How to Develop Corporate Sustainability Accounting: A Conceptual Design of Sustainable Financial Monetising Accounting System (SFMAS)

Abstract

Purpose- The main purpose is to introduce a conceptual model to monetise the measures reported in non-monetary units in companies' CSR reports about their social and environmental impacts. Design/methodology/approach- The research explains how the existing theories and accounting systems adopted by companies could be used to build a new Sustainable Financial Monetising Accounting System (SFMAS) that will be able to generate monetary measures for companies. Findings- The primary analysis phase indicates the ability of SFMAS to highlight the strong and weak points in Australian companies' accounting and reporting practice. Research limitations/implications- The paper calls for further studies in the area of business sustainability and going beyond the limitations of current accounting practice to build wider research directions that adopt the application of SFMAS more deeply. Practical implications- The model will be able to generate monetary measures from stakeholders perspective for the three dimensions of corporate sustainability through in existing accounting systems adopted by companies. These measures will be used to support both internal and external decision-makers. Originality/Value- This paper contributes to the ongoing effort of developing corporate sustainability accounting and introduces new a conceptual perspective of sustainability accounting and reporting for informing stakeholders internally and externally about companies' activities' impacts.