In today’s business environment, where the insatiable desire to grow profits overshadows environmental and social interests, it’s easy to overlook how the actions of economic actors can shape corporate—and environmental—outcomes.   

In the accounting profession, practitioners exercise skepticism and critical thinking to get their jobs done daily. But without recognizing the true power of reporting, not many have questioned the fundamentals of financial accounting or challenged accounting assumptions with the same degree of skepticism and grit.

As it stands, accounting standards relate mostly to large, publicly listed corporations rather than different economic agents. This can probably be explained by the predominance of capitalist economic structures in the United Kingdom and the United States (the origins of the “Big Four” accounting firms). Only when we recognize that power and conflict exist in society can we go about finding ways to better reflect differing interests and concerns.

 …