Introduction to Social Accounting

1. © Sohan Madhusanka

2. Definition
‘A systematic analysis of the effects of an organization on its communities of interest or stakeholders, with stakeholder input as part of the data that is analyzed for the accounting statement.’
‘Social accounting is a way of identifying how well your community organization or enterprise is achieving its aims and values, and keeping track of the impact you are having. ‘
© Sohan Madhusanka

3. Objectives
1. Effective utilization of natural resources 2. Help to employees 3. Help to society 4. Help to customers 5. Help to investors
© Sohan Madhusanka

4. According to SAN, Social accounting should be..
Multi-perspective
Comprehensive
Comparative
Regular
Verified
Disclosed
© Sohan Madhusanka

5. Process
•Learning
•Process
•Resources
Getting Ready
•Objective
•Stakeholders
•Why? How? Who?
•Scope
•Collecting
•Analyzing
•Single document
•Audit panel
•Publishing
Process
© Sohan Madhusanka

6. Benefits of social accounting
It can offer an organization a method examining both performance and its effects on people, communities, and the environment
Customers, can be involved with the social accounting process and thereby feed their perspectives into the organization's planning and measurement process
Social accounting can feed into strategic planning,
Provide an ongoing record of how organization or enterprise has developed and changed over time.
© Sohan Madhusanka

7. Benefits of social accounting cont…
Organization will get feedback on how things are going from the range of people involved in your organization or enterprise.
Organization will be able to identify the areas where things are working well and not so well.
Organization will know how well achieving their aims and values.
© Sohan Madhusanka

8. Limitations
Social accounting can be quite labour intensive, especially the first time. If the organization has not done basic strategic planning in some time, it can be difficult to progress through the process rapidly.
Although engaging in a social accounting process can be seen as a commitment to improvement, social accounting is not explicitly recognized by funders and lenders.
The social accounting process is not particularly useful for benchmarking.
© Sohan Madhusanka

9. © Sohan Madhusanka