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
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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.