Accounting For Social Value

This book deals with the limitations of economic and financial accounting as an appropriate instrument to reflect the real value created or destroyed by an organization. The authors present a sustainable social accounting approach that considers both the social and economic value – Blended Value – generated by an organization for all of its stakeholders. This approach is based on four major theories – Stakeholder Theory, Action Research, Phenomenological Perspective and Fuzzy Logic – and was developed on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis.

Accounting for Social Value offers academics, accountants, policy-developers, and members of non-profit, co-operative, and for-profit organizations tools and insights to explore the connections between economic, social, and environmental dimensions.

When organizations use social accounting practices, they are able to measure their performance in terms of benefits accrued to key stakeholders such as their communities, human resources, and those investing in the organization. This innovative change in accounting can lead to a fundamentally different perspective on the value of an organization. Through case studies of organizations that have implemented social accounting in the United States, Canada, India, and Scotland, Accounting for Social Value provides a unique perspective for understanding key issues in this growing field. Building on two related titles, Researching the Social Economy (2010) and Businesses with a Difference (2012), Accounting for Social Value offers academics, accountants, policy-developers, and members of non-profit, co-operative, and for-profit organizations tools and insights to explore the connections between economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The lessons learned are valuable not only for other social economy organizations, but also for organizations in the public and for-profit sectors.

This book addresses the issues and functioning of accounting and accountability for social and non-profit organizations. It presents research papers that address the limitations of conventional accounting, the meaning of accountability, and the potential of social and environmental accounting for these organizations.

How do nonprofit organizations add value to communities? How can they create social capital out of the money invested in them? Can nonprofits and cooperatives measure their social performance and make their business case? How can nonprofits measure their outputs with more accuracy? This book answers these questions and more.

This book provides insight on the concept of social value and social return on investment (SROI) - or measures to evaluate the social outcomes from interventions, beyond simply jobs and income. It offers a new and holistic perspective on the values generated from environmental stewardship and forest governance, and focuses on the methods, approaches and outcomes for understanding social value and SROI. The book offers new directions in social value and SROI, including cultural and spiritual outcomes, gender equity, and health and well-being, and provides pathways for implementing interventions and measuring social impact. It includes state of the art approaches from diverse and interdisciplinary experts drawn from academia and professional practice, including the voices and perspectives of Indigenous Peoples and local communities involved in programs, with a focus on environmental stewardship. Social value and SROI are increasingly used to assess outcomes from conservation and this book broadens the conversation on the impact and business case for these interventions. The book offers practical guidance to readers in pursuing social value and those seeking to measure it.