1. Chapter 12 Tomorrow’s Accounting and Society’s Future
Contemporary issues in Social Accounting

2. Chapter Structure Accounting as a Social and Institutional Practice
Accounting, Ethics and the Business World
Sustainability, Socially Responsible Investment and Social Audits
Contemporary Issues of Social Accounting in the Public and Third Sectors
Cooperatives, Family Business and Tax
Future directions/paradigm change

3. Accounting as a Social and Institutional Practice
Social dimensions of accounting
Pervasive and enabling characteristics of accounting
Accounting is a calculative practice that infiltrates the contemporary world in a myriad of diverse ways
The role of accounting

4. Accounting, Ethics and the Business World
Increased need for accountability and ethical behaviour
What is ethical?
CSR in developed countries
CRS in developing countries
5 dimensions

5. Sustainability, Socially Responsible Investment and Social Audits
Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
Initiatives promoting integrated thinking and sustainability strategies
Gaps in the fundamentals of both the TBL and sustainability reporting
Volatile future of sustainability reporting
Sustainable responsible investment (SRI)
Social movement audit

6. Contemporary Issues of Social Accounting in the Public and Third Sectors
Public sector accounting
The need for public accounting
Economic crisis of 2008
Third sector organisations (TSOs)
- Accountability in TSOs

7. Cooperatives, Family Business and Tax
Cooperatives and its main aim
Family business and its main aim
‘who governs’, ‘board roles’ and board ‘relationships with management’
Tax as a core element of a socially responsible organisation

8. Future directions/paradigm change
Gap between what organisations do, what they are willing to report, and the rights of society
Globalisation:
increases international investment and trade
reduces the risk of missed investment opportunities
enables comparability
Globalisation affects accounting and CSR practices and vice- versa

9. Future directions/paradigm change (continued)
Dimensions of Globalisation:
Political
Technological achievements
Economic developments
Globalisation and MNCs

10. Future directions/paradigm change (continued)
Is the existing regulation enough or not?
Can accounting practice help to alleviate these cultural and political differences and facilitate greater social accountability?
How can transparency be achieved if not all countries are subject to the same regulations?
What implications will Brexit and the US situation have upon society?
What implications will this have upon the environment and ultimately society?
Can organisations use accounting as a means to alleviate potential implications of such issues?

11. Chapter summary
Discuss the realities and myths of social accounting in relation to tomorrow’s accounting and society’s future
Reiterate the role and importance of Accounting as a social and institutional practice
Summarise the influence of globalization and political uncertainty on social accounting
Assess the value of the notions of sustainability, Socially Responsible Investment and Social Audits
Discuss the role of social accounting and accountability on the public sector, third sector, cooperatives and family businesses
Discuss the future directions of accountability and social accounting