

• Social accounting is carried out in a number of large organizations in the United Kingdom. 

• Royal Dutch Shell, • BP, • British Telecom, • The Co-operative Bank, • The Body Shop•  United Utilities• Traidcraft plc• Friends Provident Plc.

FTSE4 Good Index Series

• FTSE4Good Index Series• The FTSE is the Financial Times Stock Exchange

Index • Companies that meet corporate social

responsibility standards are allowed to be members of that series.

• Companies are included on the basis of their environmental record.

Which British companies are on the FTSE4Good list?

•

FRIENDS PROVIDENT PLC ‘S SOCIAL ACCOUTING

Women discover the real secret of growing old happily 05 Apr 07  Women discover the real secret of growing old happily . Being old or young is more about how you feel rather than your actual age, according to a major new report commissioned by FTSE 100 life and pensions company Friends Provident.

Work really is the secret of eternal youth 05 Apr 07  Work really is the secret of eternal youth . The UK's pensioners have discovered the secret of eternal youth and are turning long-held stereotypes on their head, according to a major new report commissioned by FTSE 100 life and pensions

Body Shop Social Accounting

Ban on animal testing

Traid Craft Social Accounting

• Set up as a Christian organization and they seek to reflect this in their approach to work

• It is a Christian approach to charity• They draw their inspiration from the life and

teaching of Jesus, his death and resurrection.

Traid Craft Social Accounting

Traidcraft's social accounts are based on a step by step approach:

• Define social objectives and ethical values of the organisation

• Be clear about who are the stakeholders of the organisation

• Establish indicators• Measure performance against the indicators

• Gain the views of stakeholders• Report all of the above in as balanced a

manner as possible • Submit the report to independent audit • Publish the report • Gain feedback from stakeholders on the

report’s findings

Royal Dutch Shell social Accounting

• The new shell technology centre amsterdam in Netherlands is almost CO2 neutral

• Water reduction usage from 224 million cubic metres to 198 million cubic metres in 2008.

• Launched a clear set of requirements for their approach to health, safety, security, environment

• Spent $132 million on social investment

British Telecom Social Accounting

• Based in the UK – largest provider of telecommunication in the world

• Radical approach to the problem of outdated payphone service

• Old, coin operated red telephone v/s card operated phones

• New designs more accessible to wheelchair users

• Stressed the need of disabled people.